WE Empower UN SDG Challenge 2026: Eligibility, Application Requirements, and Archived Cycle Details

WE Empower UN SDG Challenge 2026: Eligibility, Application Requirements, and Archived Cycle Details

The 2026 WE Empower UN SDG Challenge is closed. The official application page maintained by Arizona State University’s Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory says that applications officially closed on March 8, 2026. The official programme homepage now describes the 2026 awardees and the activities they completed, so this page is a historical reference for that cycle rather than an invitation to submit a late application.

The Challenge is a global competition for women social entrepreneurs whose enterprises advance the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It was launched at the UN General Assembly in 2018 by the UN Secretary-General, the President of the World Bank, and the Council of Women World Leaders. The programme is co-convened by the ASU Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory and Vital Voices Global Partnership. The official description focuses on recognition, capacity-building, visibility, and access to a global network. It does not publish a fixed cash award for the 2026 cycle. The programme homepage does mention the WE Empower Pitch Challenge, but the verified 2026 pages do not give a guaranteed grant amount, so applicants should not treat this listing as a promise of cash funding.

Verified status and key details

The geographic structure is broader than the old page’s single Africa tag suggests. The official application instructions asked applicants to select the region that best reflected their primary country of operation: Asia–Pacific; Europe and North America; Latin America and the Caribbean; Middle East and North Africa; or Sub-Saharan Africa. A business operating in Africa could therefore be relevant, but the Challenge was not limited to African applicants.

Who could apply in the 2026 cycle

The official application page required applicants to meet all of the listed criteria. An applicant had to identify as a woman entrepreneur and lead decision-making within her business or organisation. This is more specific than simply being employed by, advising, or holding a minority role in an enterprise. The applicant needed to be the person with meaningful authority over the organisation’s direction and decisions.

The enterprise also needed an operating history of at least three years as of August 1, 2026. That test was tied to the stated eligibility date, not just to the day the application was submitted. An organisation that had not yet reached three years when the portal opened could still have been eligible if it met the three-year requirement by the official date.

The staffing threshold was at least three full-time employees or full-time equivalents. The official wording allows full-time equivalents, which matters for organisations that combine full-time staff with part-time roles. A serious application would need to explain its staffing calculation clearly rather than simply list every contractor, volunteer, or occasional contributor as an employee.

The organisation also needed at least USD $75,000 in annual revenue. The official page expressly says that a nonprofit’s revenue may include donations, grants, and funds raised through fundraising activities. That makes the threshold different from a requirement for commercial sales alone. A nonprofit applicant would still need to present its figures accurately and be prepared for the financial review required of finalists.

Applicants had to be at least 21 years old by August 1, 2026 and professionally proficient in English. Professional proficiency was relevant to the whole programme: applicants were expected to complete the application, participate in virtual programming, engage in discussions, and contribute to the programme’s public and professional activities in English.

What the application asked for

The official application instructions describe a focused submission rather than a request for a long catalogue of attachments. Applicants were asked for basic identifying information about themselves and their business or organisation, including the primary operating region. They then had to explain how their work related to the SDGs and describe their vision for contributing to a sustainable future.

The application also asked about gender equality. This covered how the applicant fostered gender equality inside the business or organisation and in the broader community. A credible response would therefore need more than a statement that the organisation supports women. It would need to explain the practices, decisions, services, employment model, community work, or measurable outcomes that demonstrate that commitment.

Other application components included security questions, social media information where applicable, and agreement to the contest’s terms and conditions. The official instructions also required a two-minute video submitted according to the application guidelines. The video should have been treated as part of the core application, not as optional promotional material.

Finalists were required to provide audited financial records as part of the vetting process. That requirement is important for any future applicant reviewing the 2026 rules. The initial form may have asked for concise financial information, but advancing in the process required documentation capable of supporting the organisation’s revenue claims.

How applications were assessed

The official judging considerations included geographic and sectoral diversity. The organisers were looking for broad representation across regions and industries, so an application had to make its operating context easy to understand. The selection process was not described as a simple ranking by revenue or headcount.

Demonstrated impact on the SDGs was another central consideration. Applicants were expected to show what their organisation had achieved and to offer a clear, actionable vision for contributing to the future the SDGs describe by 2030. The strongest evidence would connect an organisation’s activities to outcomes: who benefited, what changed, how the change was measured, and why the model could continue.

The panel also considered commitment to women’s leadership within the organisation and to gender equity in the wider community. This means the applicant’s own role was only part of the case. The enterprise’s way of hiring, serving customers or beneficiaries, sharing authority, building markets, or influencing its community could all matter if explained with concrete examples.

The official criteria further considered an applicant’s willingness and ability to shape community dialogue on women’s economic and social advancement. This points to communication and public leadership as part of the opportunity. It does not mean an applicant needed to be a professional speaker. It does mean she needed to be ready to explain the problem, the organisation’s response, the evidence, and the change she wanted to help create.

What the programme offered

The official programme description says that awardees receive capacity-building training, visibility, and access to a global network. The 2026 homepage gives more detail about the completed experience. Awardees participated in the Villars Institute-hosted Villars Symposium in Villars-sur-Ollon, Switzerland during the week of June 14–20. The programme connected them with global leaders, systems thinkers, and more than 140 Villars Fellows.

During that week, the awardees engaged in pitch-coaching sessions, tailored trainings, and high-level engagements with the United Nations and organisations including the World Economic Forum and the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The official page also identifies the WE Empower Pitch Challenge as a highlight, hosted by the Deputy Permanent Representative of Canada to the United Nations, Ambassador Patricia McCullagh.

The application page had described a commitment to full participation in the programme’s in-person events and virtual programming held from August through October 2026. It also noted that the team was considering Geneva as an alternative to a United States convening because of evolving U.S. visa restrictions. The current programme homepage confirms that the 2026 awardee experience took place in Villars-sur-Ollon, Switzerland during June 14–20. That completed event should not be presented as an upcoming travel opportunity for new applicants.

The official pages do not state a fixed 2026 grant amount. They describe the Pitch Challenge and the broader recognition, training, visibility, and network benefits, but they do not provide a published cash figure that can be safely copied into an amount field. Anyone evaluating the opportunity for a later cycle should check the new official call for any prize or funding terms instead of assuming that the 2026 structure will repeat.

What a strong 2026 submission would have needed

Although the cycle is closed, the published requirements make the preparation logic clear. First, an applicant would have needed a concise explanation of the enterprise: what it does, where it operates, who it serves, and which SDGs it advances. The explanation should have been specific enough for a reviewer to connect the organisation’s model to its claimed impact.

Second, she would have needed reliable evidence. The revenue threshold, operating history, and team requirement were not abstract aspirations. A useful preparation file would have included the organisation’s founding or operating date, a defensible full-time-equivalent calculation, annual revenue figures, and records supporting the impact claims. Finalists also needed to be ready for audited financial records.

Third, the gender-equality response needed its own evidence. An organisation could discuss women’s employment, leadership pathways, products or services for women, community outcomes, procurement, workplace policy, or other relevant practices. The point was to show what the organisation did and what resulted, not merely repeat the language of the SDGs.

Fourth, the two-minute video required disciplined communication. In two minutes, an applicant had to make the enterprise understandable, show why the work mattered, and communicate her leadership and future vision. The video should have complemented the written responses rather than introducing a completely different story.

Finally, the applicant had to be ready for the full participation commitment. The official instructions connected selection with in-person participation and virtual programming. Travel, time away from daily operations, English-language participation, and the ability to join training and public dialogue were all practical considerations before submitting.

Application steps for the closed cycle

There is no remaining application step for the 2026 round. The historical process was:

1. Confirm that the applicant identified as a woman entrepreneur, led decision-making, met the age and operating-history requirements, employed at least three full-time employees or equivalents, met the revenue threshold, and had professional English proficiency.
2. Select the primary operating region that best represented the business or organisation.
3. Prepare the SDG and sustainable-future responses, including evidence of impact and a clear vision.
4. Explain how the organisation advanced gender equality internally and in the broader community.
5. Complete the identifying information, security questions, applicable social media fields, and agreement to the terms and conditions.
6. Record and submit the required two-minute video through the application itself.
7. Submit the completed application through the official portal by March 8, 2026.
8. If selected as a finalist, provide audited financial records and commit to the programme’s required participation.

The deadline has passed, and the official pages reviewed do not announce a next cycle. The official application portal remains useful as the archived submission destination, while the ASU WE Empower homepage is the better place to monitor for a future call, updated eligibility rules, or new funding terms. Do not use the 2026 deadline as a live invitation, submit late materials, or infer a future date from the existence of the portal.