News & Blogs

IGNITE
Civic Engagement Nonprofit IGNITE Awarded the 2022 Jack Dilenschneider Award for Social Justice
By: Francisco Martinez | November 4, 2022
Press Release
Lever for Change announced nonpartisan civic engagement nonprofit IGNITE as the recipient of a $10,000 grant to support partnerships to shift power to young women to become the next generation of social justice leaders.
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What We Know - and Don't Know - about Philanthropic Competitions
By: Jeff Ubois | October 25, 2022
Blog
Throughout history, competitions have produced innovative ideas, creative solutions, and even new industries. In 1795, for example, Napoleon Bonaparte launched the Food Preservation Prize seeking a safe way to store food. Nicolas Francois Appert eventually won the prize (12,000 francs, equivalent to about $36,000 today) for his solution, which sealed boiled food in airtight champagne bottles. And in 1927, after crossing the Atlantic Ocean in one flight, Charles Lindbergh won the $25,000 Orteig Prize, originally launched in 1919 as “a stimulus to courageous aviators.”
Build A World Of Play Challenge
LEGO Foundation Announces Finalists for $117 Million Global Challenge
By: Marc Moorghen | October 20, 2022
Press Release
Competition Update
Selected from 600+ applications, the Build a World of Play Challenge recognises 10 finalists with bold ideas to solve the greatest problems facing early childhood development
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W.K. Kellogg Foundation announces five awardees to receive $80 million to advance global racial equity
By: Marc Moorghen | October 11, 2022
Press Release
Competition Update
Five awardees announced to drive an equitable future for children, families and communities around the world
Equality Can't Wait Challenge Awardee: The Future is Indigenous Women
Honoring U.S. Indigenous Peoples’ Day, October 10, 2022
By: Kendall Ross | October 10, 2022
Newsletter Article
Bold Solutions Network
Indigenous Peoples’ Day honors the past, present, and futures of Native peoples throughout the US. At Lever for Change, we celebrate the outstanding projects in our Bold Solutions Network that are committed to American Indian, Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiian populations. We invite you to support one of these highly vetted projects centering Native voices, stories, and issues.
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Chicago-Based Nonprofit Helps Donors Give Away $1 Billion Dollars
By: Marc Moorghen | October 6, 2022
Press Release
Lever for Change has now facilitated $1,064,000,000 worth of grants to outstanding organizations through large-scale challenges expanding philanthropy to underrepresented ideas and thinkers.
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Big Bold News: We Have Surpassed Our Initial Goal of $1 Billion
By: Dr. Cecilia Conrad | October 3, 2022
Blog
I am delighted and humbled to share the news that we have surpassed our initial goal of helping donors award $1 billion in funding! Since Lever for Change launched as a pilot project in 2019, our mission has been to help donors find and fund bold solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems.
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Sharing Our Learnings
By: Kristen Molyneaux Ph.D. | September 16, 2022
Blog
At Lever for Change, we help donors find and fund bold solutions to the world’s biggest problems. We provide philanthropic expertise, no matter the experience, staffing levels, or interests of our clients. Our team connects donors with our growing network of problem solvers through customized challenges. The finalists become members of our Bold Solutions Network. We work with Network members to ensure they are well-positioned to absorb philanthropic resources at scale and amplify their impact. Learning is vital to everything we do.
Sruti (second from right) has been supported to care for her children at home with the help of the government of India, Changing the Way We Care, and local partners.
Changing the Way We Care for Families in India
September 7, 2022
Blog
Bold Solutions Network
Changing the Way We Care, a global initiative promoting family-based care for all children and a 100&Change finalist in 2017, knows the best place for a child is with family. Jomey Joseph of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) India and Anne Smith of Changing the Way We Care explain why family care is critical to helping families to stay together.
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Using Data to Capture Inequality in Philanthropic Decision-Making
By: Adi Menayang | August 11, 2022
Blog
Capturing and analyzing the diversity of gender identities, disability, and geographic distribution among our panel of experts who help evaluate project proposals is quite straightforward. It’s less so for their race and ethnicity. Last year, Lever for Change started testing a demographic survey with closed-ended options for race and ethnicity that are granular enough to be globally relevant and allow us to spot patterns of inequality.

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