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Monday, March 1, 2021

T-Mobile Changemaker Challenge our Kids are the Future

This post is sponsored by T-Mobile


I’m so excited to be working with T-Mobile for a third year. I can’t say it enough… They are a company that really cares not only about their customers, but also about the communities of their customers. We just don’t see that as much anymore and that is so important to me when I work long term with companies. It’s one of the many reasons I often tell friends they should switch carriers if they’re not already part of the Magenta family, and luckily for them switching is so easy!






Once again, T-Mobile is showing how much they care with another installment of one of my favorite educational programs. I wanted to share with you an amazing opportunity for our young people (ages 13-18); one where they could win up to $15,000! I talked about this particular program back in 2019 and I think it’s amazing that both T-Mobile and Ashoka are continuing on with their Changemaker Challenge Program!

The Changemaker Challenge is a nationwide contest that asks students to submit their innovative ideas around creating connected, sustainable and informed communities that drive social change in one of three categories: Technology, the Environment or Education. It’s all for the chance to win seed funding – up to $15,000! – and mentorship to grow their ventures. 


In 2019 the Changemaker Challenge had 428 teams enter. The ideas that were entered ranged from apps, to robots, to political advocacy groups, to flood warning systems and even gun violence prevention and ventures that offered solutions around topics like mental health. How amazing are these ideas? This year in 2021 I know the program is going to be even better. 


The application window is open now through April 8. The top 15 teams will be announced in May and each of those chosen teams receives $5,000 seed funding from the T-Mobile Foundation and then three teams (one from each category) will receive an additional $5,000 and the chance to pitch their idea to T-Mobile executives before one grand prize winner is announced and wins yet another $5K ($15K total!)


The ages for the challenge are 13-18, which, in my opinion, is an amazing age for kids to dream big. Canon is going to be 13 in April and the ideas this kid has are unbelievable. He wants to be an engineer when he grows up, so he definitely has the mind for projects like this. I really hope T-Mobile carries on this tradition as I would love to see him enter next year and I love the message it sends that no matter how small you are, you can be part of the solution to solve the world’s big challenges. And, I love that you don’t have to have a fully developed venture to enter – just a great idea and the drive to turn it into something great is more than enough! To me there is just something about the innocence of this age group that makes it perfect to find solutions for tomorrow’s problems. We need to think outside of the box and kid minds are where that’s at. Our kids can be tomorrow’s Changemakers.  





Fallon is only 8 years old, but she loves to help. To make a difference in the community she shovels neighbors’ driveways and asks if they need help walking their dogs (she’s a huge dog lover). Both kids love baking with me. It’s so much fun to watch them retain the little tricks I have learned over the years. They have asked to bake certain things, which I am more than happy to, and we then package them up and give them to neighbors, friends, or have even the local police department. Giving back to the community is another way my kids can get an early start on changing communities for the better. 





If you have a kiddo that is in this age group and who has some amazing innovative ideas in Technology, the Environment or Education categories make sure they enter by on their website and the earlier the better! If you enter before March 4th, kids will have a chance to receive one of the $2,000 early deadline seed money award and all early entries will get feedback on how to improve their application so they can resubmit for the final April 8th deadline! 





In May the top 15 teams will be announced. In addition to receiving $5,000 in seed funding from the T-Mobile Foundation along with other prizes, those 15 teams will also be invited to the T-Mobile HQ in July (TBC pending CDC recommendations) for an amazing three-day Changemaker Lab to help with their idea.  That’s when one team from each of the categories (Technology, Environment or Education) will receive another $5,000 with a chance to pitch their idea to the T-Mobile Executives. 


After all is said and done, the one grand prize winner will be announced during the lab and will win another $5,000 making the total prize being $15,000, plus a one-on-one mentorship to help supercharge their project! 





Make sure you tell your friends and family about this opportunity. Can you imagine if your kiddo, friend or family member won? How amazing would that be? Let me know what kind of ideas they would have, I would love to hear about it. Or if they aren’t old enough yet, what are you doing to help them be the Changemakers of tomorrow? 


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27 comments:

  1. This is what we need more of in the world right now. I'm glad to see a big company doing what it can to help encourage good in the world.

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  2. This is what big companies should be doing! I love that they're working to make the world a better place, starting with helping kids be a better generation. This is fantastic.

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  3. I've alwasy tried to teach my children how important it is to be a light in the world, and I'm glad to see a big company helping do the same. We need more kindness and generosity in the world.

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  4. This is the kind of social good that I love to see companies using their resources for. I think we need so much more of this in the world, and I'm glad to see T-Mobile doing their part to make it happen.

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  5. This would be something for my boys to look into. It sounds like an amazing opportunity.

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  6. Great campaign and awesome message. Wonderful that they involve the kids, that's where their strength begins.

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  7. I have T-mobile for both me and my daughters. I actually really love them too. They have good service and are a wonderful price too. I love what they're doing here too. That is going to be amazing to whoever is the winner.

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  8. What a wonderful campaign and great opportunity! Such a great way to encourage more kindness in the world.

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  9. My son is 13 now. He does dream big and I encourage it.

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  10. I love this campaign! It's nice to see big companies like this using their resources for these things.

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  11. What an amazing campaign! I would love for my kids to participate in this when they get to the right age. I love things that encourage young people to tap into their creativity, think about the world around them, and work hard to make a change.

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  12. What a fantastic initiative to encourage the youth of today to be creative and hone in on their skills! Not a bad prize money too! Love it!

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  13. This sounds like an amazing opportunity to my nephews and nieces. I will let them know more about it, thank you for sharing!

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  14. Thanks for sharing about this opportunity. I will share this to my social media, my friends in that area will benefit from this, for sure.

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  15. We need more of this! This is what we need amidst the pandemic or even if we're not in pandemic and this will help a lot of children.

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  16. Oh, wow! What an amazing way to encourage kids to let their creative juices flow and maybe create something that can help make the world a better place. I love this.

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  17. It is amazing what can happen when money from corporations can be used to fund programs.

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  18. What a great opportunity for kids from T-moblile! I love things like this that help our kids do things to make a difference and contribute to make our world a better place

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  19. Love seeing how kids can be supported to explore their interests in STEM.

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  20. I love seeing companies involved on challenges like this one, so good for the kids to learn about STEM

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  21. What a neat opportunity. It is nice to see kids being so innovative and determined.

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  22. What a great incentive! Love this and hopefully a lot more companies can do the same.

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  23. That is an amazing challenge and campaign to check out. Hopefully more people can know about this more and good for the kids as well.

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  24. This is such a fab campaign with an important message that is for sure. Hopefully other business will follow by their example x

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  25. What a terrific initiative. We definitely need more of this in life.

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  26. It sounds like a great opportunity. The kids would love it for sure. Great initiative from T-Mobile.

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  27. Is great to se a tech company strive for generosity and kindness.

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