National Youth Opportunity: ‘Mott Million Dollar Challenge’ Invites Students to Share Big Ideas

Educators across Maine are encouraged to share an exciting national opportunity with their students: the Mott Million Dollar Challenge, a youth pitch competition designed to empower students in grades K-12 to turn big ideas into solutions that make life better.

Funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the Mott Million Dollar Challenge celebrates youth voice, creativity, and entrepreneurial thinking by inviting young people to identify a problem they care about and propose a business idea or social solution. The competition is open to K-12 students across the United States, including those learning in traditional school settings, afterschool and summer programs, community-based organizations, and homeschool environments.

This initiative is supported by national leaders in youth entrepreneurship and learning, including the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, Young Entrepreneur Institute, VentureLab, Afterschool Alliance, and Collaborative Communications. Together, these partners are working to create accessible, engaging opportunities for young people to shine as innovators, problem-solvers, and leaders.

How Students Can Participate

Participation in the Mott Million Dollar Challenge is intentionally simple and low barrier. Students are invited to:

• Identify a problem they care about.
• Create a business idea or social solution.
• Submit a 30-90-second video pitch, filmed straight to camera (with no special equipment required).

Students may participate individually or in teams of up to three; within grade bands K-4, 5-8, or 9-12; and from any learning environment, including school-day instruction, enrichment programs, or at home.

Key Dates

• Submissions open: December 17, 2025
• Submission deadline: February 27, 2026
• Finalists announced: spring 2026
• Final celebration and live-pitch event: June of 2026 (in Flint, Michigan)

The Mott Million Dollar Challenge is designed to align naturally with instructional goals and youth development priorities. This experience supports learning connected to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), entrepreneurship, college and career readiness, and positive youth development, while affirming student voice and confidence.

Educators do not need to design a new program to participate. Instead, they are encouraged to “lift and layer” the challenge into existing classroom lessons, enrichment activities, or project-based learning experiences.

To support participation, the Mott Million Dollar Challenge website offers a suite of free, educator-friendly resources, including:

• A plug-and-play communications toolkit
• Classroom-ready lessons and activities
• Pitch preparation guides and materials

Additional youth-centered resources are available through Mizzen.org.

For more information and access to resources, please visit the Mott Million Dollar Challenge website.