Win Up to €15,000 for Design That Advances Gender Equality: Design Equality 2025 International Competition Guide

Design meets purpose. If you create products, services, policies or digital tools that improve the lives of women and girls, the Design Equality 2025 International Competition is a stage and a pot of prize money waiting for work with real impact. This competition—run by BE OPEN in conjunction with partners—celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and seeks design-driven solutions that address barriers to gender equality, support women as innovators, and respond to the practical needs of women and girls. Winners divide up to €15,000 in prizes and get exposure to an international jury and public audience.

This guide walks you through who should apply, how to pick the right category, what to prepare, how judges will evaluate your entry, the timeline you need to hit, and the tactical moves that make the difference between a forgettable submission and a prize-winning one. Think of it as your backstage pass: practical, blunt, and full of things reviewers wish applicants knew ahead of time.

Why this competition matters: funding in design is rarely tied directly to gender equality in such a focused way. Beyond the cash (which is useful), this program amplifies projects that combine human-centered design and technical or social innovation to address gender-specific problems. If your work tries to improve safety, economic opportunity, access to healthcare, or participation in technology and entrepreneurship for women and girls, this is for you.

At a Glance

What This Opportunity Offers

This competition is more than a contest; it’s a spotlight and a short runway. Financially, the organizers award five prizes that total €15,000: a top prize of €5,000, a Founder’s Choice prize (€3,000), a second (€3,000) and third (€2,000) prize, and a public vote prize (€2,000). Beyond money, winners often gain visibility through BE OPEN’s channels, jury connections, and potential introductions to funders or partners who care about gender-responsive design.

For designers this is a chance to validate an idea with a jury that values social impact and design thinking. For students and recent graduates, the competition functions as a portfolio amplifier—winning or being shortlisted gives credibility when you’re pitching employers or applying for residencies and grants. For early-stage teams, the prize can finance prototyping, user testing, or small pilots in local communities.

Crucially, the competition signals alignment with global policy priorities: entries should speak to the commitments in the Beijing Platform for Action and the Sustainable Development Goals, especially SDG 5 on gender equality. Projects that connect user research to measurable outcomes—reduced barriers, improved access, increased participation—will sit well with judges who want to see clear links between what you design and the real-world change it produces.

This contest also rewards public engagement. One prize is determined by public vote, so communication and outreach skills matter. Expect social media-friendly artifacts—high-quality visuals, concise storytelling and a clear ask—to improve your chances in that category.

Who Should Apply

This competition targets people at the beginning of their professional arc—students, recent graduates, and young professionals—but it’s open internationally. If you’re an undergraduate designer, a postgraduate student, a community organizer with a design portfolio, a developer creating women-centered tech, or an early-career social entrepreneur, you’re eligible.

Concrete examples of good fits:

• A team designing low-cost menstrual products and a distribution system for rural clinics.
• A UX designer building a safety app that uses localized data to recommend safer routes and community watch alerts for women in cities.
• A social enterprise creating a lending platform tailored to female micro-entrepreneurs with alternate credit scoring.
• An education designer producing a curriculum and low-tech kit that teaches girls coding and hardware basics in community centers.
• A public policy design prototype that simplifies maternity leave claims and reporting for informal workers.

If your work sits at the intersection of tech and social good—digital platforms, data-driven tools, assistive hardware, or service design that addresses access or representation—this competition is relevant. You don’t have to be a professional product manufacturer; thoughtful research, a working prototype, or a tested pilot will make your entry stronger.

Teams are encouraged. Combine design skills with subject-matter expertise—healthcare workers, gender studies researchers, community leaders, or engineers—to widen your project’s credibility. Individuals can submit one solo project plus one team project, so if you’re working both independently and in collaboration, you can enter twice.

Categories Explained and Choosing One

There are three categories. If your project legitimately fits more than one, pick the category where it will create the biggest positive effect—don’t try to game the system.

1. Solutions to advocate and advance gender equality: Choose this if your project focuses on awareness, policy tools, community mobilization, or design that changes social norms. Example: a public campaign toolkit that uses local storytelling to reduce gender-based discrimination.

2. Solutions that meet the needs of women and girls: This is the place for tangible products and services—health, safety, education, financial inclusion. Example: a solar-charged light and communication device for remote maternal clinics.

3. Solutions to promote women as innovators and entrepreneurs: For projects that increase participation, access to funding, mentorship or networks for women founders. Example: a platform that connects women entrepreneurs with micro-investors and localized mentorship.

Pick the single category where your measurable outcomes are strongest.

Insider Tips for a Winning Application

Judges see a lot of earnest but fuzzy submissions. These are the moves that make your entry feel confident and credible.

1. Start with a story about a real person. Open your project narrative with one or two sentences about the user whose life you improved. Concrete context hooks a reviewer faster than abstract mission statements.

2. Show user research, not assumptions. Even a small field study—10 interviews, 50 survey responses, or a day of participant observation—beats theoretical claims. Summaries, verbatim quotes, and photos (with consent) make your case visceral.

3. Present clear outcomes and metrics. “Will improve access” is weak. “Reduced travel time by 30% in our pilot village” is convincing. If you haven’t run a pilot, model realistic KPIs: uptake rate, cost per user, time saved, reduction of reported incidents, etc.

4. Use strong visuals and prototypes. This contest is design-first. High-res renderings, UX flows, short demo videos, and snapped photos of physical prototypes help judges understand the form and function quickly. Make a one-page storyboard that shows how someone uses your solution step-by-step.

5. Be realistic about scale and sustainability. Judges want projects that can grow. Explain business or operational models: how will the project sustain itself after prize funds? Are there potential partners—NGOs, local government, manufacturers—that can help scale?

6. Address ethics and inclusion. If your solution collects data, explain privacy protections. Show you considered unintended consequences (e.g., safety trade-offs of digital tracking). Also describe how your design is inclusive across socioeconomic and cultural differences.

7. Prepare a short narrative for the public vote. If you want the €2,000 public prize, craft a tight, emotional story plus sharable assets: a 60-second video, 3 images, and a short call to action. Mobilize your network early.

8. Seek mentorship and letters of support. Because organizers encourage academic and professional mentorship, a short supporting letter that confirms access to facilities, testing sites, or community contacts strengthens your credibility.

9. Polish copy and captions. Design work can be discounted by sloppy language. Use clear, active verbs and concise captions for images. Proofread.

10. Respect the submission rules and deadlines. File formats, image sizes, and permitted languages vary—follow instructions exactly.

These ten tips will add up. Judges reward entries that feel like they belong in the real world: research-grounded, visually communicative, and operationally plausible.

Application Timeline (Work Backwards)

January 31, 2026 is the final deadline. Work backward to avoid last-minute scrambling.

• January (Final two weeks): Complete visuals, render your video (if any), finalize your narrative, collect letters of support and user consent forms, and do a full submission test. Upload at least 48 hours before the deadline.

• December: Iterate on your prototype and user tests. Draft the public vote materials and gather friends or institutions who may amplify your campaign.

• November: Reach out to potential mentors and letter writers. Reserve time with a faculty adviser or professional to critique your narrative and visuals.

• October–September: Run initial user research and develop the first prototype or wireframes. Create a one-page project summary and sketch the UX and service process.

• August: Form your team and assign responsibilities (research lead, design lead, writing, video). Make a submission checklist.

• Ongoing: Keep notes, photos, and research artifacts organized so you can extract quotes and metrics quickly when writing the entry.

Required Materials (What to Prepare)

The official site lists submission steps on the application portal, but prepare the following assets ahead of time:

• A concise project summary (300–500 words) that explains the problem, your solution, and the expected impact.
• A full project description (1–3 pages) covering background research, design process, user testing, technical details, and implementation plan.
• High-quality visuals: annotated photos of prototypes, renderings, UX flows, or diagrams; keep captions short and informative.
• A short video (optional but recommended) — 60–180 seconds demonstrating the concept or a pilot.
• Letters of support or mentorship (one or two pages each) confirming access to facilities, local partners, or domain expertise.
• Basic budget or use-of-prize plan: show how you’d use prize money (prototype manufacturing, testing, pilots, outreach).
• Consent forms or evidence of ethical clearance if your project involved human subjects.
• CV or bios for main contributors, including roles and relevant experience.

Prepare all files in the preferred formats (PDF, JPG, MP4) and keep file sizes manageable. If you don’t have a pilot, show a robust plan for testing in year one.

What Makes an Application Stand Out

Reviewers reward clarity and evidence. Top-tier entries typically have: strong user research; a working prototype or mockup; clear metrics and a plausible path to impact; partnership or mentorship that reduces implementation risk; and compelling visuals that communicate quickly. Originality counts, but originality without feasibility is a red flag.

Judges will assess:

• Relevance to gender equality objectives.
• Demonstrated user engagement and feedback.
• Practicality and cost-effectiveness.
• Scalability and sustainability strategy.
• Quality of design execution and communication.

Write with transparency. If a method threatens privacy or depends on fragile infrastructure, state how you’ll mitigate the risk. Shortlisted projects often shine because they address messy real-world constraints rather than assuming ideal conditions.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Submitting an idea that hasn’t been tested with users. Avoid abstract proposals with no evidence of fieldwork. Even small pilot data is better than none.

2. Overclaiming impact. If you promise to solve systemic gender inequality with a single product, reviewers will be skeptical. Define measurable, realistic short-term outcomes.

3. Poor visuals. A weak or unreadable submission can kill a strong concept. Invest time in clear diagrams, high-contrast images, and legible captions.

4. Ignoring ethics and safety. If your solution involves digital data or surveillance, spell out consent and protection measures. Judges won’t ignore potential harm.

5. Leaving public vote to chance. If you want that prize, plan outreach from day one—friends, networks, partner organizations.

6. Missing small instructions. Failing to follow file format or submission rules can lead to disqualification or reduce readability. Read the guidelines twice.

Fixes are straightforward: run a small usability study, pare back over-ambitious claims, hire a designer or use templates for visuals, write a privacy paragraph, plan your outreach, and triple-check submission specs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Who can enter? A: Students, recent graduates, and young professionals from anywhere in the world. Individuals and teams may enter; individuals can submit one solo project and one team project for a total of two entries.

Q: How many people can be on a team? A: There’s no limit. Put together a multidisciplinary team if you can—designers, subject experts, community organizers and technologists strengthen applications.

Q: Can the project be a conceptual piece? A: Yes, but prototypes or evidence of user engagement make your entry much stronger. Concept-only work must clearly show user research and a viable path to testing.

Q: What languages are allowed? A: Check the submission portal for language requirements. English is commonly required for the jury’s review; provide translations if you have materials in other languages.

Q: Is there an entry fee? A: No fee is mentioned in the public brief; consult the official submission page for final confirmation.

Q: What will the prize cover? A: Prize money is flexible—use it for prototyping, outreach, pilot testing, or other activities that move your project forward. Provide a short budget that explains intended use.

Q: Can organizations apply? A: The competition targets individuals and young professionals, but projects that are community-led or supported by organizations (with letters) are acceptable.

Q: Will winners get follow-up support? A: The public brief highlights visibility and potential network connections; direct follow-up support varies. Use the exposure to approach funders and partners.

Next Steps — How to Apply

Ready to go? Do these immediate actions:

1. Draft a 300–500 word project summary that names the problem, the target user, and the expected outcome.
2. Pull together visuals: at least three images or a short demo video.
3. Contact a mentor or partner who can provide a short letter of support.
4. Build a one-page budget explaining how you’d spend prize funds.
5. Create a plan for your public vote campaign if you want that prize.

Submit your entry before the deadline: January 31, 2026. Visit the official submission page to register and upload your materials.

Apply Now

Ready to apply? Visit the official opportunity page and follow submission instructions: https://designequality2025.com/submission/

If you want, paste a draft of your summary or storyboard here and I’ll help tighten your pitch and visuals for the jury and public vote.