Innovation Prize: Empowering the next generation of changemakers
Since 2024, the Innovation Prize – launched with Accenture and the Global Alliance for YOUth – has backed the next generation of changemakers.
Every year, innovators from our network of more than 10,000 young leaders in 500 city hubs can apply for support to move their ideas forward faster. We are looking for committed young people with the most promising solutions for the lives and livelihoods of their communities.
Winners receive training, expert mentoring, funding and help telling their story. The prize focuses on pressing global issues such as protecting the planet, skills for the future and inclusive societies.
The prize is provided under two categories
Incubation Prize
CHF 5,000
Award: CHF 5,000 per winner
Purpose: Nurturing early-stage projects with high potential for impact.
Accelerator Prize
CHF 10,000
Award: CHF 10,000 per winner
Purpose: Fast-tracking proven solutions that are ready to scale.
The Innovation Prize offers
1
Dedicated funding
Winners receive the financial backing they need to bring their projects to life and make a real difference.
2
Upskilling opportunities
We help winners build their skills through training, mentoring and coaching.
3
Lasting impact
We want the projects we support to last beyond a quick success – and to leave a positive mark on their communities and the world.
Innovation Prize Winners 2026
StemUp
Buenos Aires Hub
Helping young women in STEM grow into tech leaders, creators and founders
Food for You
Port of Spain Hub
Training new farmers in regenerative agriculture and agribusiness
Better Boys, Better Men
Windhoek Hub
Mentoring boys towards healthy identities, relationships and futures
Ulaanbaatar Oasis
Ulaanbaatar Hub
Turning everyday water kiosks into green, inclusive community spaces
Climate Writers
Sydney Hub
Turning young people’s climate anxiety into lasting civic action
Climate Emergency Action Project
New Delhi Hub
Making clean indoor air affordable for vulnerable families in polluted cities
Shaping Indigenous Languages
Port Harcourt Hub
Preserving endangered Indigenous languages through community-led digital archives
Shapers for Cyber Care
NYC-Manhattan Hub
Building digital safety and belonging for vulnerable New Yorkers
Innovation Prize Winners 2025
Shaping Digital Futures
London III Hub
Giving vulnerable students the digital skills to succeed
Solar Cerrado Agrivoltaics
Brasilia Hub
Combining solar power and farming to make rural areas more resilient
Recycle for Education
Abuja Hub
A circular-economy model that funds education for displaced children
Youths in Aquaponics
Bulawayo Hub
Improving food security with aquaponics systems at schools
Find Us at the Park
Budaiya Hub
Rethinking public spaces with technology, data and young people
ClimaSynth
Peshawar Hub
Using AI to strengthen local resilience and long-term climate action
Read to Rise
Yola Hub
Raising literacy with solar technology, local content and community teaching
Empowering Female Entrepreneurs
Johannesburg Hub
Opening up funding and support networks for women founders
Shred the Debt
Sacramento, Chicago and Oakland Hubs
A youth-led answer to medical debt in the United States
Bauen
San Luis Potosi Hub
Inclusive technology for a more accessible world for blind people
Innovation Prize Winners 2024
Accra Hub
Amsterdam Hub
Dar es Salam Hub
Guadalajara Hub
Ilorin Hub
Imphal Hub
Islamabad Hub
Kathmandu Hub
Mohammedia Hub
Nairobi Hub
Phnom Penh Hub
Prague Hub
Rio de Janeiro Hub
Riohacha Hub
Application criteria
Purpose-driven
Moves one of the community’s priority impact areas forward.
Entrepreneurial
Brings a new, creative answer to a pressing problem.
Structured
Shows a clear need, a solution and a concrete result.
Inclusive
Helps build a fairer, more inclusive and just world.
Measurable
Has countable outputs, outcomes and long-term effects.
Impactful
Creates positive social change that lasts.
Partner organisations
Innovation Prize 2025
Applications for the second edition of the Innovation Prize are now open!