Future Buro, Sydney managing director Noel Wilson named $100k Cannes Chimera/Gates Foundation grantee – 2nd round open until Nov 7

Noel Wilson (left), managing director of Sydney agency Future Buro (along with his British partners) is one of ten finalists picked from over 900 entries for the Cannes Chimera/Gates Foundation. Wilson will now fly to Seattle in mid-November to be awarded US$100,000 to develop his idea under the mentorship of the Cannes Chimera members (made up of the 2011 Cannes Lions Grand Prix winners). One idea from the group has the chance to earn $1 million to bring it to fruition for representation at the Cannes Festival next summer.

The grantees will work to develop innovative approaches to changing the global conversation about the impact of development aid. The grantees are part of the foundation’s Grand Challenges Explorations initiative that fosters innovation to overcome the most persistent challenges in global health and development.

For more information on all of the grantees, click here.

For more information about entering the second round, click here.

The grant programme, “Aid is Working. Tell the World”, calls for creative ideas to help the public engage with the issues involved in overseas aid and understand that development investments are already paying off and saving lives. The ten new grantees, from Australia, Italy, The Netherlands and USA, were selected from more than 900 entries submitted from 85 countries. Each grantee will receive $100,000 US to develop their idea. A review panel comprised of experts from the Cannes Chimera, winners of the 2011 Cannes Lions Grand Prix, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, selected projects based solely on merit – applicants’ details are kept confidential.

Says Wilson: “We are truly thrilled to have been shortlisted by the Gates Foundation for a Grand Challenges Exploration grant. The opportunity it presents both professionally and personally is huge.

“When our British partners originally approached us with the idea it was a no-brainer for us to get involved. The simplicity of the concept gives us great scope to execute it in ways which allow us to explore and play to our strengths.

“The angle taken to engage the creative communications industry to solve big world problems is intriguing and makes absolute sense. Ordinarily we tend to work on initiatives which leverage perceptions of brands, products and services. It’s a rare opportunity to be able to apply our skills and abilities to change human behaviour and effect such positive change and we can’t wait to see where we can take it.

“We’re very much looking forward to the mentorship and expertise which the Cannes Chimera will bring to the idea. Their guidance and help in shaping, refining and bringing the concept to life will be invaluable.”

Says Philip Thomas, CEO of Cannes Lions: “This is an amazing initiative for anybody to put the power of a creatively inspired communications idea to good use and help others less fortunate. It’s also a unique chance to work with the Cannes Chimera – the best creative brand communicators in the world – and have the funding to see the idea put into action.”  

Says Tom Scott, director of global brand & innovation at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: “We believe new thinking and creativity can help influence the way we address really tough problems. To change the way people look at development and to help share success stories, we have to do things differently.  Thanks to our partnership with Cannes Chimera, people from around the world answered the call and channelled their innovative ideas to help with this challenge.”

Grant applications for a second round of “Aid is Working. Tell the World” are now being accepted till November 7, 2012. The current challenge calls for ideas in four specific submission categories:

• Mobile: projects that will activate emerging mobile networks and engage cell phone users to build support in wealthy economies for development efforts where they are needed most.

• Data: New analyses of existing data that can tell compelling stories about the impact development efforts are having around the world.

• Young audiences: Projects that will increase youth awareness of global development challenges to help them become informed advocates for solving these important development problems.

• The Progress of Development: Proposals that show the virtuous cycle of development efforts: how the beneficiaries of aid are becoming self-sufficient, and how countries that were previously received aid are now providing it to other nations.

The Grand Challenges Explorations programme is open to anyone from any discipline, from student to communications executive, and from any organisation – for-profit companies, universities, government agencies, and non-profit organisations. The initiative uses an agile, accelerated grant-making process with short two-page applications and no preliminary data required. Applications are submitted online, and winning grants are chosen approximately four months from the submission deadline.

Initial grants of $100,000 are awarded two times a year. Successful projects have the opportunity to receive a follow-on grant of up to $1 million.