Empowering Tomorrow's Leaders Today.
Who We Are
ChallengeUS works to critically engage and elevate youth voices on civic issues through organizing global civic competitions, thereby effectively crowdsourcing youth-driven solutions to global challenges, all while investing in a global network of young leaders through scholarship prizes and award recognition. Through hosting global civics competitions, we facilitate opportunities for young people to practice democracy through research, storytelling, problem solving, and civic imagination.
Our Impact Thesis
A recent survey from the Institute for Citizens & Scholars found that 90% of Gen Z say they deeply care about their communities, but 70% either don’t believe they can make a difference or don’t know where to start. That’s where we believe ChallengeUS can help fill the gap, by serving as the starting point on young people’s civic journey.
Alternate approaches to youth civic engagement often have higher barriers to participation, such as demographic or geographic exclusivity. A fellowship model, for instance, may also demand greater commitment than many students have the capacity to offer and may be limited to a set number of beneficiaries. Our competition model is more easily scalable and accessible. With that said, we don’t necessarily see ourselves as direct competitors to these other approaches. By prioritizing accessibility, again, we aim to be the starting point for young people’s civic journey in hopes that their engagement with us will inspire them to pursue fellowships, internships, and further civic opportunities.
Our Mission is as follows:
- Activate and elevate student voices on critical civic issues; thereby effectively crowdsourcing fresh perspectives and ideas from the next generation of leaders.
- Provide students with competitive yet educational opportunities to demonstrate their skills and ideas across a wide range of disciplines.
- Spotlight and support future leaders through scholarship prizes, awards and recognition.
- Build a vast, global network of student leaders that transcends across borders, backgrounds and politics.
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Brandon Tran
CEO
