Extramural Coordinated Funding

UM Submission Instructions: Workplace Innovation Now (WIN) Challenge 2025

Sponsor:	Pivotal Ventures (Pivotal)
Award Title:	Workplace Innovation Now (WIN) Challenge
Amount:	$5M $2.5 million OR $5 Million Pivotal will select awardees from among the organizations top-rated by their peers and external evaluators, giving each awardee an award of $2.5 million or $5 million USD. NOTE: The University is allowed to submit 1 applicant per department, school or center.
UM Deadline:	11/20/2025
Sponsor Deadline:	12/11/2025
Description:	This is a unique opportunity that does not limit the number of applications universities are allowed to submit, but does specify that departments, schools, or centers are limited to one application each, with no overlap of team members. Launched in fall 2025, the Workplace Innovation Now (WIN) Challenge is a new initiative led by Aspen Digital, a program of the Aspen Institute. Supported by Pivotal, a group of organizations founded by Melinda French Gates, the WIN Challenge aims to discover and scale innovative ideas that will help women thrive and everyone win in a rapidly changing workplace. The focus of this RFP is on scaling up a solution (i.e. a proposal focused only on the development of a technology tool/application without a scaled adoption strategy will not likely be a strong fit for this challenge). Given that focus, for University projects, applications that are led by, or include, an external partner community-based organization will likely be most competitive in this call. Pivotal will select grantees after a series of evaluation phases. Please review the participant readiness tool and the scoring rubric to assess your project’s alignment with this highly competitive grant program, and review the application requirements to ensure your project team has the resources and capacity to commit to a full application including written proposal and video. The UMF Corporate & Foundation Engagement team will work with the UMN applicant selected in the internal submission to coordinate the external application process.
Number of Applicants University is Allowed to submit:	1
Additional Requirements:	Multi - Depts
Sponsor Guidelines:	https://www.winchallenge.org/
UM Nominations Process:	NOTE: Registration is due by 4pm Central 12/11/2025. Application is due by 4pm Central 1/27/2026. Anyone interested in applying should submit the following preproposal items as a single pdf to mindyb@umn.edu no later than 4pm on 11/20/2025: 1. Cover page including PI name, department, contact information, project title, any co-PI's name and department, and one paragraph project abstract. 2.Two-page WIN Challenge Concept Note 3. Biosketch of PI (NSF format or similar, not more than five pages). This funding opportunity is being coordinated by the University of Minnesota Foundation. Questions and inquiries can be sent to Mindy Breva at mindyb@umn.edu. To be considered for peer review and internal selection, faculty must follow the above submission guidelines and meet the UM deadline as set by the office coordinating the peer review for this opportunity.
Peer Review Coordination:	University of Minnesota Foundation contact email
Status:	The internal deadline has passed with no applicants. Contact us if interested.
Please note:	To be considered for peer review and internal selection, faculty must follow the above submission guidelines and meet the UM deadline as set by the office coordinating the peer review for this opportunity.

General Information

Each posting has information about the external sponsor and opportunity as well as the internal application instructions.
Opportunities can be sorted by column headings; just click on the heading to re-sort by that column.
When a link redirects you to another site, it opens in a new browser window.
If you know of an opportunity that is not on the list, please contact Kristin Mead.

Internal Requirements

Sponsor: Name of funder.
Award Title: Funding opportunity nameAmount: Range/Maximum dollar amount awarded.
UMN Deadline: Submission deadline for internal proposal as determined by the coordinating office.
Sponsor Deadline: External deadline identified by the sponsor.
Description: General information about the sponsor and the funding opportunity. Usually describes the purpose of the funding opportunity, overview of what the sponsor is looking for, including distinctive criteria. This is not meant to take the place of the sponsor guidelines; please read the sponsor guidelines before deciding to apply.
Number of Applicants University is Allowed to Submit: The maximum number of applications the sponsor will allow the university to submit.
Additional Requirements: Identifies any special requirements such as cost sharing, partners, etc.
Sponsor Guidelines: Link to the sponsor’s funding opportunity website.
UMN Nominations Process: Contains specific internal submission requirements including internal proposal instructions, deadline, eligibility, internal nomination process, contact information.
Peer Review Coordination: The name and contact email of the office coordinating the funding opportunity. RIO coordinates most limited submissions, but opportunities coordinated by other offices or programs are also posted on this webpage.
Status:
- Open: UM deadline has not passed and the opportunity is open for application.
- Forecasted: The funder has not yet formally published the opportunity. The deadline has yet to be determined.
- Archived: The opportunity has been archived by the funder.
- Spots Remaining: UMN deadline has passed, with some applicant spots still available. Contact collabor@umn.edu if interested
- First-Come, First-Served: Applicants accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Contact collabor@umn.edu if interested
- Contact Us: The internal deadline has passed, but no applicants were selected. Please contact the office coordinating the peer review for more information.
- In Review: Peer review process is in progress for the opportunity.
- PI Selected: The PI(s) have been selected as the official UMN nominees.
- Closed: UMN is no longer accepting applications.

UMN Selection Process

Once the internal deadline has passed, if the number of applicants is less than or equal to the number of spots the university is allowed to send forward, the applicants automatically become the UMN nominee(s).
If the status of an opportunity is "First-Come, First-Served", there was not time to hold an internal review. Applicants will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
If there are no applicants, the status will change to "Contact Us". At this point, the opportunity changes to a first-come, first-served opportunity.
If there are multiple applicants, the office coordinating the nomination will determine the review criteria and coordinate the review process. The status will change to "In Review".
Once the review has been completed all parties will be notified via email.
Nominees will be provided with an email from RIO (or the designated coordinating office) indicating that they are the university's nominee. This letter should accompany the nominee's proposal.
SPA is notified of the university's nominee(s) and the status is updated to "PI(s) Selected".

*If you have questions about the University's process related to extramural funding opportunities requiring nomination or if you have any technical issues with the site, contact collabor8@umn.edu.