Win a $10,000 grant for your prototype, project, or nonprofit

Eligibility: Any NSHSS member, NSHSS Collegiate Council representative, or NSHSS Fellow with an established product, passion project, or nonprofit that contributes to world betterment.

The NSHSS Be More Grant is a program set up to provide more than  $100,000 in funding to NSHSS members and educators aspiring for world betterment. NSHSS co-founder Claes Nobel once said, "I believe that the human race can be fundamentally better than it is, and students like you will be the ones to change the world to make it what it can be. You are the most formidable proponents of change."

NSHSS is a community of driven individuals who believe that enough is never enough. It is a network of more than 2 million lifetime members from across the globe who believe in being the next agents of change and the next thought leaders. The Be More Grant celebrates and honors that. 


Top applicants will be connected with mentors who will help the competing finalists hone and polish their presentation pitches to further improve their chances in the competition.

As part of the grant requirements, the
 top 15 finalists will be required to take part in a LIVE judged competition. This event will be a live, in-person event with a panel of judges to compete for their chance of earning one of the $10,000 grants. All competitors will leave the event even more inspired to continue their efforts to make the world a better place.

Application Requirements:

  • Tangible product, project, or nonprofit, including but not limited to:
    • Proof of prototype
    • Proof of any patent or trademarks
    • Proof of nonprofit
    • Any SOP, survey, or studies completed
  • Project Proposal:
    • In 500 words or less, what problem are you solving?
  • Detailed business plan (proposal) for how you would use the money
    • The more detailed, the better... $10,000 is up for grabs!
  • Community involvement illustrated in photos, video, or media placements – Proof of Concept
    • fundraising efforts
    • Website/social media
    • Science Fairs
  • Resume
  • Color headshot


The top 15 finalists to take part in the LIVE judged competition.

If you have questions, please reach out to educator@nshss.org

See details

 

Be More Grant Project Highlights

The NSHSS Be More Grant is a program set up to provide more than $100,000 in funding to NSHSS members and educators aspiring for world betterment. NSHSS co-founder Claes Nobel once said, "I believe that the human race can be fundamentally better than it is, and students like you will be the ones to change the world to make it what it can be. You are the most formidable proponents of change."

Meet the $10,000 winners of the NSHSS Be More Grants

Each of our past winners received a $10,000 grant from NSHSS to help fund their world betterment initiatives.

Sashaovalle 2023
Sasha Ovalle

Sasha's passion for innovation began at the age of 10 during her first science and innovation fair. Thinking of her uncle, who was born with spina bifida, she decided to redesign the unwieldy and outdated crutches that he was forced to use every day. While her invention fell short of changing her uncle’s life, she obtained a provisional patent for it and began her journey as a young entrepreneur.

Sasha has continued her entrepreneurial growth as a member of her high school’s Entrepreneurialism and Global Leadership (EGL) Concentration where she was named EGL Student of the Year in 2022 and EGL Student Ambassador in 2023. Sasha's most recent project is Shower Saver, the world's first and only voice-controlled, Amazon Alexa-enabled shower head, an eco-friendly product with the potential to reduce national water consumption by a billion gallons a year. In addition to being awarded $10,000 in grant funding as an NSHSS Be More Fund national award winner, Shower Saver was selected as a finalist in the 2023 YES! Accelerator Program, an international entrepreneurial contest sponsored by BizWorld.org, the 2023 Paradigm Challenge, an international, STEM-based innovation competition sponsored by Project Paradigm, and the 2023 Citizen Entrepreneurship Competition, a global entrepreneurship competition focused on sustainability and sponsored by UNESCO, the GOI Peace Foundation, and Stiftung Entrepreneurship.

Sanyapirani 2023
Sanya Pirani

 Sanya is the Founder/CEO of Sanya’s Hope For Children (a nonprofit organization) since 2017 as well as the youth ambassador for the CAP Agency in Scott, Dakota, and Carver Counties since 2015. She is a published author of the novel "High Tide" and is also a senior at Prior Lake High School in Minnesota. She strongly believes every child deserves basic human rights like food, shelter, clothes, safety, health, and education. She is interested in dual majoring in university Film and English

Jessicamcdaniel 2023 (1)
Jessica McDaniel

Jessica McDaniel is a dedicated, dependable, accomplished leader skilled in coding, programming, robotics, rockets, and graphic design. She is ranked in the top 5% of her class in the Engineering Magnet program at Edgewater High School. Jessica is a high achiever academically (Certified in Autodesk Fusion 360, HTML/CSS, Autodesk Inventor, Adobe Illustrator & Adobe Photoshop), participates in honor societies, pursues dual enrollment, and is a valuable member of her community.

She is Captain of Citrus Council Girl Scout Rocket team and led her team to Top 45, out of nearly 800 teams, in our Nation in American Rocketry Challenge. She has been an active member of Girl Scouts (GS), is working on her Gold Award (Earned Bronze & Silver Awards), served as Captain of GS Robotics team for FLL, & was awarded Walt Disney World VoluntEAR Family of the Year.

Passionate about STEAM and sharing her talents with others she was chosen to be an “EngineerGirl Ambassador” for National Academy of Engineering where she created a rocket program for girls to excite and engage them in engineering. Jessica is interested in technology, collaborating with others, loves emerging technologies, innovation, and designing new products. She is excited to make a difference in the engineering community.

Anna Katherine Risalvato 2023
Anna-Katherine Risalvato

Anna-Katherine Risalvato is a freshmen at the University of Florida pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and a Doctorate in Sports Medicine. She is on the Gators Dazzlers Dance Team and also plans to become a Radio City Rockette. She is Miss Florida’s Teen 2023 and will compete to be Miss America’s Teen in January of 2024. A recent graduate of J.R. Arnold High School, Anna-Katherine was an honors, AP and dual-enrolled student and a four-year Varsity Track and Field Team Sprinter and High Jumper. She was President of the Got Hope Cancer Support Club and National Honor Society of Dance Arts. Anna-Katherine was Miss Arnold High School, a member of National Honor Society, Beta Club, National Society of High School Scholars, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Early Education Club, Florida 4-H Executive Committee and Everglade’s High School Leadership Committee. Anna-Katherine is a recipient of the President’s Volunteer Service Award, WJHG 850 Strong Student of the Week, WMBB Student Athlete of the Week, Bay County Chamber of Commerce Junior Leadership Bay, and NSHSS 18 under 18. She has received multiple National Dance Achievements and is a member of the Tremaine Dance Pre-Professional Company.

Christopherlau 2023 (1)
Christopher Lau

Christopher is a high school student with excellent math and analytical skills. Christopher demonstrates commitment to his nonprofit called Unban Coolies Inc. which advocates for diverse in all public schools and libraries.

Henryzhou 2023 (1)
Henry Zhou

Henry Zhou attends Pine View High School in Sarasota, Florida. He has been the Founder & President of the Pine View Entrepreneur Club since 2021, where he organized and led weekly club meetings to teach students entrepreneurship. He also has been a volunteer and instructor at the Faulhaber Fab Lab since 2020, where he taught kids STEAM principles and led lab projects.

Subhavadlamannati 2023
Subhadra Vadlamannati

Subhadra (Subha) Vadlamannati, a High School senior, is the youngest on Forbes 30 Under 30 list for Seattle, “Seattle’s biggest and brightest young entrepreneurs”. She founded the Linguistics Justice League (LJL), a nonprofit that strives to develop educational and technological support for low resource languages. She serves on the board of three non-profit organizations and the Youth Advisory Council for Congressman Adam Smith. Her research papers have been published in several peer reviewed international Journals and her work earned her several awards including the T-Mobile Change Maker, Society of Women Engineers Next (SWE) STEM in Action award and the National Center for Women and Technology Aspire and Impact awards.

Arielarobinson 2023
Ariela Robinson

Ariela Robinson's love for animals began at an early age. She is a proud pet parent of two dogs and two cats. She also fosters many animals, including kittens, puppies, adult cats, and adult dogs. In her free time, Ariela enjoys volunteering at her local animal shelters and rescues. Her additional interests include Girl Scouts, art, photography, and baking. She has been involved in Girl Scouts since 2nd grade and has earned the Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards.

She excels academically, taking several honors and college classes, and was recognized multiple times as the Student of the Semester. Ariela also currently serves as an Ambassador for NSHSS. In addition to NSHSS, she is also a part of the National Art Honors Society (NAHS), National Honors Society (NHS), and Girl Advisory Board for Girl Scouts (GAB). She has appeared in several news stories and was awarded the President's Gold Volunteer Service Award and a recognition from the City of Los Angeles.

Ivyprince 2023
Ivy Prince

Ivy Prince, 16 years old, is from the small town of Loris, South Carolina. She has a passion for Culinary Arts and loves to share that passion with others, that is why she created Cooking Capable. Cooking Capable is a series of workshops designed to teach middle and high school youth with special needs how to make simple, affordable, nutritious, and delicious meals. Ivy has three siblings in the special needs community who inspire her every day. She loves to cook and experiment with her older sister. Ivy is an 11th-grade homeschooled student. She is the president of her 4-H club, helps lead a student council for homeschooled teens, enjoys her local theater program, helps run her family learning center, and has a job at a local pizza place. She helps lead her 4-H club’s NICU Service project, making care packages for the parents of the babies in the NICU and getting local businesses to donate things such as microwaves and coffee makers. Ivy plans to attend the International Culinary Institute of Myrtle Beach expanding her knowledge of the culinary arts, she will also continue Cooking Capable and her goals of making the world a better place.