Truist Foundation: Inspire Awards

Truist Foundation

The Truist Foundation is committed to Truist Financial Corporation's (NYSE: TFC) purpose to inspire and build better lives and communities. The Truist Foundation's grants and activities focus on building career pathways to economic mobility and strengthening small businesses.

Inspire Awards

We’re collaborating with MIT Solve to kick off our third year of the Inspire Awards. Nonprofits from across the country are invited to pitch their solution to advance workers through career navigation and workforce development.

This year’s Inspire Awards challenge aims to improve resources and wraparound services for workers seeking reskilling, upskilling, and career transitions to uplift themselves—and their families. For workers looking to develop skills to help them adapt to industry changes, career navigation and workforce development solutions can make an impact. These tools can aid smoother career transitions, foster economic mobility, and empower workers to pursue personal growth.

2025 Truist Foundation Inspire Awards Challenge Question

How are nonprofits providing innovative solutions for the reskilling, upskilling, and career navigation needs of adults who are in the middle or late stages of their careers?

Challenge Dimensions

We are seeking innovative nonprofit solutions that improve resources and wraparound services for adults who are in the middle or late stages of their careers seeking reskilling, upskilling, and career navigation support, including:

• Wraparound Services – Supporting unemployed and underemployed individuals on their journey to economic mobility through innovative and comprehensive resources including transportation support, childcare, mentorship, mental health services, and more.
• Coalition Building – Generating greater buy-in and support for workforce navigation efforts through coalitions, promoting communication and collaboration across diverse sectors and stakeholders including businesses, nonprofits, and government entities.
• Career Navigation – Enabling workers to navigate their career choices more easily, helping to facilitate informed decisions about which high-quality jobs and career trajectories best suit them.
• Upskilling and Reskilling – Providing accessible, high-quality, skill-building and training opportunities for those transitioning between careers or facing unemployment.

Here are the grants for this challenge

• First place: $250,000
• Second place: $150,000
• Runners-up: $25,000
• Audience favorite: $75,000

Eligibility

_You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website._

• The Inspire Awards are open to nonprofit organizations that meet the following requirements:
  • Hold a registered 501(c)(3) status with the IRS.
  • Headquartered in the U.S. and directly or indirectly serving within the Truist footprint: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, D.C.,  and West Virginia.
  • The organization is operating at least at a Growth Stage of Development: A registered 501(c)(3) organization with an established product, service, or business model rolled out in one or, ideally, several communities, which is poised for further growth in multiple communities or countries.
  • Organizations at the Growth Stage should have a proven track record with an annual operating budget - see Organization vs. Solution for more information.
  • The organization’s solution is at least at the Concept Stage of Development: An idea being explored and researched for its feasibility to build a product, service, or business model, including prototypes under development. Until the solution has a functioning prototype, we would still consider it a Concept.- see Organization vs. Solution for more information.
  • Team Lead must be 18 years or older to apply: The Team Lead should be the CEO, Executive Director, Primary Investigator, or other key leader for your solution.
  • If your solution is selected as a semi–finalist, this person will be expected to present the solution to judges during an interview session, and if selected as a finalist for the Inspire Awards, they will be the lead participant in the support program.
  • Applications for the Coalition Building Dimension should be submitted by a Growth Stage organization serving as an anchor partner for the coalition. As mentioned above, the solution’s Team Lead must be an Executive Director, CEO, Primary Investigator, or other key leader.