IDEAS MATTER SCHOLARSHIP ESSAY CONTEST

2023-2024 ESSAY TOPIC

Applications for the 2024 Ideas Matter Scholarship Essay Contest are closed and winners have been announced. Information for 2024-2025 is forthcoming. 

Civic participation – voting, organizing, volunteering, and more – is vital for a thriving community. It can increase the effectiveness of local policies, public services, and government, and even improve economic and physical health for citizens. Staggeringly, the 2023 Arkansas Civic Health Index reports that Arkansas has the lowest voter registration and turnout in the U.S. and is below average in neighbors working together to help the community.

President Bill Clinton’s lifetime commitment to public service started early. He worked on political campaigns, attended and taught law school, and then ran for elected office. That commitment carries on through the work of the Clinton Foundation.

With the vital need to improve the civic health of Arkansas, the Clinton Foundation invites students to write an essay about youth impact through civic participation.

Essays should explore and provide solutions to questions like: How can youth voices, skills, and time be mechanisms for positive change in their neighborhoods, schools, and cities? What are some of the challenges to civic participation for young people? What are some ways that youth can scale those hurdles to achieve collective impact and better their communities?

Essays must be a minimum of 1,500 words.

Applications for the 2024 Ideas Matter Scholarship Essay Contest are closed and winners have been announced.

If you have any questions or need assistance, please email kstrachan@clintonfoundation.org.

The Ideas Matter Scholarship Essay Contest is supported by the Central Arkansas Gastroenterology Clinic (CAGC).