Visit Website

Organization Name: The Rise Prize

Focus Area: Adult Learners

Region: United States

Investment Year: 2020

Status: Alumni

Imaginable Futures and Lumina Foundation, along with a group of leading partner organizations, launched the Rise Prize to award $1.5M in combined prizes to impact driven changemakers working on solutions that accelerate the post-secondary success of student parents. The Rise Prize aims to increase awareness of the unique needs of student parents and to grow the number of effective solutions that address the needs of student parents.

Why We Invested

When student parents rise, we all rise – that’s why we call them Risers. Of the 17 million students enrolled in US undergraduate degree programs, nearly 1 in 4 are Risers. Even more are accessing vocational, workforce, and other pathway programs. Risers are courageous, resourceful, and duly motivated to achieve postsecondary success, both for themselves and for their families, but face multiple systemic barriers. This is why we launched the Rise Prize, along with Lumina Foundation and 10 leading partners - to bring Risers to the forefront, build new innovative solutions, and tailor existing solutions to better serve them. With the right solutions, Risers can achieve their postsecondary dreams, leading to improved academic gains for their children, increased personal and societal economic benefits and overall family well-being.

You might also be interested to learn about:

Life before the pandemic was not working for most student parents. Now, to survive through the pandemic, the higher education field was forced to adapt and innovate quickly.

Even before the pandemic, Edquity was supporting students experiencing financial emergencies. Since March, it has scaled up efforts to reach more students in crisis, many of whom are student parents.

Student parent judges Lesley Del Rio and Ariel Ventura-Lazo chose College Unbound to receive the $100,000 Risers’ Choice prize. In this Q&A, we find out why and what made College Unbound stand out.

In this Q&A, we asked the team behind Morehouse College’s Fathers to the Finish Line Initiative to share the inspiration behind their program and their experience participating in the Rise Prize.

Winning solutions of the Rise Prize, announced in early July, embodied the 6 C’s for improving the success of student parents. We highlight how the winning solutions fit into the framework.

Student parent judges Lesley Del Rio and Ariel Ventura-Lazo chose College Unbound to receive the $100,000 Risers’ Choice prize. In this Q&A, we find out why and what made College Unbound stand out.

Twenty-six finalists from more than 300 applications are selected for innovative solutions that support student parent success, in a joint initiative of Imaginable Futures and Lumina Foundation.

We have a keen eye on how the strengths of student parents can improve the academic outcomes of not only their children, but also will have a broader societal impact.

We need bold ideas now more than ever to help student parents not only survive this crisis, but thrive today and in the future.

Awarding $1 million in combined prizes to 10 innovative ideas supporting parents’ postsecondary education success.

Organization Name: The Rise Prize

Why We Invested

You might also be interested to learn about:

Thank You

Thanks for signing up for email communications from Imaginable Futures. We look forward to connecting with you.

Thank you!

You are now subscribed to our newsletter.We invite you to explore our website, our latest learnings and to also follow us on social media for weekly updates.

You are now subscribed to our newsletter.
We invite you to explore our website, our latest learnings and to also follow us on social media for weekly updates.