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COVID-19 response

The Audacious model was created to be a catalyst for social impact at a grand scale. Key to the mission is being able to pivot rapidly to support where the need is greatest in the moment. In line with that purpose, Audacious is directing funds towards several COVID-19 related solutions tailored to recovery and response. Each delivering an immediate response to one of the most urgent challenges right now.
  1. What if we could accelerate scientific discovery and the development of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments?

    Fast Grants

    In the race to find COVID-19 treatments and vaccines, there’s an unprecedented need for scientific exploration and discovery and fast. Fast Grants has developed an innovative model to expedite research critically needed to save lives and safely reopen economies.

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  2. What if we could deploy a fully remote model to deliver cash support to the world’s most poor during the pandemic?

    GiveDirectly

    The pandemic is hampering humanitarian systems that typically address major disasters, the ability to deliver aid in person has never been more complicated. GiveDirectly has developed a method to provide direct cash assistance to 300,000 people in need in Sub-Saharan Africa using mobile and satellite technologies.

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  3. What if we could equip Black communities to scale emergency relief to reach those hardest hit by COVID-19?

    Harlem Children's Zone

    African Americans have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Harlem Children's Zone has pioneered a comprehensive approach to provide comprehensive neighborhood-level emergency response and recovery support to Black communities across the U.S.

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  4. What if we could rapidly increase the scale, speed, and effectiveness of contact tracing in the US?

    Partners in Health

    Drawing on their experiences designing and implementing contact tracing programs globally, PIH will support the quick, effective scale-up of contact tracing in the U.S.

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  5. What if a virtual-mentoring platform could better equip health workers around the world in the fight against COVID-19?

    Project Echo

    To fight COVID-19 the health community needs to mount a coordinated effort in preparing clinicians and local health workers. Project ECHO will develop a global hub of COVID-19 content and resources, empowering healthcare workers with critical knowledge and skills in 16 countries.

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  6. What if we could help U.S. cities provide immediate food relief and help sustain small businesses?

    World Central Kitchen

    An estimated 37 million Americans face hunger daily, World Central Kitchen has a bold plan to feed those in need, while providing relief for struggling small businesses during the pandemic.

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2020 ideas

  1. What if we built a global surveillance network to stop the next pandemic before it starts?

    ACEGID + Broad Institute

    In 2018 and 2019, 42% of all deaths from outbreaks reported by the WHO were in West and Central Africa. Sentinel, an early-warning outbreak system, will save thousands of lives each year—and help us to avert future pandemics.

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  2. What if we could lift millions of the world’s poorest people out of ultra-poverty?

    BRAC

    Nearly half of the world’s poorest people live in the most extreme form of poverty. BRAC developed the Graduation approach to tackle the multidimensional needs of the ultra-poor, helping them to build sustainable livelihoods.

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  3. What if we could harness AI to tackle the looming antibiotic resistance crisis?

    Collins Lab

    The Collins Lab at MIT will harness the power of artificial intelligence to dramatically expand our antibiotic arsenal, helping us to fight deadly infections that threaten millions of lives.

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  4. What if we could deliver mental health support to anyone, anywhere via text message?

    Crisis Text Line

    1-in-4 people will be affected by mental disorders at one point in their lives and 300M+ are currently living with depression. Crisis Text Line is using technology to help people in crisis via text anywhere.

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  5. What if we could map one billion people currently missing from the world’s maps?

    Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team

    There are currently one billion people who live in places that are not on the map. HOT will engage one million volunteers to map places home to one billion people living in poverty or at high risk of disaster.

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  6. What if African farmers could end global extreme poverty in our lifetime?

    One Acre Fund

    One Acre Fund has a bold plan to empower 20% of all farm families in Africa’s eight “breadbasket” countries, home to some of the world’s most poor.

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  7. What if we could have meaningful communication with another species and reshape our relationship with life on Earth?

    Project CETI

    Humanity is at a critical turning point. To survive, we must reshape our relationship with nature. Project CETI aims to deepen our ties to animals by seeking to understand sperm whale communication – and eventually talk back

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  8. What if life-saving prescriptions could be affordable for all Americans?

    SIRUM

    SIRUM has a bold plan to expand access to affordable medicine through drug recycling. They will deploy $770M in life-saving medicine to the 10 million low-income adults in America most in need.

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2019 ideas

  1. What if science could eliminate racial bias in policing?

    Center for Policing Equity

    In the US today, Black people are two to four times more likely to be targets of police force than White people. Center for Policing Equity works with police departments and communities one city at a time, using smart data capture to fuel measurable behavior change.

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  2. What if we could empower more than one million girls to enter the classroom?

    Educate Girls

    When girls get an education, their lives improve — as do the lives of their families and communities. Educate Girls has a bold plan to get 1.6 million girls in India into school, by going door-to-door in 35,000 villages and working to change collective mindsets.

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  3. What if we could harness the power of proteins to create the next generation of medicines and materials?

    Institute for Protein Design

    Until now, human beings have been unable to design new proteins. The Institute for Protein Design will lead the protein design revolution, becoming the “Bell Labs” of the field and taking on five grand challenges that could change how drugs, vaccines and materials are made.

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  4. What if plants can help slow climate change?

    Salk Institute for Biological Studies

    Plants naturally remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, converting it into oxygen and biomass. Salk Institute believes it can train plants to be even more productive, storing massive amounts of carbon for longer — and keeping atmospheric temperatures from rising.

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  5. What if we could massively reduce disease from parasitic worms in Africa?

    The END Fund

    More than 1.5 billion people in the world are currently at risk for parasitic worms, stymying their health and potential. The END Fund has a bold plan to disrupt worms’ hold on families, communities and economies — by amplifying a movement already in progress.

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  6. What if island nations’ debt could be restructured to protect vast areas of ocean?

    The Nature Conservancy

    Even if a country wants to protect its ocean, it doesn’t necessarily have the funding to do so. The Nature Conservancy has a brilliant idea that stands to protect 4 million square kilometers of ocean over the next five years.

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  7. What if we could eliminate child sexual abuse from the internet?

    Thorn

    The sexual abuse of children is a human problem. But the explosion in distribution of child sexual abuse imagery and content online is a technology problem. Thorn has a plan for a technology-led response. 

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  8. What if every child came to school on day one ready to learn?

    Waterford UPSTART

    Kids without access to early education may start kindergarten already years behind their peers. Waterford’s UPSTART project will break through existing barriers, by coaching parents and providing personalized learning tools for every child.

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2018 ideas

  1. What if we hit the brakes on climate change by tracking gas emissions from space?

    Environmental Defense Fund

    Methane accounts for a quarter of the global warming we're experiencing today. By launching a satellite to measure its leakage, the Environmental Defense Fund will help corporations and governments take action.

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  2. What if a million Black women launched a health revolution?

    GirlTrek

    With backpacks and sneakers on, GirlTrek will train 10,000 frontline activists across the United States to disrupt disease and inspire a new culture of physical activity in their communities.

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  3. What if we digitally empowered community health workers to make care available to all?

    Living Goods + Last Mile Health

    A billion people around the world currently lack access to health care. Through digital disruption, Living Goods and Last Mile Health will empower community health workers to fill the gap — while earning a living.

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  4. What if we eliminated a disease that has blinded people for thousands of years?

    Sightsavers

    Trachoma is an agonizing eye infection that causes blindness. It's also completely preventable. By focusing on strategic countries, Sightsavers plans to put an end to this ancient disease.

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  5. What if we could deliver college degrees and a pathway to earning and employment to refugees?

    Southern New Hampshire University

    Only 3 percent of the world’s 70 million displaced people have access to higher education. SNHU’s innovative model is providing self-paced, and affordable higher education to marginalized learners across the globe.

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  6. What if we ended the injustice of automatic jail time for those who can’t afford bail?

    The Bail Project

    On any given night, more than 450,000 people in the United States sleep in jail cells because they don't have enough money to pay bail. The Bail Project is a self-sustaining model to make criminal justice fair for all.

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  7. What if we explored the ocean’s vast twilight zone, teeming with undiscovered life?

    Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

    The twilight zone is a mysterious part of the ocean that may hold a million new species, and 90 percent of the world's fish biomass. Woods Hole hopes to explore the region — before commercial fishers do.

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