Changes

[http://www.awesomefoundation.org/en The Awesome Foundation] is a way to celebrate and support the brilliant ideas that every-day people have, and thus create more awesomeness in the universe and at large. They do this Each independently-operated chapter under the Awesome Foundation supports entrepreneurs and innovators by awarding a $1000 grant each month to a really swell idea. ! No strings attached. And AWESOME THINGS COME OF IT!!!&nbsp;<p style="text-align: center;">[[File:Awesome foundation logo 1.jpg]]</p>An Awesome Foundation "Chapter" is born when a group of 10 seemingly normal people (or unruly misfits) come together and agree to pool $100 each of their own money, every month. Some chapters are assisted by more than 10 donors to raise funds for the grant. The self-organized group then collectively decides upon a project to receive their collective $1000.&nbsp;

An Awesome Foundation "Chapter" is born when a group of 10 seemingly normal people (or unruly misfits) come together as 'micro-trustees', and agree to pool $100each of their own money, every month. The self-organized group then collectively decides upon a project to receive their collective $1000. While the Awesome Foundation's first circle of ten originated in Boston, MA in 2009, it has since exploded into a worldwide phenomenon with 89 chapters and 899 in 18 countries. So far, the Awesome Foundation has funded 3081 projects funded (that's $8993,081,000!). Each chapter is completely autonomous, and organized around geographic location or topic of interest, including technology, arts, food, social good, and beyond.

Tim Hwang founded The Awesome Foundation in 2009, to address his frustration with the unavailability of small amounts of funding for small projects. So, he rallied 10 friends to begin this experiment in 'guerilla funding'. In their home-made Foundation, anyone could be eligible for the $1000 grant by submitting a simple 7 question application on their foundation's website.

A few questions found on the application include the following: "Tell us about your awesome project!", "How will you use the money?", and "Tell us a little about yourself". Beyond these questions, applicants are given the opportunity to share photos or websites relevant to their projects.&nbsp; They found that $1000 was a very sweet amount of money- it was small enough that the trustees did not worry about risk in what they were investing in, knowing another month would role roll around fast, but it was plenty of funding to legitimize the awesomeness of a person's idea and motivate them to GO BIG with it (like an activation energy!). The grants began to create great ripple effects in the community; festivals funded once would reoccur annually, people's inventions would receive media coverage and lead to more inventions, and they would find highly commendable applications at home and abroad. Casual tinkerers were becoming bonafide citizen problem solvers! Communities And in their communities, and it didn't take billionaires to get them started.&nbsp;

In 2011, in the wake of the Haiti Earthquake foreign aid scramble, the Foundation established '''[https://www.awesomestudies.org/ <b>The Institute on Higher Awesome Studies'''</b>]&nbsp;with the resounding cry for alternatives to traditional forms of aid,&nbsp;''"Yo, I know this sounds cray-cray. But like, check this argument out..." .&nbsp;''Mainstream aid is plagued with many inefficiencies in short -sighted goals, rigidity and use of outsiders over indigenous resources and knowledge. AF&nbsp;recognized that their flexibility in being a sum of many decentralized small parts allowed them to adapt to tough aid crisis, chapter by chapter, month by month, and empowering task forces native to the areas they are trying to help. These chapters are already cropping up in New Orleans and Detroit.

<span style="font-size: 12px;">## ALL CURRENT AWESOME CHAPTERS ARE CLASSIFIED BY CITY OR TOPIC, NOT BY SCHOOL AFFILIATION (however, many universities' towns are still not in this list!) ##&nbsp;[[File:AF Chicago.jpg|thumb|AF Chicago.jpg]]</span>

Anyone is eligible for a grant - individuals, groups, and organizations alike. Apply to the Awesome Foundation with an idea&nbsp;[http://www.awesomefoundation.org/en/submissions/new here]. The form asks you choose which chapter you want to apply you your idea to. Apply to chapters near you [https://www.awesomefoundation.org/en/chapters here].&nbsp;

You can drop them an email at [[Contact@awesomefoundation.org|c]][[Contact@awesomefoundation.org|ontact@awesomefoundation.org]], follow them on Twitter at [[@awesomefound]], or track them on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/awesomefoundation here].<br/>For info on The Institute on Higher Awesome Studies, check out this [http://civic.mit.edu/blog/natematias/the-institute-on-higher-awesome-studies article] about its founding and their ongoing [http://blog.awesomestudies.org/ blog]. Check out this TEDxBoston talk, The Importance of Being Awesome, given by Trustee Christina Xu:<p style="text-align: center;">{{#Widget:Youtube|id=WThSnniic2s}}</p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><br/>Last updated by: [http://universityinnovation.org/wiki/Mariah_Manzano Mariah Manzano] <br/><br/><br/><br/>

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