Prebys Foundation Launches $1.1 Million Competition to Find New Ideas for Youth Well-Being

The Prebys Foundation, in collaboration with crowdsourcing expert Carrot, announced Thursday the launch of Prebys Sparx, a groundbreaking challenge seeking new ideas to address mental health and well-being among the county’s youth.

This initiative offers $1.1 million in prizes, including a grand prize of $1 million and four $25,000 awards.

Prebys Sparx seeks innovative solutions that leverage the power of arts, culture, and nature to address mental health challenges among San Diego County’s youth. Nonprofit organizations based in or collaborating with local San Diego nonprofits are invited to participate.

“Our well-being as humans depends far more than our modern world acknowledges on the sense of agency and wonder we discover through nature, the arts and culture,” said Grant Oliphant, CEO of the Prebys Foundation. 

“Prebys Sparx is a call for innovative and bold ideas to help San Diego youth connect with these powerful community forces to promote their well-being. Given the extraordinary talent and vision that exist in San Diego County, not to mention the unparalleled natural and artistic environment here, we believe our county can help its young people discover their power and potential through tapping into the natural and creative worlds,” he said.

The concept behind Pebys Sparx is “prize philanthropy,” the use of monetary prizes to drive developments that benefit society. Perhaps the best known such prize is the XPRIZE, which has spurred competitions to design space vehicles, energy-efficient automobiles, oil-spill cleanup technologies and home health-care devices.

The foundation said it is using this prize competition to encourage talented people to work across disciplines and bring new or non-traditional perspectives beyond their areas of expertise.

Interested organizations can register until Nov. 7 at 3 p.m. Winners will be announced in the spring of 2025.

The Prebys Foundation is the largest independent private foundation in San Diego County, It invests in groundbreaking institutions, ideas, and people to ensure more people in the region are financially secure, healthy, empowered, and connected.