The Make a Difference (MaD) Award champions young changemakers who make a positive difference to the world.
We look for high potential ventures/projects that can bring about economic, social and/or environmental benefits in an innovative and sustainable manner. Applicants should either be based in Asia or are doing their ventures/projects primarily for Asia.
he MaD Award, first launched in 2010, is held annually from July – January. The founder(s) should launch the ventures/projects at the age of 30 or below, and should be aged 35 or below at the time of the entry. The finalists are required to present their ventures/projects at the annual Make a Difference forum in Hong Kong in January.
The Grand Award Winner will receive a cash award of HK$150,000. There will also be three Merit Award Winners, each receiving a cash award of HK$40,000 each. A Rising Star Award (at HK$10,000) will be conferred to outstanding changemakers aged 23 or below. All the Finalists and the Rising Star team will enjoy a one year mentorship. We will announce the Grand Award Winner at the closing of the MaD Forum.
MaD Award entrants can pertain to either one or more of the following area(s)
arts and culture
e.g. enhancing social cohesion, changing society values/ behavior, community rejuvenation, empowering the deprived
economy and finance
e.g. job creation, microfinance
education and learning
e.g. improving literacy, empowering the underprivileged, youth development, alternative learning experience, reducing the digital divide
environment and energy
e.g. environment conservation, alternative energy, reducing carbon footprint
medical and health care
e.g. breakthroughs in consultation, diagnosis and treatment, preventive health care, health education
other social or environmental needs of developed or developing economies
e.g. water, food, poverty, elderly services
Entry Criteria
The MaD Award is a team-based competition, with a maximum of 5 members per team. They could be entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs or students. The founder(s) should launch the ventures/projects at the age of 30 or below, and should be aged 35 or below at the deadline of the Award entry. Applicants should either be based in Asia or they are doing their ventures/projects primarily for Asia. The MaD Award is NOT a business plan competition. Entrants must be able to demonstrate their track records and the impacts of their ventures/projects in quantitative and qualitative terms.
Application Process
- a 5-page description in English or Chinese (please see FAQ no. 10) covering:
- An executive summary of the venture/project
- Vision, mission and values
- The beneficiaries/customer segment(s), offerings and value propositions
- The operating costs and income streams, including financial indicators in the last three years (or less if the venture/project is less than 3 years) and three year projections (e.g. revenue and net income)
- Team members: the background, expertise and roles of founder (s) and core team members
- Board/advisors (if any)
- Partners/collaborators (if any)
- Impacts assessment in quantitative and qualitative terms*:
- Economic (e.g. jobs creation, productivity enhancement, reduced poverty)
- Social (e.g. heritage development, access to information and knowledge, improved health, social harmony, empowerment of underprivileged groups, behavioral change in the society)
- Environment (e.g. reduced carbon footprint, environment conservation)
- a two-minute video summarizing the salient points of the written submission
- a reference
- the nominator (if any)
The submission can be made in either English or Chinese.
* Reference can be made to the Impact Reporting & Investment Standards (http://iris.thegiin.org/), a common framework for describing the social and environmental performance of an organization.
Entries for the 2012 MaD Award should be submitted via the online entry form on or before 3 October (23.59 Hong Kong time). Submissions received after this time will not be considered, so please do not wait until the last minute to upload your entry.
For enquiries, please email award@MaD.asia or call 852 2560 5226.
Moreinfo: http://www.mad.asia/en/n-mad-award/2012-mad-award
