Thank you for your interest in the Equality Can’t Wait Challenge (the “Competition”). The Competition is sponsored by Pivotal Ventures, LLC (“Pivotal Ventures”) and other contributing entities (collectively, the “Competition Sponsor”) with program support from Lever for Change and platform support provided by RAMPIT. In this Competition, each Entity meeting the Eligibility requirements described below can submit an Entry that will be judged against all other eligible Entries to determine which of up to ten Entities shall receive a Finalist Award and which of those ten Entities will also receive one of three Grand Awards. The Finalist Awards and the Grand Awards are referred to collectively as the “Awards” and are described further in Section 10.9 of these RULES. The Competition Sponsor will directly make Awards following the completion of the Competition.

The Rules governing this Competition ("RULES") are stated here as an extension of the Terms & Conditions ("TERMS") for use of this Website. “You" means the person, team, or organization team using the Website, including a User, or an Entity duly organized and validly existing under state or federal law in the United States of America that is represented on the Website by a User that is a person at least 18 years of age who is the duly authorized representative of such Entity. The full TERMS are available for your review by accessing them on this Website. These RULES constitute "Competition Terms & Conditions" under Clause 2.3 of the TERMS. Capitalized words used but not defined in the RULES have meanings given to them in the TERMS.

Please read these RULES and the TERMS carefully, as they describe the conditions under which you are allowed to participate. As you participate, you may periodically be asked to recognize your acceptance of these RULES and the TERMS by clicking "accept" at various pages on this website, but by continuing any use of this website you expressly consent to all of these RULES and the TERMS.

SUBMISSION OF AN ENTRY IN THE EQUALITY CAN’T WAIT CHALLENGE CONSTITUTES FULL AND UNCONDITIONAL AGREEMENT TO AND ACCEPTANCE OF THESE RULES AND THE TERMS.

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR TO WIN.

1. Eligibility

The Competition is open to organizations that are any of the following:

• An entity under section 501(c)(3) and 509(a)(1) or (2) of the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”) that has received a tax determination letter from the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”).
• A private foundation under section 501(c)(3) of the IRC that has received a tax determination letter from the IRS.
• A tribal government or tribal-owned enterprise.
• A public university, junior college or college.

Eligible organizations are welcome to partner with for-profit companies, foundations, schools, colleges and universities, government agencies, individuals, and other entities in order to implement the initiative.

2. Ineligible persons or entities

The following organizations are not eligible to apply for or participate in the Equality Can’t Wait Challenge as Competitors:

• Individuals.
• Government agencies, except as specified in rule 1 above.
• For-profit corporations, limited liability companies, and partnerships.
• Benefit corporations.

The foregoing entities may act as a partner to any team that is led by an eligible organization that meets the above eligibility criteria.

Employees of each Competition Sponsor, Lever for Change, RAMPIT, The Common Pool, LLC, and any of their subsidiaries and affiliates, and immediate family members (spouse, parent, child, sibling and their respective spouses, regardless of where they live) or persons living in the same households of such employees, are not eligible.

3. Guidance Related to Charitable Use

Awards funds must be used for the charitable purposes described in the Entry, and will not result in private benefit to other people, organizations, or entities other than incidental benefit that is a necessary byproduct of the accomplishment of the Entry’s charitable purpose.

4. Financial and Organizational Capacity

All applicants must demonstrate their financial and organizational capacity to carry out the proposed project and to appropriately manage any Award.

5. Treatment and Use of Intellectual Property

Each application should reflect the anticipated ownership, use, and licensing of any intellectual property. You represent and warrant that your Entry is an original work created solely by You, that You own all Intellectual Property in and to the Entry, and that no other party has any right, title, claim or interest in the Entry, except as expressly identified by You to us in writing in Your application. You retain all right, title and interest in any inventions, software or work of authorship You invent or create. The ownership and use of intellectual property arising from this competition remains with You.

6. Prohibited Use of Award Funds

Award funds must be used for the project described in the Entry for which they are awarded, and may not be used:

• For non-charitable purposes;
• To carry on propaganda or otherwise to attempt to influence legislation within the meaning of Internal Revenue Code Section 4945(d)(1);
• To influence the outcome of any specific public election, or to carry on, directly or indirectly, any voter registration drive within the meaning of Internal Revenue Code Section 4945(d)(2);
• To make a grant to any individual for travel, study, or other similar purposes, or to make a grant to any organization, except in compliance with the provisions of Internal Revenue Code Sections 4945(g) or (h), as the case may be;
• For the creation of any endowment or for the aggregation of philanthropic capital by organizations that regrant to nonprofit organizations;
• For the creation of a venture capital fund, or pooled funds to invest in or distribute to for-profit organizations;
• To fund government services; or
• To fund political organizations (501(c)(4) organizations and 527s).

7. Additional Considerations

Women’s reproductive health and family planning are vital issues impacting the lives of women across America and 90% of funding dedicated to gender equality goes toward reproductive health. For this competition, we are choosing to highlight the many other chronically underfunded areas related to women’s empowerment, and are not accepting proposals related to women’s reproductive health and family planning at this time.

8. Award Agreement

The successful Finalists and/or Winners will be expected to enter into an award agreement with Pivotal Ventures and/or each other Competition Sponsor, containing key terms and conditions which are separate from these RULES and TERMS posted on this Website for this Competition. The obligation to pay, and Your entitlement to receive, any Award will not be final or binding until an award agreement is fully executed.

NOTE: Each agreement governing the terms and use of Awards may vary, depending on the nature of the project, the organization receiving the Award, Pivotal Ventures and/or each other Competition Sponsor providing the Award.

9. Additional Information; Reporting

In evaluating an Entry, the Competition Sponsor may perform additional due diligence and request additional information from You, including information regarding the Entry and the individuals, entities and participants related to the Entry, and may perform background checks on key individuals associated with the Entry. Refusal or failure to timely provide additional diligence upon request will result in the rejection of an Entry from further consideration.

Any Finalist and/or Winner will be required to report progress towards milestones and other goals, as set forth in an award agreement. Those reporting requirements may vary, based on the organization and the project. However, it is likely necessary that a minimum of one financial report per year and one narrative report per year may be required for a period agreed and stated in the award agreement.

10. Other Important Rules Regarding Participation

10.1 Your application must be in English. 

10.2 You must complete registration to participate in the Competition. Instructions for registration are provided in Section 3 of the TERMS. Individuals representing an applicable organization must be 18 years of age or older at the time of entry to participate.

10.3 Your Entry should meet the application requirements stipulated on this website and in the TERMS. You are required to register in advance of any deadlines for the submission of an Entry, and You must comply with all other deadlines posted on this website. Your Entry may not, in the sole and unfettered discretion of the Competition Sponsor and/or RAMPIT, contain obscene, provocative, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable or inappropriate content. Pivotal Ventures reserves the right to cancel, modify or suspend the Competition in whole or in part without any liability to You, in its sole discretion. The Competition Sponsor and/or RAMPIT reserve the right to disqualify You from participating in their sole discretion, including as described in these RULES. 

10.4 By participating in the Competition as a Competitor, You represent, warrant, and agree that: 

1. You are the sole author, creator, and owner of the Entry;
2. the Entry is not the subject of any actual or threatened litigation or claim; 
3. the Entry does not and will not violate or infringe upon the intellectual property rights, privacy rights, publicity rights, or other legal rights of any third party. If the Entry includes any third party works (such as third party content or open source code), You must have all appropriate licenses and releases for such third party works, and the Competition Sponsor reserves the right to request copies or other confirmation of the same. Failure to provide verification of Your rights to use third party works under appropriate licenses and releases may result in disqualification of Your Entry; 
4. the Entry does not and will not contain any harmful computer code (sometimes referred to as "malware," "viruses" or "worms"); 
5. the Entry, and Your use of the Entry, does not and will not violate any applicable laws or regulations, including, without limitation, applicable export control laws and regulations of the United States and other jurisdictions; and
6. the representations, warranties, and statement made in your application, the Entry or any other written information submitted in connection with the Competition or to the Competition Sponsor are true and correct in all material respects. 

10.5 You may participate by registering, but You may not register more than one true and uniform identity; multiple registrations for a participant using multiple identities are not allowed. The Competition Sponsor, Lever for Change, and/or RAMPIT reserve the right to disqualify any Entry made by a participant violating this limitation, regardless of whether all of the respective parties had knowledge of such violation. Each registrant may submit at most one Entry.

10.6 Before submitting Your Entry, read the Scoring Rubric on this website for guidance on the criteria that will be used to determine the Winners of this Competition.

10.7 Upon submitting Your Entry, the Entry will be subjected to an Administrative Review, to ensure compliance with all of the requirements. Qualified Entries will then be distributed to other Competitors during a Peer-to-Peer assessment of those Entries. If Your Entry qualifies for Peer-to-Peer review, You will be required to assess at least five (5) other Entries. If You do not complete those assessments, using the tools and process described on this Website, Your participation may be terminated. Based on normalized scores from each Peer-to-Peer review, a rank order of the Entries will be populated. The top-scoring Entries will advance to the next phase of review.

10.8 The top-scoring Entries as determined by the Peer-to-Peer review will advance to an Evaluation Panel review. The Evaluation Panel consists of experts who are identified on this Website. Each of the top-scoring Entries will be assessed by five Evaluation Panel members, who will be assigned to score these Entries either randomly or after considering any potential conflicts of interest, using the scoring rubric that is described on this website. In cases where a member of the Evaluation Panel indicates any potential conflict of interest, the Entry will be assigned to another member of the Evaluation Panel. Based on normalized scores from each Evaluation Panel review, a rank order of the Entries will be populated. 

10.9 Once a rank order of Entries has been populated from the Evaluation Panel review, up to ten (10)  Competitors will be named as Finalists. Finalists may be eligible to receive a one-time Finalist Award of $100,000. Of these Finalists, at least three (3) Competitors will be designated the Winners and each Winner is eligible to receive a Grand Award in a minimum amount of $10 million. The Competition Sponsor has committed an additional $10 million, which will be awarded in its sole discretion to the Finalists and/or the Winners, and determined at the award decision stage. This competition is open to all eligible organizations. There is no maximum number of participants. All eligible Entries will be evaluated in accordance with these Rules. The Competition Sponsor will review and discuss the top Entries and will determine any Finalists and/or Winners, using criteria that may incorporate considerations beyond the Evaluation Panel’s reviews and will select the Finalists and/or Winners in their sole discretion. A Competitor may remove an Entry from selection as a Finalist or Winner by expressly informing the Competition Sponsor of such decision within 48 hours after the close of the Competition.

If a Finalist is unable to fully participate in the next phase of the Competition or complete an Award agreement with the Competition Sponsor to the parties’ mutual satisfaction, then they may forfeit their designation as a Finalist, and the next Competitor in the rank order of Entries may be named a Finalist in their place as determined by the Competition Sponsor. 

10.10 While RAMPIT, LLC (“RAMPIT”) is providing an online platform for your participation, RAMPIT is not responsible for the payment of any Award(s). Payment of any Award(s) is the sole responsibility of the Competition Sponsor and its designees, and under the TERMS each participant has agreed to look solely to the Competition Sponsor for the payment of any Award following the determination of Awards as described in these RULES and the TERMS. 

10.11 By submitting your Entry, you agree to release, discharge and hold harmless the Competition Sponsor, Lever for Change, The Common Pool, LLC, and RAMPIT and their partners, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising agencies, agents and their employees, officers, directors and representatives from any Loss arising out of your participation in this Competition and the acceptance and use, misuse, or possession of any Award(s). Neither the Competition Sponsor, Lever for Change, The Common Pool, LLC, nor RAMPIT assume responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, or delay in operation or transmission; communications line failure; theft or destruction of or unauthorized access to Competition entries or entry forms; or alteration of entries or entry forms. Neither the Competition Sponsor, Lever for Change, The Common Pool, LLC, nor RAMPIT are responsible for any problems with or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer online systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any entry to be received on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or any website, human errors of any kind, or any combination thereof, including any injury or damage to competitors’ or any other persons’ computers related to or resulting from participation, uploading or downloading of any materials related to this Competition. In the event of a dispute about the identity of any Competitor, an online registration will be declared as if made by the authorized account holder of the e-mail address submitted at time of entry.

10.12 THIS COMPETITION IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. Competitors agree that this Competition shall be subject to and governed by the laws of the United States of America and the forum of any dispute shall be in the courts of the United States of America. All matters relating to this Website and these Rules are governed by and are to be construed according to the laws applicable in the state of Tennessee, United States (without regard to any rules governing choice of law).

10.13 If for any reason the Competition is not capable of running as planned, due to infection by computer virus, bugs, worms, Trojan horses, denial of service, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures or any other causes beyond the control of RAMPIT that corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Competition, RAMPIT reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual(s) who tamper with the process, and/or to cancel, terminate, modify, or suspend the Competition. If the Competition is terminated, no rights in the submitted Entries will be retained by any Competition Sponsor, Lever for Change, or RAMPIT.

10.14 The Competition Sponsor reserves the right in their sole discretion to disqualify any Competitor who is found to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Equality Can’t Wait Challenge, to be acting in violation of these RULES or the TERMS, to be acting in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner or with the intent to disrupt or undermine the legitimate operation of the Equality Can’t Wait Challenge, or to annoy, abuse, threaten, discriminate or harass any other person, or to act in a way that hinders the Competition Sponsor’s efforts to enable the conditions and create the opportunities needed to accelerate progress on women’s power and influence in the United States. 

10.15 Entry into the Equality Can’t Wait Challenge does not constitute entry into any other Lever for Change competition, RAMPIT competition, or grant program, promotion or other competition that may be offered by any Competition Sponsor and/or its affiliates.

10.16 The Competition Sponsor and/or RAMPIT reserve the right to disqualify any participant who violates these RULES, the TERMS and any standards of behavior expressed or implied in them.

10.17 The names of the Finalists and Winners will be posted on this website for such period of time as the Competition Sponsor may deem reasonable.

Contact Information

You may contact us with any questions or comments about these RULES. Please enter Equality Can’t Wait Challenge the subject line of your email. You may reach us at: [email protected].