I Strengthen My Nation: American Indian and Alaska Native Community Projects Created by Youth to Stand Against Substance Misuse - Rules and Requirements

Important Dates:

  • Submission Start: April 8th, 2021 12:00 AM ET
  • Submission End: July 7th, 2021 11:59 PM ET (Round One) and December 10th, 2021 11:59 PM ET (Round Two)
  • Winners Announced: July 30th, 2021 (Round One) and March, 2022 (Round Two)

Eligibility:

  • The Challenge is open to all United States citizens or permanent residents 14 to 25 years of age, ideally those with a deep knowledge of American Indian and Alaska Native culture. All participants under 18 years old at the time of submission must have signed permission from a parent or guardian to be considered.
  • Groups may be comprised of individuals assembled for the purpose of the Challenge or from existing entities (youth councils, non-profit organizations, student councils, etc.)
  • All groups must designate a group leader to act as the primary contact person and accept prize money on the group’s behalf. The designated leader or mentor must have a bank account for prize money to be awarded. If the designated leader is under 18 years old at the time of submission, the prize will be paid to the leader’s parent or legal guardian who provided signed permission to participate in the Challenge.

How to Enter:

Participants must send an email to NIDAAIANComChallenge@nida.nih.gov using the subject line “AI/AN Community Challenge Entry” with the following:

  1. One completed entry form/waiver per group
  2. One completed entry form/waiver for each individual participating or appearing in the video
  3. A written community project proposal.
  4. The file name of a high quality video (video itself will be sent using Box.com; create a free account here). . Please see submission requirements below.

If you submit by the Round One submission date of July 7th, your project will be considered in round one of judging. If you are not selected for a prize in Round One, your submission will still be considered in Round Two of judging unless you send an email to NIDAAIANComChallenge@nida.nih.gov stating you do not want to be considered in Round Two of judging. 

Submission Requirements:

  1. Video: Please create a 3-5 minute video to describe the following: 1) what resilience against substance misuse means to you and/or your community, 2) a community project that could benefit your community, and 3) how the project could enhance resilience against substance misuse in your community.
    • Videos should not exceed 5 minutes including introduction and credits if applicable.
    • Videos must be sent using Box.com (create a free account here) Once the free account is created and the video is uploaded, click on “Share” to the right of your video file, enter the email address murrayjl@nih.gov, and click “Send” to share the video. Please do not send the video as an email attachment.
    • Include captioning or submit a written transcript in English for any video with dialogue, to ensure the video can be understood by viewers with disabilities.
    • Be safe and stop the spread of COVID-19! We encourage you to collaborate virtually wherever possible.
  2. Project proposal and plan. A project proposal must be submitted in PDF format and be no longer than 2,500 words (approximately 5 single-spaced pages). The following points must be addressed to be considered a complete submission:
    • Provide a complete project description including the purpose, need, target audience, innovation, and significance—why is the project needed? Why is the project important for your community? Who will benefit from the project?
    • Explain what you hope to achieve through your community project and how it will promote resilience against substance misuse in AI/AN communities. What are the expected outcomes?
    • Provide an overview of the project budget estimating costs associated with the preparation, planning, and implementation of the project. Budgets should include written details on the costs, explaining their purpose and why they are necessary for the program’s success. NIDA only seeks to reward and incentivize feasible ideas for interventions.
    • Please include the title of your project and all group member names on your proposal.
  3. Group entry form. Each group should submit ONE group entry form per project.
  4. Individual entry form/waiver In addition to the group entry form, every team member and any individual appearing in the video must submit an individual entry form/waiver. 

Rules for Participation:

  1. NIDA is not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, invalid, unintelligible, or misdirected entries, which will be disqualified.
  2. To be eligible to win a prize under this Challenge, a Participant (whether participating as an individual or in a group of individuals) - 
    1. Shall have complied with all the requirements set forth in this Challenge announcement.
    2. Shall be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States. However, non-U.S. citizens and non-permanent residents can participate as a member of a team that otherwise satisfies the eligibility criteria. Non-U.S. citizens and non-permanent residents are not eligible to win a monetary prize (in whole or in part). Their participation as part of a winning team, if applicable, may be otherwise recognized when the winners are announced.
    3. Shall not be a Federal entity or federal employee acting within the scope of their employment.
    4. Shall not be an employee of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (or any other component of HHS) acting in their personal capacity.
    5. Who is employed by a federal agency or entity other than HHS (or any component of HHS), should consult with an agency ethics official to determine whether the federal ethics rules will limit or prohibit the acceptance of a prize under this Challenge;
    6. Shall not be a judge of the Challenge, or any other party involved with the design, production, execution, or distribution of the Challenge or the immediate family of such a party (i.e., spouse, parent, stepparent, child, or step-child).
    7. Shall be between 14 and 25 years of age at the time of submission.
  3. Federal grantees may not use federal funds from a grant award to develop their Challenge submissions or to fund efforts in support of their Challenge submissions.
  4. Federal contractors may not use federal funds from a contract to develop their Challenge submissions or to fund efforts in support of their Challenge submissions.
  5. By participating in this Challenge, each Participant (whether participating as an individual or in a group of individuals) warrants that he or she is the sole author or owner of, or has the right to use, any copyrightable works that the challenge submission comprises, and that the challenge submission does not infringe any copyright or any other rights of any third party of which the Participant is aware.
  6. By participating in this Challenge, each Participant (whether participating as an individual or in a group of individuals) agrees to assume any and all risks and waive claims against the Federal government and its related entities, except in the case of willful misconduct, for any injury, death, damage, or loss of property, revenue, or profits, whether direct, indirect, or consequential, arising from participation in this Challenge, whether the injury, death, damage, or loss arises through negligence or otherwise. Additionally, by submitting an entry, each Participant releases the NPAIHB and its agents and employees from all claims, demands, and liabilities in connection with all rules listed herein.
  7. Based on the subject matter of the Challenge, the type of work that it will possibly require, as well as an analysis of the likelihood of any claims for death, bodily injury, property damage, or loss potentially resulting from Challenge participation, no Participant (whether participating as an individual or in a group of individuals) participating in the Challenge is required to obtain liability insurance or demonstrate financial responsibility in order to participate in this Challenge.
  8. By participating in this Challenge, each Participant (whether participating as an individual or in a group of individuals) agrees to indemnify the Federal government against third party claims for damages arising from or related to Challenge activities.
  9. A Participant (whether participating as an individual or in a group of individuals) shall not be deemed ineligible because the Participant used Federal facilities or consulted with Federal employees during the Challenge if the facilities and employees are made available to all Participants participating in the Challenge on an equitable basis.
  10. By participating in this Challenge, each Participant (whether participating as an individual or in a group of individuals) grants to the NIH an irrevocable, paid-up, royalty-free nonexclusive worldwide license to reproduce, publish, post, link to, share, and display publicly the submission on the web or elsewhere, and a nonexclusive, nontransferable, irrevocable, paid-up license to practice, or have practiced for or on its behalf, the solution throughout the world. Each Participant will retain all other intellectual property rights in their submissions, as applicable. To participate in the Challenge, each Participant must warrant that there are no legal obstacles to providing the above-referenced nonexclusive licenses of the Participant’s rights to the federal government. To receive an award, Participants will not be required to transfer their intellectual property rights to NIH, but Participants must grant to the federal government the nonexclusive licenses recited herein.
  11. Each Participant (whether participating as an individual or in a group of individuals) agrees to follow all applicable Local, State, and Federal laws, regulations, and policies.
  12. Each Participant (whether participating as an individual or in a group of individuals) participating in this Challenge must comply with all terms and conditions of these rules, and participation in this Challenge constitutes each such Participant’s full and unconditional agreement to abide by these rules. Winning is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements herein.
  13. As a condition for winning a cash prize in this Challenge, each Participant (whether participating as an individual or in a group of individuals) that has been selected as a winner must complete and submit all requested winner verification and payment documents to NIH/NIDA following formal notification. Failure to return all required verification documents by the date specified in the notification may be a basis for disqualification of a cash prize winning submission.
  14. Each Participant under 18 years of age at the time of submission MUST have signed permission by a parent or legal guardian to participate in the Challenge.
  15. Each individual participating solo and individual participating as a group leader under the age of 18 years at the time of submission MUST have a parent or legal guardian to accept a cash prize on their behalf if awarded prize funds.
  16. Each participant (whether participating as an individual or in a group of individuals) participating in this challenge must comply with all terms and conditions of these rules, and participation in this challenge constitutes each such participant’s full and unconditional agreement to abide by these rules. Winning is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements herein.

Disqualification:

Submissions may be disqualified for plagiarism, falsification of any information submitted, use of copyrighted material without permission, and use of profanity, violent images, or nudity. Submissions that are lost, late, incomplete, invalid, unintelligible, or misdirected, will also be disqualified.