9/23/2023 0 Comments Wendy nottinghamwho spent more than a decade at the helm of Google, from 2001 to 2011-initially wanted to seek out math and science geniuses. Eric Schmidt-a Berkeley computer science Ph.D. They knew they needed to find smart youngsters who weren’t on anyone’s radar, and lower their barriers to entry. “If you believe that humanity really can solve the world's hardest problems, then what is it gonna take to get more exceptional people with insight to spend their lives doing that-and to stay with it?” “We were asking ourselves one very hard question,” recalls Eric Braverman, a McKinsey alum and former Clinton Foundation CEO who now runs Schmidt Futures. The idea for Rise was hatched on a plane ride in early 2019, while Eric Schmidt was jetting from the East Coast to attend a meeting in California for his science accelerator program. “What’s so great about the age group is they don’t really know what the edges are.” “This generation has no real sense of boundaries the way older generations have,” says Wendy Schmidt. But it’s one that has the potential to pay off big. In some ways, it’s the ultimate moon shot bet: Pouring big money into backing something as fantastical and fleeting as teenagers’ dreams of changing the world. “There’s a general consensus that great talent appears by age 16, but not by, like, 13 or 14,” Schmidt says. The plan is to invest in these wunderkinds for the long haul: Rise winners can also apply for graduate scholarships, grants for their nonprofits and seed money to start social enterprises. Exactly how much this will all cost, the Schmidts say they don’t really know. They’ll also get to attend a free three-week summit with their peers, scheduled for July in South Africa, and will receive laptops or tablets from the Schmidts to help everyone stay connected. The winners will be getting full-ride college scholarships to any accredited four-year university they choose, plus stipends, mentorship programs and access to other winners. They’re interested in everything from justice reform to biodiversity. These teens speak more than 20 languages and come from 42 countries, including Mexico, Kenya and Afghanistan. Their philanthropic vehicle, Schmidt Futures, got 50,000 applications from around the world, which it then narrowed down to 500 finalists and, after a rigorous interview process, selected 100 winners for the program’s first cohort. Turns out, there’s no shortage of teen talent. So they set out to help level the playing field, partnering with the Rhodes Trust (known for its prestigious Rhodes Scholarship) and dozens of other organizations in 2019 to scour the globe to find brilliant young minds-ages 15 to 17-and help them along.
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