2021: Changemaker Challenge
Students faced a number of issues during this Challenge: a global pandemic, socially distant learning, racial injustice, the environment, and much more. That’s why we invited students to make awards for changemakers in their own backyard. Their awards also helped support changemakers around the world!
Shining a light on those making the world brighter
Students faced a number of issues during this Challenge: a global pandemic, socially distant learning, racial injustice, the environment, and much more. That’s why we invited students to make awards for changemakers in their own backyard. Their awards also helped support changemakers around the world!
$1,000,000
raised of $1,000,000 goal
112,931
creative expressions
84,164
youth engaged
Why the Changemaker Challenge?
Better Together
A changemaker is someone who takes creative action to solve a social problem.* Anyone can be a changemaker: Maybe a changemaker is a parent or grandparent, aunt, or uncle. They could be a neighbor or classmate that has made a difference. Their changemaker may be a teacher, community organizer, doctor, librarian, or friend that rises up to help. A changemaker could be someone you admire but haven’t met. It might even be you!
*Definition from Ashoka.org.
A Different Kind of Award
A blue ribbon for being kind. A gold medal for good neighbors. A silver star for speaking up. A badge of honor for brave leadership and activism. Instead of honoring a famous musician or athlete, we invited students to make awards for changemakers in their local communities and to support other changemakers all around the world.
Scale Change
First, students learned about changemakers. Next, students created awards using whatever materials available and shared their awards with us. For every award we received, the Bezos Family Foundation will donated $5 ($1,000,000 in total!) to programs supporting changemakers in the U.S. and around the world.
The programs your art helps fund
For each Students Rebuild annual Project, we partner with high-impact organizations working on the ground to help strengthen communities worldwide—many of them household names. The funds we donate transform student work into immediate, on-the-ground progress for carefully vetted programs that are evaluated according to the outcomes they produce. In addition to extending our reach and helping our funding make more of a difference, our partners also inform the resources we provide to teachers and students.
- Impact Partners
- Participation Partners
