Climate Cardinals
x ChallengeUS
Future Leaders
Competition
Winter 2025
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Until Contest Opens!
The ChallengeUS Future Leaders Competition aims to critically engage and amplify youth voices from all over the world in civic ideas and challenges. The competition seeks to find, spotlight, and reward promising future leaders through scholarship prizes and award recognition. For this summer cycle, Climate Cardinals and ChallengeUS are partnering together to ask students to share how they approach climate.
Participation in the Climate Cardinals x ChallengeUS Future Leaders Competition offers the opportunity to join the ChallengeUS Future Leaders Network (global community of young changemakers), secure cash prizes that can be put towards educational and professional pursuits, and gain public recognition for exceptional work.
NOVEMBER 10
Contest Open
JANUARY 16
Contest Close
$500
Top Cash Prize
Prompt:
COMING SOON!
Categories
Participants are welcomed and encouraged to submit entries to multiple categories (creative writing, analytical writing, speech, and art) in order to maximize chances at winning. However, winning contestants will only be awarded recognized in ONE category.
Creative Writing
Entries might include personal narratives, reflections, stories, poems, written speeches, memoirs, and other personal essays that address the prompt while showcasing the writer’s critical thinking, personal expression, and storytelling abilities. The emphasis is on originality, personal voice, and engaging the reader with thoughtful insight as well as emotional depth.
Analytical Writing
Entries might include argumentative essays, research papers, literature reviews, case studies, and other forms of academic writing that uses sources and citations to drive key insights. Submissions are expected to present well-researched, evidence-based essays that address the prompt. The emphasis is on logical reasoning, structured analysis, and the ability to support answers to the prompt with facts, examples, or data.
Speech
Entries might include any form of verbal speech or presentation submitted in a video form. Speakers are welcomed to use creative and/or analytical techniques in their speech submission. Visual aids are permitted but the emphasis will be on effective verbal communication while providing unique perspectives, ideas, and insights addressing the prompt.
Art
Entries might include drawings, paintings, digital artworks, photographs, mixed media pieces, cartoons, magazine covers and other forms of artistic media, whether digital or traditional. Submissions should be original works, be made with effort, and follow the prompt. The emphasis is on interpretation of theme, creativity, and demonstrated skill.
Eligibility, Guidelines and Prizes
Please read the following carefully.
Eligibility
- Any student, residing in any country, currently enrolled in an accredited high school or undergraduate college/university, is eligible to participate
- Students taking academic gap years or semesters are also eligible
- Students that are homeschooled are also eligible
- Submissions (speech or writing) must be in English
- Participants from previous competition cycles are eligible to enter the current competition cycle, except those that won first place in any previous ChallengeUS competitions
- Any use of AI or plagiarism is strictly prohibited and will result in automatic disqualification
Prizes
- One Best Overall "Grand Prize Winner" will be recognized along with four "Category Winner" honorable mentions (one from each submission category). This means 4 students, in total, will be recognized.
- The Grand Prize Winner will be awarded $500 (USD)
- The Grand Prize Winner and the Category Winners will be spotlighted in a biographical article by ChallengeUS
- The Grand Prize Winner and the Category Winners will receive a Certificate of Achievement and their submissions will be published by ChallengeUS
- All participants will gain access to the global ChallengeUS Future Leaders Network
Creative Writing
- Word Limit: 1250 words
- Writing submissions should be in PDF format with a readable font size (11 or 12 pt.) and a professional font style (Times New Roman, Arial)
- Entries might include personal narratives, reflections, stories, poems, written speeches, memoirs, and other personal essays that address the prompt while showcasing the writer’s critical thinking, personal expression, and storytelling abilities
Analytical Writing
- Word Limit: 1250 words
- Writing submissions should be in PDF format with a readable font size (11 or 12 pt.) and a professional font style (Times New Roman, Arial)
- If research is incorporated, any citation style (MLA, APA, Chicago, etc.) will be accepted and citations will not count towards the word limit
Speech
- Speech Limit: 10 minutes
- Speech submissions should be in MP4 format
- High audio and video quality is expected
- Entries might include any form of verbal speech or presentation submitted in a video form. Visual aids are permitted but speech quality will be the foremost evaluation criteria
Art
- Art submissions should be in PDF, JPEG or PNG format
- High image quality is expected
- Entries might include any form of visual art including drawings, paintings, photographs, digital artworks, mixed media pieces, magazine covers, cartoons, and other forms of both traditional and digital artwork.
Evaluation Rubric
The following rubric is provided to assist, not dictate, participants with how to craft a successful submission. As a general rule of thumb, we ask two questions when evaluating submissions: How well is the contestant communicating their message through their words? How interesting, insightful, or innovative is that message?
| Score (1-5) | Foundational (1) | Progressing (2) | Proficient (3) | Advance (4) | Exceptional (5) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creative Writing | At this level, the submission is challenging to follow with little to no direction. Grammar and language mistakes are common. There is little to no personal voice. The submission is not engaging and has little to no depth. Trivial ideas are presented and little or no implications are offered. | The submission is sometimes hard to understand with limited originality. There are grammar and spelling mistakes but they are not confusing. There is some presence of a personal voice. The submission is slightly engaging and there is some depth. The submission presents some relevant ideas but offers little significant implications. | The submission is generally easy to follow. Personal voice and originality are present but not seen throughout. There are few grammar and spelling mistakes. The submission is moderately engaging and offers sufficient depth. Relevant ideas are presented and implications are offered. | The submission is clear to understand and originality is present throughout. There are no grammar or spelling mistakes. Writer’s personal voice shines through. The submission is significantly engaging and eloquent while offering depth. Relevant ideas are presented and significant implications are offered. | At this level, the submission meets all the criteria to be considered Advance (4). However, the submission then goes above and beyond by presenting original, innovative ideas and perspectives that are not commonly heard or presents them in a creative way not commonly seen. |
| Analytical Writing | At this level, the submission is challenging to follow either due to frequent grammar and language mistakes or lack of structure and flow. The submission does not address the prompt or superficial ideas are presented with little to no depth. | The submission is sometimes hard to understand and evidence is limited. There are grammar and language mistakes but they hardly inhibit the reader’s ability to follow. The submission slightly addresses the prompt. Analytical ideas and perspectives are sometimes presented but minimally explored. | The submission is generally easy to follow and offers sufficient evidence. There are few grammar and language mistakes. The submission addresses the prompt and its significance. Analytical ideas and perspectives are present. Relevant ideas are seen and explored with moderate depth. | The submission is clear to understand with strong evidence. There are no grammar or language mistakes. The submission clearly addresses the prompt and its significance. Analytical ideas and perspectives are present throughout. Highly relevant ideas are presented and explored with profound depth. | At this level, the submission meets all the criteria to be considered Advance (4). However, the submission then goes above and beyond by presenting original and innovative perspectives, ideas or arguments that have not been commonly heard. |
| Speech | At this level, the submission is challenging to follow, and there is no clear direction. Audio or video issues may also be distracting. The speaker doesn’t speak confidently. The submission does not address the prompt. Ideas perspectives are unclear. The submission presents superficial ideas and does not explore further. | The speech is sometimes hard to follow and the speech’s structure is unclear at times. Audio or video issues are present but not distracting. The speaker shows flashes of public speaking skill but is not consistent. The submission somewhat addresses the prompt. Interesting ideas and perspectives are sometimes present but are explored with limited depth. | The speech is generally easy to follow with a structure that makes sense. There are few audio or video issues that are not distracting. The speaker is generally engaging to listen to. The submission addresses the prompt and its significance. Relevant, interesting ideas and perspectives are present and explored beyond the surface. | The speech is not only easy to follow with a clear structure/flow but engaging to listen to due to the speaker’s oratory skill. There are no audio or video issues. The submission clearly addresses the prompt and its significance through interesting ideas and perspectives that are explored with depth. | At this level, the speech meets all the criteria to be considered Advance (4). However, the submission then goes above and beyond by presenting original, innovative ideas and perspectives that are not commonly heard or communicates them in a unique way that demonstrates advanced oratory ability and critical thinking. |
| Art | At this level, the submission is challenging to decipher because of its quality or makes no attempt to answer the prompt. Artistic quality is poor, which makes it hard to understand the artwork's meaning and demonstrates very limited skill in the arts area. The submission is not engaging and has little to no depth. Little to no creativi | The submission makes an attempt to answer the prompt but does not do so effectively. There is some consideration of the prompt and theme but it is not ultimately compelling. Artistic quality is acceptable and demonstrates some skill and understanding of specific medium qualities. Still, the artwork's meaning, theme, or relevance are inhibited. | The submission answers the prompt in an effective manner and is moderately successful in presenting relevant ideas. Artistic quality is fair, demonstrating skill and understanding of specific medium qualities. Artwork quality does not become a distraction when evaluating the submission. The submission is partially engaging and exhibits thoughtfulness and creativity. | The submission answers the prompt in an effective manner and is successful in presenting thoughtful and relevant ideas/themes. Artistic quality is strong. The submission is engaging and captures the viewers' attention. The artwork also shows creativity in ideas and how the prompt is answered visually. | At this level, the submissions meets all the criteria to be considered Advance (4). However, the submission then goes above and beyond by presenting original, innovative ideas and perspectives that are not commonly heard or captures them in a unique way that demonstrates advanced artistic ability and critical thinking. |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
When will I be notified about contest results?
Contest results will be released on this page by the end of March 2026. Due to the volume of submissions we receive, we will NOT be able to provide individual updates or feedback on the status of specific submissions.
Can I submit to multiple categories? (Creative Writing, Analytical Writing, Speech, Art)
Yes! In fact, we encourage you to do so in order to maximize chances at winning. However, please be aware winning contestants will only be awarded for ONE category.
I previously participated in a ChallengeUS competition. Can I still participate in this current competition?
Participants from previous competition cycles are indeed eligible to enter the current competition cycle unless they previously won Best Overall in any of our competitions.
I'm not sure if my submission falls under "creative writing" or "analytical writing." What should I do?
If you're not sure whether your writing submission fits under "creative writing" or "analytical writing," ask yourself if your submission utilizes citations or sources. If it does, your submission likely falls under "analytical writing." If not, it likely falls under "creative writing."
Still unsure? You're welcome to submit to both categories to be safe or reach out to us at admin@challengeusnow.org for further guidance.
I already submitted, but would like to resubmit before the deadline. What can I do?
To resubmit, please submit again using the same submission form for the contest division(s) you are entering. Your latest submission will be taken as your final submission.
I'm having an issue submitting my entry. What can I do?
Please email us at admin@challengeusnow.org to receive assistance.
I missed the deadline. Can I have an extension?
To guarantee fairness for all participants, no exceptions are granted for the deadline.
I have a question not covered in the guidelines or these FAQs. What should I do?
Please email admin@challengeusnow.org with your question.
