About Rise

Rise is a program that finds promising young people and provides opportunity for life as they work to serve others.

The program starts at ages 15-17 and encourages a lifetime of service and learning by providing support that includes need-based scholarships, mentorship, networking, access to career development opportunities, and the potential for additional funding as Rise Global Winners work toward solving humanity’s most pressing problems.

An initiative of Schmidt Futures and the Rhodes Trust, Rise is the anchor program of a $1 billion commitment from Eric and Wendy Schmidt to find and support global talent.

Rise is for life.
The program starts at ages 15-17 and encourages a lifetime of service and learning by providing support that includes need-based scholarships, mentorship, networking, access to career development opportunities, and the potential for additional funding as Rise Global Winners work toward solving humanity’s most pressing problems.

Rise is a global community.
If one person alone can change the world, imagine what a network of exceptional people can do together throughout their lives. That is the vision of Rise.

Rise looks for brilliance.
We look for brilliance, in whatever form it takes, wherever it is in the world.  From high school classrooms, to refugee camps, to science fairs, we believe that brilliance is equally distributed, but opportunity is not. We’re on a mission to change the odds for the world’s most exceptional people from a young age and throughout their lives.

In 2019, Schmidt Futures co-founders Eric and Wendy Schmidt made a $1 billion philanthropic commitment to identify and support global talent.

Rise, an initiative of Schmidt Futures and the Rhodes Trust, is the anchor program of that commitment. Rise builds on an existing partnership between Schmidt Futures and the Rhodes Trust, including the creation of the Schmidt Science Fellows program. Each organization has realized the power of building a network of exceptional talent, and this partnership allows them both for the first time to focus on reaching a younger audience between the ages of 15 and 17.

Rise depends on trusted partnerships with global institutions that have long been committed to identifying and supporting young people with the potential to build a better world.

We’ve developed collaborations with a broad variety of organizations in the public, private, and social sectors—including schools, universities, nonprofits, advocacy groups, businesses, and others. This network helps us find talented people who may go undiscovered or unsupported otherwise, and connect those future leaders to scholarships, internships, and opportunities around the world.

The world’s most important problems will be solved by the next generation of leaders. Yet too often, the most exceptional people never realize their full potential for global impact. Either they are never discovered, become isolated at a young age, lack access to opportunities to develop their ideas, or face social and economic barriers. 

At the same time, systems for identifying talent—such as universities and employers—too often rely on existing, traditional networks. We’re leaving countless exceptional people on the sidelines.  

If one person alone can change the world, imagine what a network of exceptional people can do together throughout their lives. That is the vision of Rise.

Research shows that there are thousands, if not millions, of exceptional people around the world who could have made a large impact had they been discovered and supported earlier in life. 

Research also shows that the networks and information young people encounter in the final years of secondary school-—before college or entering the workforce—are critical to shaping the direction of their lives. At this time in life, young people are full of creative ideas, unhindered by the reasons something can’t be done, and more willing to work collaboratively. 

The world’s challenges are also bigger and more complex than ever. Today’s generation of young people confront climate change; lack of access to healthy food and safe water; educational setbacks due to COVID-19; and racial, gender, and other inequality. At the same time, we have better tools than ever to solve these problems.  We need a new generation of leaders that can deal with the growing complexity of the world—and that can use the power of new tools and technologies to solve our greatest challenges. 

By identifying emerging talent in all disciplines, we can support people and their ideas as they work on solutions we can't even imagine today. If one person alone can change the world, imagine what a network of exceptional people can do together throughout their lives. That is the vision of Rise.

Everyone who applies joins a global community of leaders and gains access to opportunities from our partners around the world. 

Finalists participate in educational and social impact online learning experiences, offered through Rise, to level up their skills and grow their networks. They also gain access to funding on a competitive basis. 

The Rise Global Winners receive benefits to help them scale their impact. These benefits include a fully-funded residential summit, need-based higher education scholarships, funding for ideas on a competitive basis, access to a network of other Rise Global Winners, starter technology packages, mentorship, and career services.

In addition, the program may provide additional benefits and services to Winners and other members depending on need and funding.

The program provides the following benefits to Rise Global Winners:

• Residential Summit: One fully-funded residential summit with other Rise Global Winners from their cohort—to be held in a rotating location globally. 
• Higher Education Scholarships: A four-year, post-secondary scholarship at any accredited university, including tuition and a living stipend, based on need and where not already covered by financial aid.
• Funding for Ideas on a Competitive Basis: Opportunity to apply for funding for innovative ideas—ranging, for example, from seed money to start a social enterprise to grants for a non-profit. Funds will be designated for these purposes in a total pooled amount of at least $5M/year of the program and will be available competitively to Winners and Finalists
• Network Matching: Access to a network of other Global Winners, community members, and partner organizations, as well as career development programming, delivered primarily through technology (via our matching platform). 
• Starter Technology Packages: Technology packages, such as laptops or tablets, to be determined each year based on budget and individual needs.  
• Mentorship & Career Services: Mentorship to provide personal, academic, or professional guidance, and specialized career services for internships and jobs. 

The application is free, and there is no cost to Rise Global Winners or their families to participate in the Rise program.

The selection process and many subsequent phases of the Rise program will be administered virtually. We intend for each cohort of Rise Global Winners to convene after their selection; however, we are committed to ensuring the safety of all participants and are therefore evaluating the timing for in-person meetings for 2022 and beyond given the coronavirus pandemic.

We are committed to ensuring our application process is as accessible as possible, and we invite you to review our Accessibility Statement.

If you are unable to access the app because your device is not compatible or you have limited data, you can use Rise’s web-browser application. That option can be accessed here. We’re also distributing paper applications on an as-needed basis. Please contact us at paperapp@risefortheworld.org to inquire about this option.

Additionally, Rise is committed to building a diverse and inclusive community that reflects a broad range of backgrounds and experiences. We care about the potential applicants demonstrate in their work, not the opportunities they’ve had so far. We work with partners around the world to find talented young people who may not be discovered otherwise.

If you encounter any obstacles, we want to work with you to provide assistance. Please contact us so we can address any questions or needs that you might have.