🚨The $500K Call Me Maybe Challenge is LIVE – Apply Now!
Young Futures Community,
We’ll keep it short: The Call Me Maybe Challenge is officially open! 🎉
Phones in schools are a hot-button issue, with policies all over the place—some schools ban them, others enforce strict rules, and some fully integrate them out of necessity. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution, but one thing is clear:
📌 Educators need support, and young people must have a say. That’s why we partnered with In Tandem on a Youth Listening Tour to ensure student voices shaped this challenge.
Now, we’re excited to fund and support innovative solutions that help pre-teens, teens, families, and educators navigate the role of phones in schools—with young people leading the way.
💡 Got a game-changing idea?
We’re offering grants from $25,000 to $100,000 to fund solutions that:
✅ Address phone use as a learning distraction and/or a disruptor of social connection
✅ Are co-designed with students, teachers, and families
✅ Support community buy-in and/or provide resources to support a school’s phone policy
✅Considers the developmental needs of students across grade levels
This $500,000 rapid-response funding initiative is seeded by Pinterest and supported by Pivotal Ventures and the Susan Crown Exchange.
🔗 Read more about the challenge
🔗 View and download the RFP
🔗 Check out FAQs & START YOUR APPLICATION
📅 Key Dates:
🔹 Applications Open: March 19 - April 9, 2025
🔹 Applicant Info Session: March 31, 2025 (Register here)
🔹 Finalist Interviews: April 28 - May 9, 2025
🔹 Grant Recipients selected and announced: July-August 2025
🔹 Young Futures Academy: October 2025 - February 2026
Help us spread the word! Share this with nonprofits, educators, and school leaders who might be a great fit.
Warmly,
Katya Hancock
Executive Director, Young Futures