Rules

Thank you for your interest in the Workplace Innovation Now Challenge (WIN Challenge) (the “Competition”). The Competition is sponsored by the Aspen Institute (the “Competition Sponsor") and with program and platform support provided by Carrot. Please know that by participating in this Competition and in accordance with these Rules you are eligible to receive various forms of recognition and a possible Award from the Competition Sponsor anticipated to be either $2.5 million or $5 million (USD) as the Awardee, to be determined by the Competition Sponsor in its sole discretion. The Rules governing this Competition ("RULES") are stated here as an extension of the Terms & Conditions ("TERMS") for use of this website. The full TERMS are available for your review by accessing them on this Website. The RULES constitute "Competition Terms and 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. Further, any language contained on this website, including but not limited to these RULES, are also an extension of the TERMS, and therefore You are required to read and understand the entirety of the Website content before proceeding.

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 INTO THIS COMPETITION CONSTITUTES FULL AND UNCONDITIONAL AGREEMENT TO AND ACCEPTANCE OF THESE RULES AND THE TERMS.

NO PURCHASE OR PAYMENT IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR TO RECEIVE AN AWARD.

1. Eligibility

The Workplace Innovation Now Challenge (WIN Challenge) welcomes applications from the following eligible entities:

Nonprofit organizations based in the United States and/or U.S. territories that have received a tax determination letter from the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) confirming that they are described under section 501(c)(3) and 509(a)(1) or (2) of the Internal Revenue Code ("IRC"), provided such tax determination letter remains in effect
Private foundations based in the United States and/or U.S. territories that have received a tax determination letter from the IRS confirming that they are described under section 501(c)(3) of the IRC, provided such tax determination letter remains in effect
Fiscally-sponsored projects of nonprofit organizations based in the United States and/or U.S. territories that have received a tax determination letter from the IRS confirming that they are described under section 501(c)(3) and 509(a)(1) or (2) of the IRC, provided such tax determination letter remains in effect
A U.S. tribal government treated as a State pursuant to IRC Section 7871

Each Applicant must identify a Lead Organization as the recognized organization in the execution of any proposed Project contained in an Entry. The Lead Organization will assume responsibility for the receipt and management of any Award funds from the Competition Sponsor, will exercise control and discretion over the use of all Award funds, and will maintain these fiduciary duties in close coordination with any partner organizations. The purpose of including a Lead Organization is to ensure that there is sufficient administrative support and management for the use of any Award Funds and not to disintermediate the role of any partners who are essential to the implementation of any proposed project contained in any Entry, although the Lead Organization will have the discretion to make change to such partners, at its discretion.

An organization can submit only one application as the Lead Organization. An organization can also serve as a partner on a team for multiple applications provided that each application proposes a separate and distinct solution.

The Competition Sponsor reserves the right to reject an Entry if, in the Competition Sponsor's sole discretion, the laws of the governing jurisdiction applicable to this Competition would prohibit or limit the Competition Sponsor from proceeding with the Competition as intended or if the Competition Sponsor determines, in its sole discretion, that the consideration or making of any Award would impose additional administrative, tax, operational, or legal burdens on the Competition Sponsor.

2. Ineligible persons or entities

The following are not eligible to apply as a Lead Organization for the Workplace Innovation Now Challenge (WIN Challenge):

Entities incorporated or based outside of the United States or U.S. territories
For-profit companies and limited liability companies or partnerships
A benefit corporation, flexible purpose entity, or similar "hybrid" entity organized under the laws of a State (or territory) in the United States
Governmental entities or consortia of such entities, including Federal agencies, United Nations agencies, inter-governmental bodies, and regional cooperation agencies
Education entities and labor organizations that are not 501(c)(3) organizations
Individuals
To the extent they are not individuals, Competition Sponsor, Affiliated Persons, Carrot, and any of their subsidiaries, affiliates or related entities.

While the organization types listed are not eligible to apply as the Lead Organization, some may serve as partners on an application. See Section 3. Collaborations below.

Current programs and grantees of the Aspen Institute are not eligible to apply as a Lead Organization and cannot serve as part of a team submitting the application and/or implementing the proposed solution.

3. Collaborations

Eligible Lead Organizations are welcome to collaborate with other nonprofit organizations, for-profit companies, foundations, schools, colleges and universities, local government entities, U.S. tribal nations, individuals, and other entities to develop and implement the proposed solution, provided that Award funds shall be used solely for charitable, educational or scientific purposes within the meaning of Section 170(c)(2)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code (the “IRC” or “Code”) and Eligible Lead Organizations shall maintain control and discretion over the use of Award funds.

Regional or location-specific branches of larger organizations, as well as departments, schools, and nonprofits within or based in a college/university, can each register and submit separately as the Lead Organization on one application if the proposed solutions are separate and distinct. There should be little to no overlap in team members. The intent of the policy is to ensure that any team is concentrating their best effort into a single application. We encourage teams to select a single project that best represents your organization's ability to deliver a solution that meets the scoring criteria.

4. Geographic Eligibility

All proposed projects must serve and impact communities, audiences, and/or organizations located within the United States and U.S. territories.

5. Financial & Organizational Capacity

All Applicants must demonstrate the financial capacity of any Lead Organization that may be the recipient of any Award to carry out any project and to appropriately manage any Award.

6. Prohibited Use of Award Funds

Award funds may be expended only for religious, charitable, scientific, literary, or educational purposes within the meaning of Section 170(c)(2)(B) of the Code.

Award funds may not be used for the following:

To support non-charitable purposes (see U.S. IRS definition of charitable purpose)
To support illegal discrimination or preferences (for example, programs that exclude employees from jobs, promotions, contracts, or other specific employment opportunities based on their sex, race, or other protected characteristics)
To support lobbying activities or to otherwise carry on propaganda or otherwise to attempt to influence legislation as defined under the tax laws
To influence the outcome of any specific public election or to carry on, directly or indirectly, any voter registration drive as defined under the tax laws
To engage in any activities, such as administrative lobbying that is not necessarily treated as lobbying under the tax laws but could be subject to public disclosure under federal, state and/or local laws
To support activities (a) prohibited by US laws related to sanctions and combatting terrorism; (b) with persons on the List of Specially Designated Nationals (www.treasury.gov/sdn) or entities owned or controlled by such persons; or (c) with or in countries against which the U.S. maintains comprehensive or targeted sanctions, unless such activities are fully authorized by the U.S. government under applicable law and specifically approved by Competition Sponsor in its sole discretion
To support any activities which do not comply with anti-corruption laws, regulations, and ethics standards that apply to government officials, including but not limited to payment to government officials
Funding or grants to any organization not related to the proposal, to any individual for travel, study, or other similar purposes, or to make a grant to any organization that is not a Section 501(c)(3) public charity, except in compliance with the provisions of Sections 4945(g) or (h) of the Internal Revenue Code, as the case may be
Creation of any endowment or for the aggregation of philanthropic capital by organizations that regrant to nonprofit organizations
Creation of a venture capital fund, or pooled funds to invest in or distribute to for-profit organizations
Loans or microloans to individuals, nonprofits, or for-profit entities
General operating support for the Lead Organization and/or any partners (see Section 7. Indirect Costs below)
Funding 501(c)(4) organizations or 527 political organizations
Government services

Funds may be subgranted from a Lead Organization to other partners solely to implement the proposed solution, and not for general funds used for broader purposes. Lead Organization will be responsible for (a) all acts and omissions of its trustees, directors, officers, employees, subawardees, subcontractors, contingent workers, agents and affiliates assisting with the project, and (b) ensuring their compliance with these Rules.

7. Investment of Award Funds

Award funds must be invested in highly liquid investments with the primary objective of preservation of principal so that the Award funds are available for the Project. Any income from the Award funds must be used solely for the Project.

8. Indirect Costs

While general operating support is not allowed, we recognize applicants may have overhead costs that are not directly attributable to the proposed project but are necessary for implementation. We will consider paying for reasonable indirect costs specified in an application. Please ensure that any indirect costs are accounted for in your budget in the application. Any portion of salaries and other similar costs that will be allocated directly to implementation of the proposed solution are eligible direct expenses and can be their own line items.

9. Treatment & Use of Intellectual Property

Each Application should reflect the anticipated ownership, use, and licensing of any intellectual property; the use and licensing of intellectual property of the winning Entry will be subject to the terms of an award agreement with the Competition Sponsor. 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 and the ownership and use of intellectual property arising from this Competition remains with You, subject to terms as may be set forth in the agreement with the Competition Sponsor.

10. Award Agreement

The Lead Organization of the Awardees shall enter into a direct and separate award agreement with the Competition Sponsor, containing key terms and conditions which are separate from these RULES and TERMS posted on this website for this Competition.

NOTE: Each grant/award agreement governing the use of Awards may vary, depending on the nature of the project, the organization receiving the Award, and the Award amount.

11. Reporting

Any Awardee who enters into a separate award agreement to receive funding will report progress towards milestones and other goals. While requirements may vary based on the organization and the project, it is likely that at least one narrative report per year will be required.

12. Other Rules

12.1 Your application must be in English.

12.2 You must complete registration to participate in the Competition. You cannot reside in nor be governed by countries that are prohibited by law, regulation (including United States or other applicable export laws and regulations), treaty or administrative act from entering into trade relations (including export of technology) with the United States of America or its citizens.

12.3 Your Entry should meet the application requirements stipulated on this website. 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 Competition Sponsor and/or Carrot, contain obscene, provocative, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable or inappropriate content. Competition Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, modify or suspend Competition in whole or in part without liability to You. Competition Sponsor and/or Carrot also reserves the right to disqualify You from participating.

12.4 By participating in the Competition, You represent, warrant, and agree that:

You are the sole author, creator, and owner of the Entry;
the Entry is not the subject of any actual or threatened litigation or claim;
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;
the Entry does not and will not contain any harmful computer code (sometimes referred to as "malware," "viruses" or "worms"); and
the Entry, and Your use of the Entry, does not and will not violate any applicable laws or regulations, including, without limitation, civil rights laws, applicable export control laws and regulations of the United States and other jurisdictions. If the Entry includes any third party works (such as third-party content or open-source code), You must provide the Competition Sponsor with all appropriate licenses and releases for such third party works. In the event You cannot provide all such required licenses and releases, the Competition Sponsor reserves the right, in the Competition Sponsor's sole discretion, to disqualify the applicable Entry.

12.5 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. Competition Sponsor and/or Carrot 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 only submit one Entry.

12.6 Applicants should propose tools, strategies, and resources that are nondiscriminatory, and that support women in the workplace without discriminating against men or members of protected categories. Applicants should not propose programs that exclude employees from jobs, promotions, contracts, or other specific employment opportunities based on their sex, race, or other protected characteristics. All Entries shall comply with Federal civil-rights laws.

12.7 Upon submitting Your Entry, the Entry will be subjected to an Administrative Review, to ensure compliance with these Rules and the application requirements. Qualified Entries will then be distributed to other registrants 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 (see Timeline). 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. A selection of top-scoring Entries will advance to the next phase of review.

12.8 A selection of top-scoring Entries will advance to an Evaluation Panel review. The Evaluation Panel consists of experts who are identified on this Website. Each of the selected 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 an Evaluation Panel member indicates any potential conflict of interest, the Entry will be assigned to another member. Based on normalized scores from each Evaluation Panel review, a rank order of the Entries will be populated.

12.9 Once a rank order of Entries has been populated from the Evaluation Panel review, Competitors will be selected as Finalists.

The Finalists will be reviewed by the WIN Council with consideration given to a variety of solutions, geographic distribution, innovation, feasibility, and other criteria that may incorporate considerations beyond the Evaluation Panel’s reviews. The Competition Sponsor may communicate with Competitors for the purposes of carrying out due diligence for evaluating Your Entry.

The Competition Sponsor will review recommendations from the WIN Council and determine the Awardees. It is anticipated that up to eight (8) Finalists from each of the three WIN Challenges will each receive an award anticipated to be either $2.5 million USD or $5 million USD each, to be determined by the Competition Sponsor in its sole discretion. By participating in this Competition, You acknowledge and agree to be bound by the final decision of the Competition Sponsor.

12.10 While Carrot is providing an online platform for your participation, Carrot is not responsible for the payment of any Awards. Payment of any Awards is the sole responsibility of the Aspen Institute and its designees, and will be made pursuant to the terms and conditions of the award/grant agreement entered into by the Aspen Institute, as the Competition Sponsor and the Awardee.

12.11 By submitting your Entry, you agree to release, discharge and hold harmless the Competition Sponsor, Affiliated Persons, and Carrot and their partners, affiliates, subsidiaries, advertising agencies, agents and their employees, officers, directors and representatives from any Loss arising out of your participation in Competition and the acceptance and use, misuse, or possession of any Award(s). Neither the Competition Sponsor nor Carrot nor Affiliated Persons 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 Competition Sponsor nor Carrot nor Affiliated Persons 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.

12.12 THIS COMPETITION IS VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. You 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. Any arbitration between You and Carrot or Competition Sponsor or an Affiliated Person will be governed by the Commercial Dispute Resolution Procedures and the Supplementary Procedures for Consumer Related Disputes (collectively, "AAA Rules") of the American Arbitration Association ("AAA"), as modified by the TERMS, and will be administered by the AAA. The AAA Rules and filing forms are available online at www.adr.org, by calling the AAA at 1-800-778-7879.

12.13 If for any reason 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 Carrot that corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of this Competition, Carrot 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 Competition Sponsor and/or Carrot terminates the Competition, it will not retain any rights in the submitted Entries.

12.14 The Competition Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any Competitor who is found to be tampering with the entry process or the operation of the Competition, to be acting in violation of these Rules or applicable laws, or to be acting in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner, or with the intent to disrupt or undermine the legitimate operation of the Competition, or to annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass any other person.

12.15 Entry into this Competition does not constitute entry into any other Aspen Digital or Aspen Institute competition or program, Carrot competition or program, or promotion that may be offered by the Competition Sponsor and/or its affiliates.

12.16 Competition Sponsor and/or Carrot reserves the right to disqualify any participant who violates these RULES, the TERMS and any standards of behavior expressed or implied in them.

12.17 The names of the Awardees will be posted on this website for such period of time as the Competition Sponsor deems reasonable.

Contact Information

You may contact us with any questions or comments about these RULES. You may reach us at: questions@winchallenge.org.