Ashoka’s Changemakers and Nike have partnered to open a worldwide search for leading innovations that use sport to improve community, accelerate development and drive social change. The “Sport for a Better World” competition is hosted on Changemakers.net where the most innovative solutions will be collected, debated and improved upon by all who are interested. The competition provides entrants with the opportunity to access resources including new ideas, collaborative partners and investors.

Between September 17th and December 12th, 2007, organisations are invited to submit their proposals to leverage sport for positive social impact. In January 2008, the Changemakers community will vote for three winners from the 12 finalists who will be selected by our panel of judges – a group of influential leaders in the field of sport for social change. The Changemakers Collaborative Competition winners, the three finalists that receive the most votes, will be announced on January 30, 2007 and will each receive a cash prize of US$5,000.

Organisations are invited to join the dialogue, even if they do not enter the competition. All groups and sports enthusiasts can join the online Changemakers community to make suggestions and recommend resources that will help refine and strengthen the strategies presented by competition entrants. Players in the field are encouraged to communicate what they are thinking, how they see the field and where its challenges and opportunities lie.

The competition will be open to all types of organisations (civil society organisations, private companies, or public entities) from all countries. Entries will be considered that reflect the theme of the competition, Sport for a Better World, are at the demonstration stage and that show signs of success. The winners of this Changemakers Collaborative Competition will be those entries that best meet the following criteria: Innovation, Social Impact and Sustainability.

There are three main phases in the competition:

·         Entry Stage – September 17 – December 12, 2007

·         Online Review and Judging – December 12 to January 9, 2008

·         Voting – January 15 to January 29, 2008

Organizations are encouraged to enter before October 24, 2007 to qualify for the Early Entry Prize. The best innovation will win a trip to the Sport for a Better World Change Summit.

For more information on entering, the online review, and voting please visit the following website: http://www.changemakers.net/competition/sports

Ashoka’s Changemakers focuses on the rapidly growing world of social innovation. It provides solutions and resources needed to help everyone become a changemaker and presents compelling stories that explore the fundamental principles of successful social innovation around the world. Changemakers is building the world's first global online "open source" community that competes to surface the best social solutions, and then collaborates to refine, enrich, and implement those solutions. Changemakers begins by providing an overarching intellectual framework for collaborative competitions that bring together individual social change initiatives into a more powerful whole. For more information, visit www.changemakers.net