Previous Challenge

2018 Idea Team Finalist

Chosen for their interdisciplinary approach, technical components and focus on inclusion for diverse communities, this team will compete this summer for up to $1 million in funding to implement their idea.

The Power of FAFSA: Middle Class Wealth Generation

Team Partners
College Success Arizona, Achieve60AZ, the Arizona Commission on Postsecondary Education, Helios, Mesa Public Schools, AzCAN and ASU's Educational Outreach and Student Services and Enrollment Services

Description
This project seeks to increase FAFSA completion through four levels of engagement offered in English and Spanish in the targeted communities: raising awareness, kickoff events, small group interventions, and by providing 1:1 assistance, layering in ChatBot/AI functionality throughout.

2018 Idea Teams

Meet the ASU Idea Teams who each received $50,000 to refine their ideas to support the middle class.

Autonomous Vehicles Idea Team - Finalist

Autonomous Vehicles for Mobility Access: How self-driving cars can reduce transportation expenses for middle-class Arizonans

Team Lead
Thad Miller, Assistant Professor, School for the Future of Innovation in Society

Description
This project seeks to form a public-private-partnership to use an autonomous shuttle to provide low cost mobility to middle and low income families. This project will decrease transportation expenditures by up to $5000/year per household, and provide quality, low cost mobility where it is absent.

Indigenous Health, Education, Agribusiness, and Leadership Development (iHeal)

Team Lead
Lauren Chenarides, Assistant Professor, Morrison School of Agribusiness

Description
This project seeks to develop a digital platform that integrates three major components (health tracking, curriculum development, and resource sharing) into what will serve as a nexus for facilitating information exchange between tribal and non-tribal entities.

Workforce Engagement Center at Desert Sky Mall

Team Lead
Chicanos Por la Causa, Kristin Ferguson, Director, Center for Human Capital and Youth Development

Description
This project seeks to create a comprehensive Workforce Engagement Center at Desert Sky Mall to bring together Chicanos Por La Causa’s successful workforce elements in one location, targeting opportunity youth and their families, matching the needs of local employers with the talents of the local workforce.

Using Career Development to Restore the American Dream

Team Lead
Bill Symonds, Director, Global Pathways Institute

Description
This project seeks to help students reduce their education costs and debt by shortening time to graduation and help improve students’ earnings prospects by helping them identify future-facing careers in which prospects are more promising.

Local Investment Technology Engagement (LITE): Accelerating Local Growth for the Middle Class

Team Lead
Pooja Paode, Project Coordinator, Brad Doebbeling, MD, Professor, College of Health Solutions

Description
This project seeks to connect citizen and institutional investors with local investment tools and help them reduce costs and risks associated with local investment and redirect potentially billions in local capital toward Arizona-specific opportunities in local investment.

Intergenerational HomeSharing at Scale

Team Lead
Lindsey Beagley, Founder/CEO of HomeShare Arizona

Description
This project seeks to match college students with older homeowners to rent out living space in exchange for 10-20 hours/week of household maintenance tasks that become more challenging with age (e.g. lawn care, cleaning, grocery shopping, pet care) and/or a reduced rental income.

Saving Middle Class Phoenicians Money on Heat-Related Costs to Home and Well-Being

Team Lead
Patricia Solis, Executive Director, Knowledge Exchange for Resilience

Description
This project seeks to create a knowledge exchange platform (with desktop and mobile app interfaces) using game elements to motivate 10,000 target households to save up to 10% of their annual income by applying tailored heat-related solutions for their homes and health.

Money Assist: Financial Planning for the Middle Class

Team Lead
Dan Silverman, Department of Economics, W.P. Carey School of Business

Description
This project seeks to help middle class families with their financial planning in three key areas: 1) improve their financial circumstances 2) appreciate the large consequences of small changes and 3) create simple and effective systems for making those changes.

New Trails Navigators: A Peer Health Coaching Service Designed to Meet the Needs of Vulnerable Populations

Team Lead
Rick Hall, Director of Health Innovation Programs, CONHI

Description
This project seeks to build a workforce pipeline in healthcare from the criminal justice system to reduce avoidable ER visits and reduce recidivism among the formerly incarcerated.