What is D-Prize?
D-Prize - a non-profit supporting new entrepreneurs in poverty alleviation solutions - and Global Health Corps (GHC) are working in partnership to offer GHC alumni the opportunity to increase access to proven health interventions.
The D-Prize Social Enterprise Challenge for GHC Alumni has been designed exclusively for teams of aspiring GHC alumni entrepreneurs who are ready to plan and bring their own social enterprise to scale.
If their plan is selected, teams will receive up to $15,000 to pilot their new venture in any region outside of the United States where extreme poverty exists.
Are you ready to make a difference?
Solutions for many global health challenges exist and yet they don’t often reach those who need them most.
Can you design a plan to take a health solution to scale?
Step 1
What Happens After You Win?
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You hire a staff and launch.
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You will spend the next three months using every last shred of ability and talent that you have to grow a new organization that will change the world.
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You show the world what a global community of leaders can do to advance social justice through the health equity movement.
Submit your pitch following the specifications detailed in the application packet by February 12.
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Judges from D-Prize will invite the most promising entrepreneurs to submit a full 10-page proposal by March 26.
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Finalists will interview with several D-Prize judges.
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Note: GHC has committed half of the funds that will be awarded to winning teams but GHC staff will not be involved in the selection of successful proposals.
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D-Prize judges will offer up to $15,000 in seed capital in a convertible grant to ventures ready to launch.
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If more than one team’s solution is selected for pilot, the grant amount will be split among all successful proposals.
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Step 4
Form your talented and motivated team of GHC alums. You are a well-connected network. Reach out to other alums you know are interested or skilled in your distribution area of interest. Perhaps this is a good time to reconnect with your co-fellow about collaborating together with others who are living and working globally.
Search through your LinkedIn network to identify other GHC alums. Sign up for the D-prize Challenge listserv (dprizechallenge@ghcorps.org) so that you can reach out to members about your specific team needs (i.e. recruitment of team members with desired skills like measurement and evaluation, but not sharing your idea).
Step 2
Review the Distribution Challenges section described below. D-Prize has already identified proven health solutions that are in need of greater distribution. These challenges will give you a framework for designing your new venture.
How D-Prize Works
This opportunity has been designed exclusively for GHC alumni who want to team up to launch a social enterprise in a low-resource setting outside of the United States. The opportunity is based on the idea that by funding the distribution of evidence-based interventions (rather than a “new idea”), entrepreneurs will get in the field sooner and scale quicker, focusing resources on delivering proven interventions to those who need them.
We – like you - know that there is power in a team approach to designing and delivering solutions to health challenges. We also know that the GHC alumni network is expansive and it is comprised of innovative, talented, creative, and committed social changemakers. Take this opportunity to engage with other fantastic alums who live and work across the globe to design a plan that promotes access to health by solving a common distribution challenge.
All members of eligible teams must be GHC alumni who completed the GHC fellowship experience before August 2017. If this is you, read on.
Ready to design your venture? Start by downloading an application packet here.
Challenge Timeline
Find Help Online:
There are a number of helpful resources you can access as you begin designing your new social venture.
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Get inspired with a short TEDx video on global poverty and the need for better distribution.
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Download example proposals from past winning ventures:
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Read more from the winners of the first D-Prize Challenge for GHC Alumni! See how the Every Child Matters team proposed strengthening the health system for detection, treatment, and management of clubfoot in Uganda (full proposal). Learn about the concept the Safe Delivery, Safe Mother team submitted for their program aimed at training traditional birth attendants to reduce post-partum hemorrhage in rural communities in Pakistan (concept note).
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Check out how Young 1ove, an NGO teaching “sugar daddy awareness classes,” proposed their program concept. Concept note and full proposal.
- Learn more about how Miti Health is solving bottlenecks within drug supply chains. Full proposal.
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Read aboutYouth Globe, a fundraising platform to support secondary school scholarships. Concept note.
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Explore the many global and virtual team-building resources that are available at no cost online. The Harvard Business Review and Mindtools websites are good places to start and have many useful resources.
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Consider different approaches to team building, such as the Belbin approach and X-Team model.
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Explore the many tools available to help you form teams and connect with members who are collaborating from different places. Use Stormboard to brainstorm and plan online. Map out your ideas together in a Google doc, over Skype, through GoToMeeting, or by using Join Me. There are many ways for you to connect and work together!
The most promising entrepreneurs will have several interviews with judges on the phone. Based on your plan and interview, judges may decide to award you seed capital to launch. Winners will be notified no later than May 15th.
Final Round
Those invited will receive a second round application packet. You will expand on your concept and draft a full 10-page plan of your new venture. The plan will include an executive summary, a budget, milestones you plan to hit, and your future vision. A team of judges will review and send decisions by April 16.
Second Round: March 26
First Round: February 12
Getting Started
Download an application packet from this website and follow the instructions to draft and submit your idea. You will submit a two-page concept note (see below for examples) and resume for each core team member. A team of judges will review and invite the most promising ideas to the next round. Invitations will be sent by February 26.
Convertible Grant
This challenge is for teams comprised exclusively of GHC alumni who completed the fellowship experience before August 2017. Teams must consist of a minimum of two GHC alums. You can choose to launch in any low-resource setting outside of the United States, and may decide to operate a for-profit or a non-profit.
Note: GHC remains committed to promoting health equity in every setting. However, all D-Prize challenges are required to focus on scaling in low-resource settings outside of the United States. GHC will continue to cultivate and develop opportunities for promoting equity around the globe - including in the United States - as we build out our programming.
Eligibility
Funding from the D-Prize Social Enterprise Challenge for GHC Alumni will be offered to the successful team(s) in the form of a convertible grant of up to $15,000. An award given to a for-profit winner may have the option to convert to equity if the company issues stock to other investors in a Series A funding round. An award given to any non-profit winner or to a for-profit winner that does not sell stock in a Series A round will be treated as a grant. This grant is made possible through partnership between D-Prize and Global Health Corps.
Judging Criteria
More Challenge Details
Proposals will be evaluated on the following:
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Commitment and quality: You and your team must be passionate about promoting access to proven health interventions, have the skills to build a new organization from scratch, and committed to expanding to a large scale organization.
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Quality and thoroughness of the social venture plan: Good plans are tightly focused on solving one specific problem. Anyone reading your proposal should have a thorough understanding of exactly what your organization will do, and how you will do it.
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Projected impact: We expect your pilot program will start small, but will then quickly grow and one day help millions of people. We want to understand your plan to grow, and how you will measure your impact over time.
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Feasibility of post-challenge success: A good proposal doesn’t end after three months. We want to see your vision for your venture at 6, 12, and 24 months out.
Note: Please note that while GHC is committed to the financial and logistical support of the challenge, we will not be involved in the application review or judging process.
About and Contact Info
GHC’s mission is to mobilize a global community of emerging leaders to build the movement for health equity. GHC is building a network of young changemakers who share a common belief: health is a human right.
GHC believes that every person has the right to live a healthy, dignified life. GHC also believes that everyone has a role to play in advancing social justice through the health equity movement. The organization embraces a philosophy of active problem solving and partnership that is designed to bring about real and sustainable progress. GHC is committed to creating a new breed of health sector leaders who develop innovative solutions to the most challenging health problems all over the world.
Contact Joe Elias at joseph@ghcorps.org.
About GHC
About D-PRIZE
Questions?
D-Prize is dedicated toward expanding access to poverty-alleviation solutions in the developing world. Many solutions to poverty already exist; the challenge is distributing these solutions to the people who need it most. We tackle this by challenging social entrepreneurs to develop better ways to distribute proven life-enhancing technologies, and then providing crucial funding and support so that these ideas can launch a pilot.
D-Prize was started by a team of investors and social enterprise co-founders who are excited to support the world’s next wave of entrepreneurs who will change the world. D-Prize is a tax exempt 501(c)3 organization.
Distribution Challenges
GHC alumni will also have the option of proposing a custom challenge in the areas of HIV prevention, child health, or maternal/reproductive health. D-Prize will provide guidelines for entrepreneurs wishing to design their own challenge area upon request.
Design your solution to the challenge that most inspires you. The application packet on this website provides more detail about how to design a solution, and what to submit. Additional guidance and tips are included in the Getting Started section below. Check out the tips for collaborating with global team members virtually in the Find Help Online section below.
Step 3
Build a Dream Team!!
Imagine the possibilities! You (working in Kigali) and your Rwandan co-fellow (in graduate school in Boston) submit a proposal for a plan to distribute vaccines to children in rural Rwanda along with another alum working with the WHO on vaccine distribution from Geneva. Dream Team!
D-Prize has published six global health distribution challenges. Proposals submitted by GHC alumni for any of these six challenge options will be reviewed.
