Winners who submitted ideas to improve equity in education will receive $5,000 each

(Black PR Wire) LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- XPRIZE, the world’s leader in designing and operating incentive competitions to solve humanity’s grand challenges, and Intel today announced the ten winners of the $50,000 XPRIZE Racial Equity Alliance Ideas Competition presented by Intel.

The Racial Equity Alliance Ideas Competition, presented by Intel, crowdsourced ideas for future XPRIZE competitions that would focus on improving racial equity in American education. Participants were asked to identify an educational challenge specific to their community or the U.S. at large and propose a competition that would generate positive and impactful solutions to that challenge.

The ten participants who will share the $50,000 prize for their winning ideas are:

• Devin Jackson representing Team We Build Black Inc.
• Eugene Pough representing Team Philadelphia Youth Football Academy
• Dr. Chevelle Hall, Dr. Willis Walter, John Travis, and Dr. Brian Maiden
• Lev Horodyskyj representing Team Science Voices
• Dr. Janet Dewart Bell, Rosia Blackwell Lawrence, and Renée Floyd Myers
• Sara Linardi, Trupti Sarode, and Claire Guth representing Team Center for Analytical Approaches to Social Innovation (CAASI, University of Pittsburgh)
• Jerren Chang representing Team GenUnity
• Christina O’Guinn representing Team Tech Interactive
• Jonathan Quarles
• Daquanna Harrison representing Team Elevation Education and Consulting Group

“Racial inequity in education is a national issue, and our team was inspired by the creative ideas submitted by people across the country designed to help address this pressing challenge,” said Damon Woods, director of the XPRIZE Racial Equity Alliance (REA). “The work of these 10 winners will guide and inform our efforts to create XPRIZE competitions that dismantle barriers of inequity in our classrooms and beyond.”

“Advancing equity in education is essential to ensuring all students have the opportunity to grow and succeed in today’s world,” said Dawn Jones, Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer and Vice President of Social Impact at Intel. “We are proud to partner with XPRIZE on the REA Ideas Competition, which embodies Intel’s commitment to combatting the systemic and structural inequities impacting our communities.”

The XPRIZE Racial Equity Alliance is a coalition aimed at creating more equitable solutions to dismantle institutional and systemic structures of racial inequities, with an intentional focus on the Black community. The REA includes representatives from the private sector, government, academia, and philanthropy and operates within seven key domains: Education, Health, Economic Empowerment, Criminal Justice Reform, Food Security, Workplace Equity, and Environment.

The winners of the Ideas Competition were selected by members of the XPRIZE REA Brain Trust, a network of experts, leaders, and other influential individuals across the racial equity space created by XPRIZE in partnership with presenting sponsor Intel, supporting sponsors eBay Foundation, Comcast NBCUniversal, and AARP, and 18 additional partners. The Brain Trust includes 25 leaders, including representatives from the March of Dimes, McKinsey Institute for Black Economic Mobility, Goalsetter, and more. This diverse group helps shape the REA’s vision, direction, and impact.

To partner with, sponsor, or join the REA, contact Damon Woods (damon.woods@xprize.org). Learn more at https://www.xprize.org/alliances/racialequity.

About XPRIZE

XPRIZE is a global future-positive movement of over 1M people and rising, delivering truly radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. For over 25 years, XPRIZE has used competitions as the most efficient way to leverage philanthropic investment for impact and an exponential return, in some cases multiplying prize purses 10x – 50x. The first-ever XPRIZE competition, the $10 Million Ansari XPRIZE for sub-orbital spaceflight, captured the world’s imagination and catalyzed a multi-billion-dollar commercial private space industry. XPRIZE made headlines on Earth Day 2021 by launching the largest incentive prize in history, $100 Million XPRIZE Carbon Removal funded by Elon Musk and the Musk Foundation, with a goal to rebalance Earth’s carbon cycle. In total, XPRIZE has launched 25 competitions with more than $293 Million in prize purses. Join XPRIZE to help create a better future for everyone, everywhere.

Source: XPRIZE