Announcing the first Math Power! Prize Challenge Call : Manipulatives
Our first 2025 prize call is focused on Manipulatives: Presenting learners with powerful, accurate models and representations of abstract mathematical concepts.
This specific challenge focuses on the power of physical models or manipulatives to make mathematical concepts more accessible for learners. Accurate, powerful physical models and manipulatives enable learners to “see” abstract mathematical concepts, helps them to reason concretely with mathematical ideas, and provides meaning to symbols and concepts. Physical models or manipulatives are only powerful, however, if they accurately represent the targeted mathematical concept and are used effectively in the classroom.
We are seeking innovative and scalable initiatives that provide learners with access to powerful, accurate models and manipulatives of key mathematical concepts and support teachers to use these tools effectively in the classroom. Given the relatively limited collective knowledge on the procurement and effective use of models and manipulatives in low- and middle-income countries, priority will be given to no-cost or low-cost initiatives successfully implemented in those contexts.
Challenge Call Timeline
Application Submission Deadline: Friday, May 30, 2025
Review and Evaluation Period: June 2025
Award Notification: July 2025
Prize Amount: We will provide up to US$10,000 in funding to at least one prize winner. We are seeking additional co-sponsors. Please email us at [email protected] if you are interested.
The Math Power! Prize, part of our suite of Math Power! activities, is designed to draw attention to the importance of mathematics and numeracy skills and to publicly recognize the amazing work of exceptional non-profit organizations working in their communities and globally to promote the joy of math. Prior to our 2022 award, there did not exist a dedicated prize for this type of global recognition as there is with literacy, such as the Library of Congress Literacy Awards.
Thank you to our Sponsors!
Co-Sponsor the first Math Power! Prize Challenge Call
Over the next several months, we hope to announce (and are looking for co-sponsors) of additional challenge call prizes in other mathematical areas to fill the evidence-gap by challenging Ministries of Education, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), researchers, professional organizations, funders, national and local civil society organizations, private sector groups… – all those interested in changing children’s life trajectories – to identify and implement initiatives with the potential to improve mathematical learning outcomes in low- and middle-income countries.
Your support will enable us to:
1) Run the Math Power! Prize for three years;
2) Support more awards and with higher funding levels, and to provide additional forms of technical support to exceptional organizations which are competitively selected through a juried review process;
3) Showcase the work of these organizations at in-person (e.g., our annual Symposia) and virtual events, and through other promotional opportunities (e.g., video interviews in one of our Pulse Media Channel playlists);
4) Develop an annual Math Power! Good Practices Guide based on the work of top-ranked applicants; and,
5) Build out the network and activities of organizations involved in our Math Power! Community of Practice.
We welcome individual and organizations interested in being Math Prize! co-sponsors, including for a 2025 award. If you are interested, please email us at medalliance@
Congratulations to our 2024 Math Power! Prize Winners
Grupo de Análisis para el Desarrollo (GRADE) - $10,000
Conecta Ideas Peru is a digital education program that provides teachers and students with free access to digital resources to promote the teaching and learning of mathematics, with a gender and equity approach. Their program aims to address current educational inequalities in math learning among third to sixth-grade primary level students, both in urban and rural schools, by providing EdTech resources tailored to public schools´ teachers and students´ needs.
MathKind - $5,000
Care For Education - $1000
Teach for Poland - $1000
Special Thanks to Our 2024 Math Power! Prize Co-Sponsor
PLT Health Solutions
We’d like to extend a special thank you to PLT Health Solutions for co-sponsoring the 2024 Math Power! Prize through their People and Planet Initiatives and their commitment to Mindspark: Empowering Children Around the World.
With a 70-year legacy in promoting human health and well-being through plant-based and botanical solutions, PLT Health Solutions is deeply committed to equitable and sustainable practices. This commitment extends beyond business, inspiring them to support high-quality educational opportunities in communities where they source essential raw materials, including India and South Africa.
Through their partnership with the MINDSPARK Learning System, PLT has provided vital funding and organizational support for digital learning platforms that empower young learners. We’re grateful for PLT’s dedication to advancing education and fostering positive change for communities worldwide.
Congrats to our 2022 Math Power! Prize Winners
On November 3rd, 2022, at our 12th annual mEducation Alliance Symposium, we were delighted to announce the winners of the 2022 — and first — Math Power! Prize. Please find profiles below of the winners, along with links to other top candidates.
The 2022 prize purse was divided into 2 Math Power! Prize Winner awards of $25,000 each and $5,000 for a Good Practices Honoree.
2022 Math Power! Prize Winners - $25,000 Prize Awards
talkSTEM
talkSTEM is a nonprofit organization, based in Dallas Fort Worth (DFW), Texas, working to empower children from all income levels, ethnicities, genders to see Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) as an intriguing and vital part of their daily lives.
They believe that every child is a STEM child.
Through their walkSTEM initiative, they depict math as a foundational language that forms the bedrock of STEM disciplines and work in partnership with a wide range of youth-serving organizations to effect a cultural shift when it comes to youth’s development of mathematical identity.
The walkSTEM initiative, consisting of math walking tours, co-developed by founder and CEO of talkSTEM, Dr. Dhingra, together with Dr. Glen Whitney, founder of the National Museum of Mathematics in New York, represents the largest arm within the talkSTEM organization.
walkSTEM uses place-, observation-, and inquiry-based learning strategies to provide immersive community experiences where students from underrepresented populations can dive into mathematics via local heritage, landscapes, opportunities, and experiences without even leaving their own neighborhood.
The freely accessible talkSTEM YouTube Channel contains hundreds of short videos of walking tours at over 200 public landmarks in DFW, highlighting key concepts and including downloadable educator guides and student worksheets to aid in active learning.
Click here to learn more about walkSTEM and here to view their guides.
Congratulations, talkSTEM!
From left to right: David Barth (Save the Children), Benjamin Feinstein (talkSTEM), Anthony Bloome (mEducation Alliance), and Alexis Bonnell (Google)
onebillion
onebillion is a UK-based non-profit developer of comprehensive EdTech solutions for children to become numerate and literate.
onebillion was an early pioneer of using tablet technology to enable marginalized children to unlock their potential.
From its first pilot of its numeracy content with one school in Malawi in 2014, there are now over 300,000 children using its software to attain numeracy and literacy in their own language.
onebillion’s onetab solution has been extensively scaled in school settings – including in USA, Malawi, South Africa and Canada – with the design principle that it must deliver learning for a child who may have no access to school.
By focusing on the needs and realities of these children, onebillion has developed EdTech that also works effectively for children who have more scaffolding to support their learning. Looking ahead, onebillion intends to focus more on supporting partners in refugee and emergency education contexts, where adult scaffolders may be unavailable, or available inconsistently.
A core goal of onebillion is that children are never left unsure what to do at any stage of their learning, and this has led to powerful innovations such as adaptive learning pathways without personal login, hardware resistant to daily usage in tough conditions, and lessons in digital literacy so that any child – or adult – can immediately start engaging with the content.
You can read about onebillion’s onetab solution here.
Congratulations, onebillion!
From left to right: David Barth (Save the Children), Andrew Ashe (onebillion), Anthony Bloome (mEducation Alliance), and Alexis Bonnell (Google)
2022 Good Practice Honoree - $5,000 Prize Award
CLT India
CLT India (Children’t LoveCastles Trust), founded in 1997, is a not for profit working in the field of education to help remote teachers and students in government schools while addressing the challenges of: teacher shortage, lack of subject matter expertise in STEM, lack of connectivity and access to the internet, and limited educational resources in rural schools.
CLT India has built a large repository of 20,000 STEM videos in English, Kannada, and Hindi with additional resources such as lesson plans, real-time experiments, and assessments which get loaded onto the plug & play Android device, the CLT Lab in the Box, along with data analytics for tracking usage.
CLT India is driven by the philosophy that every child – no matter their circumstances – deserves access to a rich educational environment to be able to build their aspirations and dreams. Visit their site to learn more!
Congratulations, CLT India!
2022 Math Power! Prize Nominees
While these organizations were not selected for one of our prizes, we applaud them for their important work!
2022 Math Power! Prize Sponsoring Organizations
2022 Collaborating Partners
