A STRONG LOUISIANA

In 2023, the Greater New Orleans Foundation celebrates 100 years of philanthropy, leadership, and action within our thirteen-parish region. To commemorate this achievement and show our continued commitment to the region, we launched the Next 100 Years Challenge to build a stronger, resilient, safer, and more equitable Southeast Louisiana through game-changing, innovative physical infrastructure and hazard mitigation solutions.

The Next 100 Years Challenge will award up to ten $100,000 awards to further develop and refine promising community-centered projects. From launch through the submission deadline on Tuesday, July 18, 2023 at 5:00 PM CT, the Next 100 Years Challenge Team will also provide valuable guidance and technical assistance to any teams interested in improving their applications and strengthening their solutions for further funding.

The Greater New Orleans Foundation is seeking proposals from collaborative teams with projects that have strong potential to secure funding from the State of Louisiana, FEMA, and other funders.

A team may consist of one or more organizations and must show evidence of bona fide government-nonprofit partnership and authentic engagement with the end beneficiaries of the project-based proposal. Applicant teams must include one or more partners who are both located in the benefiting community in one or more of the thirteen eligible parishes in Southeast Louisiana and who show an authentic understanding of local needs and future conditions.  

Each team must identify a Lead Organization as the recognized agency in the execution of any proposed project activities associated with the $100,000 award. Applicants located within the United States and its territories are eligible to apply as the Lead Organization. The Lead Organization will assume responsibility for the receipt and management of any of the Next 100 Years Challenge award funds and will maintain those fiduciary duties in close coordination with any partners.  

Please see Section 1. Eligibility under the Rules for a full list of eligible Lead Organizations.

Millions of government dollars are available to support physical infrastructure, disaster recovery, and hazard mitigation projects. To date, underserved, disadvantaged communities throughout Southeast Louisiana have yet to fully benefit from this funding.

To help level the playing field, the Next 100 Years Challenge offers guidance and technical assistance to potential applicants willing to conceive ambitious, project-based proposals for infrastructure improvement in our region. We understand a range of technical assistance and support is essential for organizations that may not have the resources or capacity to engage stakeholders, prepare and develop a project, and navigate the many complexities of securing government funding.

The Next 100 Years Challenge seeks innovative ideas brought forth by collaborative teams and will offer support and technical assistance to develop clear, actionable plans and increase opportunities to secure the funding and resources needed to deliver results.  

Strong proposals will present sustainable, community-centered, cost-effective projects that protect against and reduce the risks from disasters and natural hazards in underserved, disadvantaged communities located in the thirteen Southeast Louisiana parishes over the next 100 years and beyond. We encourage infrastructure plans at varying stages of development, from early-stage concepts to solutions that are proven effective.

The Greater New Orleans Foundation is pleased to partner with Carrot to design a fair, open, and transparent process (Carrot also powers this website) and with Climate Adaptation Partners to support teams through technical assistance and guidance as they strengthen their proposals.

Complete the readiness quiz and access resources to support your team as you develop and refine your application to the Next 100 Years Challenge.

In order to access the application platform and online forums, register no later than Tuesday, June 20, 2023 at 5:00 PM CT. Registration is required and is a simple two-step process. First, create a username and password then check your inbox to confirm your registration.  

Next, complete the online registration form. Once you are registered, submit your application online no later than Tuesday, July 18, 2023 at 5:00 PM CT.

Once the submission deadline passes, the Next 100 Years Challenge team will conduct administrative review to confirm each submission meets the rules and application requirements before advancing to the Evaluation Panel. Each submission will receive scores and feedback from five Evaluation Panel judges who will use the scoring rubric. All scores will be statistically normalized to ensure fairness.

The Selection Committee will review top-scoring submissions and request additional information as needed to select up to ten winners based on considerations that may include, but are not limited to, Evaluation Panel resulting rank order, organizational capacity, geographic diversity, and feasibility. The Greater New Orleans Foundation will make the final determination of the recipients of the $100,000 awards.