State Policy Network invites community leaders, non-profits, state-based think tanks, and national organizations to identify the most promising approaches to the challenges our communities face. We work with our members to refine and improve these approaches, then to adapt and apply the best ideas. This advances our Network’s efforts to improve communities throughout the United States through better public policy.  

The purpose of the Pathways Prize is to identify, reward, and connect the most creative and promising entrepreneurs across the United States who are working to address poverty in their communities with market-based solutions. We will connect these entrepreneurs to one another, to opportunities, and to our Network. The Pathways Prize supports and accelerates entrepreneurs in their work, and learning about innovative market-based approaches to poverty across the country strengthens our Network and the communities where our members operate. 

Our vision is rooted in the following guiding principles: 

• Local Solutions from Local Leaders: We believe local problems are best solved by local leaders who know and understand the challenges their communities face. Poverty and its impact are best understood by those living in the communities that are affected. 
• Market-Based Solutions: We believe free enterprise is the most moral and proven system for giving as many people as possible opportunities to build businesses and livelihoods that serve their communities, create good jobs, and establish economic security for themselves and their families. Free enterprise has lifted billions of people worldwide out of poverty. Giving people the personal freedom to be entrepreneurial in all walks of life generates lasting social change that improves everyone’s quality of life. 
• Measurement and Evaluation: We believe that progress must be measurable, and we believe those working on the ground in local communities are best positioned to identify the relevant metrics to measure poverty, the causes of poverty, and the consequences of poverty. While those with expertise in a project’s field will consult on devising evaluative metrics, in our decision-making and grant-making, we will rely on the applicant’s local knowledge as the primary guide. We will work with applicants to ensure that all measurement and evaluation is relevant to the community and to discernible impact within that community. 
• The Role of Government: We affirm that government at all levels plays a role in addressing poverty and its effects, particularly through safety-net programs. Long-term and primary dependency on government assistance, however, obstructs the kind of individual and community flourishing that SPN envisions. The Pathways to Prosperity Prize rewards projects that reduce dependency and build and support individual and community empowerment. 

This highly competitive grant program is open to non-profits with a 501(c)(3) designation. SPN members with eligible projects are encouraged to apply, but applicants are not required to be SPN members to submit applications or compete. 

SPN will not consider requests for general operating support or capital improvement. Applications must be project-based (i.e., have a beginning and end date [even if that date falls beyond the twelve-month term of this grant] as well as clear success metrics). 

The competition occurs in two rounds:   

• A first round that includes a short application soliciting basic information (opens April 2, 2024)
• A second, invitation round only follows the first round and requires a more detailed application (invited applicants will receive notice by June 3, 2024) 

Applications will be welcomed via online form submission. Hard copies or proposals submitted via email will not be accepted. All applicants will be asked to provide: 

• Organizational information, including confirmation and documentation that your organization is a recognized 501(c)(3) non-profit.  
• An executive summary (100 words or less) of your project  
• An explanation of why you are applying for Pathways to Prosperity that includes: 
  • Demonstration of project’s alignment with the guiding principles listed above.  
  • An explanation of how the success of the project would be measured. 

Those who are invited to the second, full application cycle must also provide additional detail about their projects, including (but not limited to): 

• Project outline and budget, including goals and detailed information about evaluation and impact, and how requested funds will be used over the following year.  
• A one-minute video of team members explaining why the organization is applying for the Pathways to Prosperity Prize. 

Second-round applications will undergo a rigorous vetting process that includes external judges. Applicants who progress to the second round will be notified of results in late July. 

Only a small number of projects will be selected to receive a grant award. Our expectation is that fewer than five prizes will be awarded.