Rules

Understand the legal rules governing the competition.

Thank you for your interest in Racial Equity 2030 (the “Challenge”). The Challenge is sponsored by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (the “Challenge Sponsor”) with program support from Lever for Change and platform support provided by RAMPIT.  By participating in the Challenge and in accordance with these rules governing the Challenge (“Rules”), the applying entity (the Applicant, as defined below) is eligible to receive various forms of recognition and a possible Award of up to US$20 million from the Challenge Sponsor. The Rules are stated here as an extension of the Terms & Conditions ("Terms") for use of this website (“Website”) and are “Rules” as defined in the Terms for all purpose thereunder.

"Applicant" means an Entity that meets the eligibility requirements of the Challenge and that submits or proposes to submit an Entry to the Challenge. “User” means any individual who has registered a User Account on this Website. The term "User" includes, without limitation, any individual who accesses or uses this Website on behalf of an Applicant or other Entity.  The full Terms are available for your review by accessing them on this Website. The Rules constitute "Challenge Terms & Conditions" under Clause 2.3 of the Terms. Capitalized words used but not defined in these Rules have meanings given to them in the Terms.

Please read these Rules and the Terms carefully, as they describe the conditions under which the Applicant is allowed to participate. Applicants may periodically be asked to recognize acceptance of these Rules and the Terms by clicking "accept" at various pages on this Website, but by continuing any use of this Website an Applicant expressly consents to all of these Rules and the Terms.

SUBMISSION OF AN ENTRY IN THE CHALLENGE CONSTITUTES FULL AND UNCONDITIONAL AGREEMENT TO AND ACCEPTANCE OF THESE RULES.

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR TO RECEIVE AN AWARD.

1. Eligibility

The Challenge Sponsor welcomes Entries from organizations or entities that have a recognized legal existence and structure under applicable law and that are in good standing in the jurisdiction in which they are organized.

Individuals are not eligible to apply.

Applicants may be required to certify that the laws of their governing jurisdiction do not prohibit or restrict the receipt of an Award under this Challenge. The Challenge Sponsor reserves the right to reject an Entry if, in the Challenge Sponsor's sole discretion, the laws of the governing jurisdiction applicable to the organization would prohibit or limit the Challenge Sponsor from proceeding with the Challenge as intended or the consideration or making of any Award would impose additional administrative, tax, operational, or legal burdens on the Challenge Sponsor.

Applicants that are not recognized as charitable organizations or their equivalent under United States law must ensure that any Award will be used solely for charitable purposes and will not result in more than incidental private benefit to shareholders or other people, organizations, or entities and that the incidental benefit is a necessary by-product of the accomplishment of the charitable purpose.  The Challenge Sponsor will evaluate this on a case-by-case basis.  [Note: Lever for Change has provided a guidance webinar that addresses many of the general questions that applicants may have regarding these issues.  Applicants should consult their own legal counsel for more information and analysis.]

There is no required minimum budgetary size of an Applicant.  Public charity Applicants should consult their attorney or accountant to determine whether accepting an Award would jeopardize the Applicants' public charity status.

2. Collaborations

Applicants are welcome to collaborate with other organizations to implement the Project.

Applicants proposing to work with other organizations must demonstrate through a fully-executed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) or other similar agreement, executed by all parties, that if chosen as an Awardee, all parties have agreed that a single eligible entity or organization (i.e. the Applicant) will accept the Award and will have direction, control, and supervision of the Project and management of the Award and be responsible for all reporting requirements. While MOUs will not be collected in the initial Entry materials, MOUs may be requested at any time and will be required for Applicants that are selected as Finalists.

3. Multiple Entries from a Single Applicant

An Applicant can submit only one Entry. However, regional or location-specific branches of larger organizations, as well as departments, schools, and nonprofits within or based in a college/university, can each register and submit an Entry separately as the Applicant, as long as the proposed solutions are different and separate. There should be no overlap in team members. The intent of this policy is to ensure that any Applicant is concentrating its best effort into a single Entry. Overlapping membership of advisory boards is permitted. All this said, the Challenge Sponsor encourages each Applicant to select a single project that best represents its ability to deliver a solution that meets the scoring criteria.

4. Ineligible persons or entities

Individuals are not eligible to apply.

Employees, board members, managers, members and owners of the Challenge Sponsor, Lever for Change, RAMPIT, The Common Pool, LLC, and any of their subsidiaries and affiliates, and immediate family members (spouse, parent, grandparent, child, grandchild, sibling and their respective spouses, regardless of where they live) or persons living in the same households of such employees, board members, managers, members and owners, are not eligible to participate as part of an Applicant team.

5. Prohibited Use of Award Funds

Award funds must be used for the Project for which they are awarded, and may not be used:

Funds may be subgranted from an Applicant to implement the proposed solution, but not for general funds used for broader purposes.

No Award may be used for Projects that include lobbying.  Awards may, however, be used for non-lobbying advocacy activities.  There is no limit to the amount of an Award that an Applicant may use for non-lobbying advocacy activities. Please see the Lobbying Guidance for this Challenge for more information.

6. Indirect Costs

While general operating support is not allowed, the Challenge Sponsor recognizes that Applicants may have overhead costs that are not directly attributable to the Project but are necessary to carry out the Project. The Challenge Sponsor will consider paying for these indirect costs up to a maximum of 29% of direct project or activity costs. Each Applicant must ensure that any requested indirect costs are accounted for in its budget in the Entry. Please see the Indirect Cost Guidance for this Challenge for more information.

7. Guidance Related to Non-Charitable Applicants

Awards must be used solely for charitable purposes and may not result in impermissible private benefit to other people, organizations, or entities, other than incidental benefit that is a necessary byproduct of the accomplishment of the charitable purpose.  Applicants are encouraged to consult with qualified legal counsel.

8. Financial and Organizational Capacity

All Applicants must demonstrate their financial and organizational capacity to carry out the Project and to appropriately manage any Award.

9. Treatment and Use of Intellectual Property

By submitting an Entry, an Applicant represents and warrants that the Entry is an original work created solely by the Applicant, that the Applicant owns all Intellectual Property Rights in and to the Entry, and that no other party has any right, title, claim or interest in or to the Entry, except as expressly identified by the Applicant in writing in its Entry.

Projects may result in inventions, discoveries, designs, reports, analyses, papers, research, software, data sets, curriculums, books, films, television or radio programs, or other work products or works of authorship (collectively, “Work Product”). All Work Product must be used to further charitable purposes and benefit the public, and all funds from sales or licenses of Work Product must be used exclusively for educational and charitable purposes and must not inure to the benefit of any individual or noncharitable entity. The Applicant will ordinarily retain ownership of Intellectual Property Rights in Work Product, make Work Product broadly available to the public at no cost or minimal cost, and grant the Challenge Sponsor a no-cost, assignable license to use, publish, distribute, display, perform, reproduce, copy, modify and prepare derivative works based upon the Work Product for non-commercial purposes. The Challenge Sponsor may consider other arrangements with respect to Work Product on a case-by-case basis. Each Grant Agreement (as defined below) will include terms consistent with the foregoing, which may vary based on the nature of the Project, the organization receiving the Award, and other factors as determined by the Challenge Sponsor.

10. Grant Agreement

Successful Applicants that are chosen as Finalists, and successful Finalists that are chosen as Awardees, will be required, prior to receiving an Award, to enter into grant agreements with the Challenge Sponsor containing key terms and conditions (each, a “Grant Agreement”), which terms and conditions are separate from these Rules, and the Terms posted on this Website for the Challenge. No Applicant may receive an Award without entering into a corresponding Grant Agreement.

NOTE: Each Grant Agreement may vary, depending on the nature of the Project, the organization receiving the Award, and the Challenge Sponsor.

11. Reporting

Any Finalist or Awardee that enters into a Grant Agreement to receive funding will be required to report progress towards milestones and other goals. Those reporting requirements may vary, based on the organization and the Project, and will be determined by the Challenge Sponsor. However, a minimum of one financial report per year and one narrative report per year will be required.

12. Other Rules

12.1 All Entries must be in English.

12.2 Each Applicant must complete registration to participate in the Challenge. Individuals representing an applicable organization must be 18 years of age or older at the time of entry to participate.

12.3 The Entry must meet the application requirements stipulated on this Website. All Applicants are required to register in advance of any deadlines for the submission of an Entry and must comply with all other deadlines posted on this Website. No Entry may contain, in the sole and unfettered discretion of Challenge Sponsor and/or RAMPIT, obscene, provocative, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable or inappropriate content. Challenge Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, modify or suspend Challenge in whole or in part without liability to any Applicant. Challenge Sponsor and/or RAMPIT also reserve the right to disqualify any Applicant from participating.

12.4 By participating in the Challenge, each Applicant represents, warrants, and agrees that:

12.5 An Applicant may participate by registering, but an Applicant may not register more than one true and uniform identity; multiple registrations for an Applicant using multiple identities are not allowed. Challenge Sponsor, Lever for Change, and/or RAMPIT reserve the right to disqualify any Entry made by an Applicant violating this limitation, regardless of whether all of the respective parties had knowledge of such violation. Each Applicant may submit at most one Entry.

12.6 Upon submitting an Entry, the Entry will be subjected to an administrative review to ensure compliance with all of the requirements. Qualified Entries will then be distributed to other Applicants during a peer-to-peer assessment of those Entries (“Peer-to-Peer Review”). If an Entry qualifies for Peer-to-Peer Review, the Applicant will be required to assess at least five (5) other Entries. If an Applicant does not complete those assessments, using the tools and process described on this Website, the Applicant’s participation in the Challenge may be terminated. Based on normalized scores from each Peer-to-Peer Review, a rank order of the Entries will be populated. The top-scoring Entries will advance to the next phase of review.

12.7 The top-scoring Entries as determined by the Peer-to-Peer Review will advance to a review by a panel (the “Evaluation Panel”) consisting of experts who are identified on this Website (“Judges”). Each of the top-scoring Entries will be assessed by an Evaluation Panel of five Judges, who will be assigned to score these Entries either randomly or after considering any potential conflicts of interest, using the scoring rubric that is described on this Website. In cases where a Judge indicates any potential conflict of interest, the Entry will be assigned to another Judge. Based on normalized scores from each Evaluation Panel review, a rank order of the Entries will be populated.

12.8 Once a rank order of Entries has been populated from the Evaluation Panel review, up to ten (10) top Applicants will be named as Finalists. Of these Finalists, up to five (5) will be named Awardees, with up to three (3) Applicants receiving an Awards of up to US$20 million and up to two (2) Applicants receiving an Award of up to US$10 million. The Challenge Sponsor will review and discuss the top entries and will determine the Finalists and Awardees using criteria that may incorporate considerations beyond the Judges’ reviews.

If a Finalist is unable to fully participate in the next phase of the Challenge, then it may forfeit its designation as Finalist, and the next Applicant in the rank order of Entries may be named a Finalist in its place. Final determination of Finalists and the Awardees rests with the Challenge Sponsor.

12.9 While RAMPIT, LLC (“RAMPIT”) is providing an online platform for Applicants’ participation, RAMPIT is not responsible for the payment of any Award(s). Payment of any Award(s) is the sole responsibility of the Challenge Sponsor and its designees, and under the Terms each Applicant has agreed to look solely to the Challenge Sponsor for the payment of any Award.

12.10 By submitting an Entry, the Applicant agrees to release, discharge and hold harmless the Challenge Sponsor, Lever for Change, The Common Pool, LLC, and RAMPIT, their respective partners, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising agencies, and agents (including but not limited to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Trust), and each of their respective employees, officers, directors, and representatives from any Loss arising out of its participation in the Challenge and/or the offer, acceptance, payment, receipt, use, misuse, or possession of any Award(s). Neither the Challenge Sponsor, Lever for Change, The Common Pool, LLC, nor RAMPIT assume responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, or delay in operation or transmission; communications line failure; theft or destruction of or unauthorized access to Entries or entry forms; or alteration of Entries or entry forms. Neither the Challenge Sponsor, Lever for Change, The Common Pool, LLC, nor RAMPIT are responsible for any problems with or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any Entry to be received on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or any website, human errors of any kind, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to any Applicants’ or any other persons’ computers related to or resulting from participation, uploading or downloading of any materials related to this Challenge. In the event of a dispute about the identity of any Applicant, an online registration will be declared as if made by the authorized account holder of the e-mail address submitted at time of entry.

12.11 THIS CHALLENGE IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR UNLAWFUL. Applicants agree that this Challenge shall be subject to and governed by the laws of the United States of America and the forum of any dispute shall be in the courts of the United States of America.

12.12 If for any reason the Challenge is not capable of running as planned, due to infection by computer virus, bugs, worms, Trojan horses, denial of service, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures or any other causes beyond the control of RAMPIT that corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Challenge, RAMPIT reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual(s) who tamper with the process, and/or to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the Challenge. If Challenge Sponsor and/or RAMPIT terminates the Challenge, it will not retain any rights in the submitted Entries.

12.13 The Challenge Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any Applicant who is found to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of Racial Equity 2030, to be acting in violation of these Rules or the Terms, or to be acting in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner, or with the intent to disrupt or undermine the legitimate operation of Racial Equity 2030, or to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass any other person.

12.14 Entry into Racial Equity 2030 does not constitute entry into any other Lever for Change challenge, RAMPIT challenge, or promotion that may be offered by the Challenge Sponsor and/or its affiliates.

12.15 Challenge Sponsor and/or RAMPIT reserve the right to disqualify any participant who violates these Rules, the Terms and any standards of behavior expressed or implied in them.

12.16 The names of the Finalists and Awardees will be posted on this Website for such period of time as the Challenge Sponsor deems reasonable.

Contact Information

Any questions or comments about these Rules should be directed here.