We define proximate leaders as leaders whose identities and/or experiences mirror or represent the populations they serve and whose orientations demonstrate deep empathy for and knowledge of the communities they support. We understand leaders’ proximity by how they talk about their experiences, identities, and their whys. 

Four our pilot year, we’ve awarded four changemakers the Promise Sandbox Award, with an expectation of expanding to more awardees in future years. Our intention is to learn from this process, gathering feedback from awardees and applicants to shape the future of the Promise Sandbox Award and the Promise Fund. Additionally, we aim to build a stronger case for increased investment in proximate social entrepreneurship by sharing insights with other funders and highlighting the incredible leaders and organizations driving this work.

Thank you for your interest! Please keep an eye on this page for information on future cycles of this award.

As a pilot program, we see awardees as partners in building something meaningful together. Award recipients participate by:

• Storytelling for Future Investment: Sharing your journey and impact to help us build a compelling case for expanding this work and increasing future investments

• Engaging in Collaborative Learning: Contributing to our shared understanding of what works in supporting early childhood innovation and community-centered leadership

• Program Co-Design: Providing insights and feedback that will directly shape future iterations of this fund and our support model

• Field Building: Participating in efforts to document lessons learned and effective practices that can benefit the broader early childhood development field

We value recipients’ expertise and lived experience, and this collaborative approach allows us to create a program that truly meets the needs of leaders while establishing a foundation for sustainable impact. We intend for this learning to be reciprocal - we will be learning from awardees and in turn will share with them our insights from this work and our other programmatic efforts past and present.

The Promise Sandbox Award seeks (solo individuals or small teams) who have a unique insight into a problem or opportunity that would improve the lives of children ages 0-5 and their families and have a strong hypothesis of how to address it. These leaders are eager to refine, test and share their ideas for great programs, products, and services with their communities, but are looking for early funding and some support in an environment that gives a nod to the name of the Award, “a place, area, or environment that provides opportunities for variation and experimentation in a way suggestive of children playing in a sandbox”.

Ideal Candidate Qualities:

• Background or experience in early childhood

• Entrepreneurial spirit with self-motivation and creative problem-solving abilities

• Connection to and unique perspective of communities impacted by the work

• Demonstrated commitment to working alongside their community and centering community voice

• Strong grounding in equity and justice principles

• Ability and desire to learn alongside Promise as they bring their ideas to life

What We’re Looking For in Their Ideas:

• New and original ideas that demonstrates potential for positive impact on children and families (ages 0-5)

• Ideas that address significant community demand or need within their community

• Ideas that incorporates a vision for impact that extends beyond their immediate community

Check out our detailed evaluation criteria for the Promise Sandbox Award. Applications are closed for the time being, but check back on this page for updates on our next cycle.

The Promise Sandbox Award is specifically designed for early-stage changemakers who want to test and develop their ideas. Established ventures that are already in the early growth stage or beyond are not a good fit for this.

Specifically, we did not accept applications from:

• Organizations that have already completed multiple pilots of their solution

• Established ventures beyond the initial concept development phase

• Initiatives that have secured significant funding or champion support

We've intentionally focused the award on supporting leaders at the earliest stages of their journey, where access to initial resources and support can be most catalytic.

If you were not selected as a 2025 Promise Sandbox Award Recipient, we would love to stay connected and have you reapply if and when a future award opportunity is available.

At Promise Venture Studio, we believe achieving equity in early childhood for children under 5 has the greatest impact potential of any social investment in the country. We also believe equity-driven social innovation from proximate leaders is the most promising strategy to realize this impact. That said, proximate leaders in the field face highly inequitable access to capital, support, and community necessary to pursue, improve, and scale their social innovations. The proposed Promise Fund is designed to address this inequity. 

In collaboration with partners across the field, Promise Venture Studio is actively exploring the launch of The Promise Fund - a catalytic, philanthropic impact fund designed to supercharge a community of aspiring, early-stage, proximate change makers in early childhood development and disrupt systemic barriers by placing trust, capital, and support directly in the hands of early childhood-focused social entrepreneurs who are personally connected with the communities they impact creating pathways for traditionally underfunded leaders to access resources and scale their impact to improve child and family well-being.

Over time, we expect The Promise Fund will result in: 

• More proximate-led, social innovations accelerated to drive more impact in their communities and serve as bright spots to inspire replication and policy change across the field.

• More capital accelerated to promising social innovators and innovations

• An active learning agenda with a published set of lessons and case statements that will support the scale and quality of future strategies for transformational change in the field and improved wellbeing outcomes for children, families, and caregivers. 

If you’re interested in learning more about The Promise Fund, including learning more about our current exploration or becoming a champion or partner, please express your interest here.