The Alliance for the American Dream is a project designed to reduce inequality and relieve poverty in the United States.

In the final round of the 2019 Alliance for the American Dream competition, Schmidt Futures prepared to invest $1 million in an innovative idea to increase the size of the middle class — by creating the conditions that allow poor people to move out of poverty and into the middle class, and by preventing people in the middle class from falling into poverty. The final-round ideas were so powerful that we have decided instead to invest a total of $3 million across efforts in Arizona, Ohio, Utah, and Wisconsin.

Sharing first place are the teams LIFT Dane (Wisconsin) and Project Benjamin (Arizona). Sharing second place are the teams Coal Country Strike Team (Utah), Power of Home (Ohio), and We Care for Dane Kids (Wisconsin). Each community will share more detail about their ideas in the days to come.

Congratulations to all of the winners. We at Schmidt Futures look forward to working with you to build networks like the Alliance that advance shared prosperity and strengthen communities across America.