The Audacious Project is a collaborative funding initiative between TED and non-profits that convenes funders and social entrepreneurs in order to scale solutions to the world's most urgent challenges. In 2018, The TED Prize was recast as The Audacious Project.
Details The TED Prize was a prize commissioned by the American media organization TED Conferences. It ran from 2005 to 2017, culminating in a prize amount of $1 million. In 2018, The TED Prize was recast as The Audacious Project.
TED described the change as:
a new model to launch big, inspiring ideas with the potential to affect millions of lives. Housed at TED, the Audacious Project brings together a powerful coalition of nonprofit organizations and individual donors with members of the public, allowing them to pool resources and work together in service of change-making ideas. An ambitious scale-up of the TED Prize's mission, The Audacious Project will increase impact by many orders of magnitude.The Audacious Project is supported by The Bridgespan Group, but lists many more organizations as its partners, including Virgin Unite and the Gates Foundation. According to TED, the project has helped participants raise $4.6 billion USD in funding.
Winners Unlike the original TED Prize, The Audacious Project awards a number of different winners each year. The nomenclature has also changed from 'winners' to 'Big Ideas'. +The Audacious Project Big IdeasYearBig IdeasOrganization2018What if we hit the brakes on climate change by tracking gas emissions from space?Environmental Defense FundWhat if a million Black women launched a health revolution?GirlTrekWhat if we digitally empowered community health workers to make care available to all?Living Goods + Last Mile HealthWhat if we supported millions of African farmers in growing more food — for themselves and the world?One Acre FundWhat if we eliminated a disease that has blinded people for thousands of years?SightsaversWhat if we ended the injustice of automatic jail time for those who can’t afford bail?The Bail ProjectWhat if we explored the ocean’s vast twilight zone, teeming with undiscovered life?Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution2019What if science could eliminate racial bias in policing?Center for Policing EquityWhat if we could empower more than one million girls to enter the classroom?Educate GirlsWhat if we could harness the power of proteins to create the next generation of medicines and materials?Institute for Design ProteinWhat if plants can help slow climate change?Salk Institute for Biological StudiesWhat if we could massively reduce disease from parasitic worms in Africa?The End FundWhat if island nations’ debt could be restructured to protect vast areas of ocean?The Nature ConservancyWhat if we could eliminate child sexual abuse from the internet?ThornWhat if every child came to school on day one ready to learn?Upstart Project2020What if we could harness AI to tackle the looming antibiotic resistance crisis?The Collins Lab and MIT Jameel ClinicDecoding the communication of whales with advanced machine learning and state-of-the-art robotics Project CETIA global surveillance network to stop the next pandemic before it startsACEGID + Broad InstituteLifting the world’s poorest people out of ultra-povertyBRACDelivering mental health support to anyone, anywhere via text messageCrisis Text LineSupporting humanitarian response by mapping areas home to one billion peopleHumanitarian OpenStreetMap TeamSupporting millions of African farmers to lift themselves and their communities out of povertyOne Acre FundLeveraging medicine donation to make life-saving prescriptions more affordable for all AmericansSIRUM2021Strengthening local election administration in the USCenter for Tech and Civic LifeHarnessing people centered technology to transform the US social safety netCode for AmericaEnding polluting road transport in time to avoid a climate crisisDrive Electric CampaignBuilding critical mental health support and access in Central America's Northern TriangleGlasswing InternationalUnlocking legal rights so that refugees can resettle safelyInternational Refugee Assistance ProjectGiving smallholder farmers the power to invest in themselvesMyagroTraining family caregiver to help their loved ones healNoora HealthSecuring land for Indigenous Peoples - for justice and our climateTenure FacilityIntegrating permafrost into our global solution for climate changeWoodwell Climate Research Center2022Accelerating scientific discovery and the development of COVID-19 vaccines and treatmentsFast GrantsRemotely delivering cash support to the world's most poor during the pandemicGiveDirectlyScaling emergency relief to Black communities hardest hit by COVID-19Harlem Children's ZoneRapidly increasing the scale, speed, and effectiveness of contact tracing in the USPartners In HealthA virtual mentoring platform to better equip health workers around the world in the fight against COVID-19Project EchoHelping US cities provide immediate food relief during the pandemic while supporting local restaurantsWorld Central Kitchen2023Helping girls in Sub-Saharan Africa thrive in school - and beyondCamfedScaling next-generation solutions to save ancient forestsCanopyClearing arrest and conviction records to unlock opportunityClean Slate InitiativeSafeguarding the ocean by making human activity at sea visibleGlobal Fishing WatchEngineering microbiomes with CRISPR to improve our climate and healthInnovative Genomics InstituteUnlocking life-enhancing benefits for domestic migrant workersJan SahasAccelerating renewable energy for a climate-secure futureRenew2030Accelerating locally-led land restoration of Africa's vital landscapes and forestsRestore LocalTransforming foster care in the US through the power of lived experienceThink of UsIncreasing equitable access to high-quality contraceptive careUpstream USA2024Protecting humanity by monitoring AI for dangerous capabilitiesMETR and RANDFinding truth and justice for the missing through forensic technologyEquipo Argentino de Antropología ForenseLeveraging AI to repurpose generic drugs and save patients' livesEvery CureCreating a blueprint to fight classroom hunger across AfricaFood4EducationPulling the emergency brake on global warming through methane mitigationGlobal Methane HubBuilding a lifeline for the world's coral reefsGreat Barrier Reef FoundationInvesting in refugee communities through entrepreneurshipInkomokoProtecting the world's tropical forests and promoting sustainable land use with free, detailed mapsMapBiomasTransforming US public safety through resident-powered crime preventionThe Community Based Public Safety Collective and the Alliance for Safety and JusticeEngaging communities across the US to redesign their schoolsTranscend2025The world's first high-utility virtual cell, an AI-model accelerating medical breakthroughsArc InstituteAn initiative to close the college-to-career gap for low-income and first-generation college students in the United StatesBravenA rugged learning solution that empowers children across Sub-Saharan Africa to achieve their full potentialImagine WorldwideAn initiative to prevent unsafe abortion by removing systemic, legal, and social barriers to careIpasAn ambitious plan to reduce plastic production and foster a reuse-based circular economyPlastic Solutions FundA plan to combat lead poisoning at global scale and protect 500 million childrenPure EarthA proven prevention model redefining how the United States confronts homelessness by acting before in happensDestination: HomeAn initiative to transform maritime trade from stern to bow, breaking dependency on fossil fuelsSolutions for Our ClimateIntercepting 1/3 of river plastic before it reaches oceansThe Ocean CleanupStigma-free care empowering adolescent girls in Sub-Saharan Africa against unintended pregnancy, HIV, and sexual violenceTiko
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