April 23, 2019
In 2016, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, launched 100&Change—a new grant competition, that would award $100 million to an organization with the best proposal to help solve a critical social problem. The foundation awarded the grant to Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit that produces Sesame Street and other children’s educational programs, in partnership with the International Rescue Committee. The grant supports programming to educate young children displaced by conflict and persecution in the Middle East. MacArthur is now accepting applications for a second $100 million grant.
In this episode, Priss Benbow, a fellow at Stanford’s Distinguished Careers Institute speaks with Cecilia Conrad, managing director at the MacArthur Foundation, who leads 100&Change. They cover the ins and outs of running a big bet competition, addressing the lack of diversity in philanthropic big bets, and a new spinoff organization working to match donors with promising proposals for social change.
