Program Officer Kristen Molyneaux says MacArthur hopes the December 11th 100&Change: The Finalists Live event elevates more than one project and inspires additional investments that help teams execute their long-term vision.
We are in the final days of preparing for the December 11th 100&Change: The Finalists Live event, the culmination of our inaugural round of the competition. Since naming our four finalists in September, the teams have worked alongside the Foundation to create an engaging in-person experience that will highlight the incredible depth of knowledge, partnerships, and plans for scale that are needed for each team to execute its long-term vision.
While the excitement is building as we draw close to announcing a winner, we are eager to profile finalists and semi-finalists, host donors who will be in Chicago, and inspire the broader public that solutions are possible. During the event, past, current, and (maybe) future donors will have an opportunity to watch compelling presentations, schedule one-on-one meetings, and experience hands-on, small group interactions with finalist teams in breakout sessions.
…the excitement is building as we draw close to announcing a winner….
For MacArthur, The Finalists Live event has always been two-fold. First, to provide an opportunity for MacArthur's Board of Directors to further engage with all finalist teams before making its ultimate decision. Second, to highlight the work of these teams to an array of donors who are interested in funding solutions to our most pressing and urgent problems. For us, it is this second purpose that has driven many aspects of this event. Throughout this process, we have remained focused on ways to leverage our investment, particularly, to bring more attention and funds to evidence-based solutions that are ready to scale. We see the event as a way to bring like-minded and interested donors together to learn, engage, and interact with each other and our top eight teams.
Since launching 100&Change, we have continued to be humbled by the experience. From the early stage investors who provided seed capital for the projects our finalists and semi-finalists developed, to the many funders whose interest has been piqued by these teams. We see our investment as a piece of a larger collective focused on solving problems. It is our hope that the event will elevate more than one project. We hope our funds, and 100&Change as a whole, will leverage the investments that came before us and inspire a set of additional investments that help teams reach their vision—regardless of who MacArthur chooses to support.
Please join us virtually on December 11th.
You can follow the conversation and see video highlights on MacArthur's Facebook and Twitter accounts using the hashtag #100andChange. And in the afternoon, we will post full videos on The Finalists Live event page.
