ChallengeUS is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN 93-4475161) that describes itself as award-winning and UN-accredited and runs global civic competitions for students, reporting 1,900 students reached across 120 countries. Its Future Leaders Competition runs in two cycles a year: a summer cycle opening 1 June, and a winter cycle that opened 10 November in the last round. The Summer 2026 cycle is run with New Voters, a student-run organization — over 90 per cent of its team is under 20 — that runs nonpartisan voter-registration drives in United States high schools, and asks entrants what experiences shaped their belief in whether they can make a difference.
Entrants answer in one of four categories — creative writing, analytical writing, speech or art — and everything is submitted online, so no travel is involved. Five students are recognized per cycle: one Grand Prize Winner plus four Category Winner honourable mentions. The competition page lists no entry fee.
Benefits & funding
- Grand Prize Winner: USD 1,000, publication in the Stanford Political Review, a biographical article written by ChallengeUS, and a Certificate of Achievement.
- Four Category Winner honourable mentions, one per category: a Certificate of Achievement, a biographical article, and publication of the entry by ChallengeUS. Five students in total are recognized each cycle.
- Selected participants gain access to the global ChallengeUS Future Leaders Network, the organizer’s community of young changemakers.
- No entry fee is listed anywhere on the competition page; all four submissions go through free online forms.
Eligibility
- Students currently enrolled in an accredited high school, or in an undergraduate college or university, residing in any country.
- Students on an academic gap year or gap semester are eligible. Homeschooled students are eligible.
- The eligibility list names high school and undergraduate enrolment only; graduate study is not named.
- All submissions, written or spoken, must be in English.
- No nationality, residency, age or gender condition applies.
- Entrants from earlier cycles may enter again, except anyone who has won first place in a previous ChallengeUS competition.
- Any use of AI, and any plagiarism, is strictly prohibited and results in automatic disqualification.
Can you apply?
Here's who can apply
Decoded from the official rules. A free account checks them against your passport, degree and age in seconds.
Education required
High School · Bachelor Enrolled
Appears to have an age limit “under 20”
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Application process
- 1Read this cycle’s prompt: what experiences shaped the entrant’s belief in whether they can make a difference.
- 2Choose a category — creative writing (1,250 words), analytical writing (1,250 words; if research is used, any citation style is accepted and citations do not count toward the limit), speech (10 minutes) or art.
- 3Prepare the file in the required format: PDF for both writing categories, set in 11 or 12 point Times New Roman or Arial; MP4 for a speech video; PDF, JPEG or PNG for art. Audio, video and image quality is expected to be clear.
- 4Submit through the online form for that category, linked on the competition page — each category has its own form. Entering several categories is welcomed and encouraged, though a winner is recognized in one category only.
- 5To revise before the deadline, submit again through the same form; the latest submission counts as final.
- 6Submit by 7 August 2026. No exceptions to the deadline are granted. Questions go to admin@challengeusnow.org.
Program timeline
Submissions open
1 June 2026
Submission deadline
7 August 2026
Results published on the competition page
End of October 2026