Global Citizen is a movement that inspires and empowers millions of people around the world to learn and take action in support of the most critical issues facing humanity. We work with global artists, influencers, and sports figures, to use their voice to create change and achieve our mission of ending extreme poverty. This leads corporate, government, and philanthropic leaders to make commitments in support of achieving the Global Goals. Global Citizen is a powerful social advocacy platform that has inspired real change impacting the lives of more than 1 billion people.

Alex Waislitz is the founder of the Waislitz Foundation. The Waislitz foundation exists to create a positive social impact locally and globally through innovative projects that empower individuals to meet their full potential and make a measurable difference to the world.

Entrants aged eighteen (18) years of age or older from anywhere in the world are eligible to apply for the awards. 

No, applicants must apply for the awards themselves.

The awards are for individuals or individual representatives of organizations. The prize will be awarded to an individual, but the money will be allocated to the organization that the individual works for.

No. We accept applications from any individual who is doing impactful work and who has a registered legal entity such as non-profit, for-profit, B-corp, social enterprise, etc.

We are glad you are passionate about making a difference in the global community. However, these awards are for individuals who have demonstrated impact towards ending extreme poverty over a minimum of 1-2 years.

Please reference the Global Citizen Manifesto

The application opens for submissions at 10:00AM PST on Tuesday, May 6th, 2025 and closes at 5:00pm PST on Sunday, June 8th 2025.

Unfortunately, at this time we are only able to accept applications in English.
You are welcome to draft your application in another language and send us a translation. We are judging you on the criteria, not your expression.

Entrants will be evaluated based on individual merit, including the following five (5) key areas

• GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP: How does the applicant embody and exemplify the values and practices of a Global Citizen? (See Global Citizen manifesto)
• PROOF OF CONCEPT: Does the applicant have a strong proof of concept with at least 1-2 years of impact towards ending extreme poverty? 
• DISRUPTION: Has the applicant created measurable impact in an innovative manner that disrupts the systems that allow for extreme poverty to exist?
• SCALABILITY: How would this award enable/support the applicant to scale or improve their work? 
• ADAPTABILITY: Can the applicant demonstrate examples of their ability to adapt and evolve to changing conditions?

The Global Citizen Waislitz Award grand prize is a cash prize of $100,000 USD. 

Entrants will be evaluated based on individual merit, including the following five (5) key areas

• GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP: How does the applicant embody and exemplify the values and practices of a Global Citizen? (See Global Citizen manifesto)
• PROOF OF CONCEPT: Does the applicant have a strong proof of concept with at least 1-2 years of impact towards ending extreme poverty? 
• DISRUPTION: Has the applicant created measurable impact in an innovative manner that disrupts the systems that allow for extreme poverty to exist?
• SCALABILITY: How would this award enable/support the applicant to scale or improve their work?
• ADAPTABILITY: Can the applicant demonstrate examples of their ability to adapt and evolve to changing conditions?

The grand prize winner will be selected by the Waislitz Foundation based on the five (5) criteria listed above.

There are two additional prizes at $100,000 each: the Global Citizen Waislitz Disruptor Award, and  the Global Citizens’ Choice Waislitz Award 

Entrants will be evaluated based on individual merit, including the following five (5) key areas:

• GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP: How does the applicant embody and exemplify the values and practices of a Global Citizen? (See Global Citizen manifesto)
• PROOF OF CONCEPT: Does the applicant have a strong proof of concept with at least 1-2 years of impact towards ending extreme poverty? 
• DISRUPTION: Has the applicant created measurable impact in an innovative manner that disrupts the systems that allow for extreme poverty to exist?
• SCALABILITY: How would this award enable/support the applicant to scale or improve their work? 
• ADAPTABILITY: Can the applicant demonstrate examples of their ability to adapt and evolve to changing conditions?
• The Waislitz Global Citizen Disruptor Award will be awarded to an individual who excels in the “Disruption” criteria.

The Waislitz Global Citizens’ Choice Award will be selected with input from public online voting by the Global Citizen community.

Applicants will be judged against criteria by a group of judges appointed by Global Citizen.

10 semi-finalists will be selected and notified on or around June 20th, 2025. Those semi-finalists will move forward to a public vote and final round of judging.

From the semi-finalists, 3 winners will be selected by the Waislitz foundation and notified on or around July 15th 2025.

If you are selected as a semi-finalist, we will reach out to you to request a headshot and bio for the public vote. We may also request supplemental financial information.

The public vote is a factor in determining the Waislitz Global Citizens’ Choice Award but not the only factor. The winner will be chosen by the Waislitz Foundation taking into account the results of the public vote and the five (5) criteria listed previously. 

You will be notified of your application status on or around July 16th, 2025. 

No. Any award money is unconditional. However, we do require winners to agree to provide regular written updates to Global Citizen and the Waislitz Foundation on their use of the cash prize.

If you have any questions that are not answered on the awards’ information page or in these FAQs, please email youthprize@globalcitizen.org. Regretfully, we will only be able to respond to questions not answered here.