The Mott Million Dollar Challenge: A Pitch Competition for Kids & Teens is a national initiative that invites K-12 students to pitch their best ideas in short video submissions.
It’s designed to:
Kids and teens will compete for prizes throughout the competition, with a total prize pool of $1 million.
Students are eligible if they:
Children or legal dependents of employees of the Mott Foundation and certain partner organizations are not eligible to win prizes (full details are listed in the Official Rules).
You are welcome to:
We encourage families to make sure the idea and the voice in the pitch come clearly from the young person. Judges want to hear your child’s thinking and see their creativity, not a script written entirely by adults.
There are no strict spending rules, but we strongly encourage families to use prize money in ways that:
Any tax obligations or financial decisions are up to the family. For official requirements and details, please refer to the Terms & Conditions.
There may be, depending on the prize amount and your situation.
Families are responsible for:
Larger prizes may require additional forms or acknowledgments before funds are released. Please see the Terms & Conditions for complete information.
The challenge organizers are committed to handling student information carefully. In general:
Full details about data use, privacy and media permissions are provided in the Privacy Policy, Terms & Conditions and Official Rules, which will be linked on the website.
At a minimum, students will need time to:
If they move on as finalists, there may be additional time needed for refining ideas, preparing for a live pitch, and participating in the June 2026 celebration event in Flint, Michigan.
Supported by funding from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and powered by NFTE in collaboration with VentureLab, YEI, the Afterschool Alliance and Collaborative Communications.
© 2026 Mott Million Dollar Challenge
