Welcome to LeadingAge California’s Innovation Showcase Challenge!
With a workforce shortage crisis, LeadingAge California wants to showcase solutions that will create more opportunities for qualified workers with disabilities to join the workforce. The Innovation Showcase encourages organizations with best practices or technology solutions that enable qualified individuals with any form of disability to have the same job opportunity as able-bodied individuals. This is a great opportunity for those looking to enter the aging services field to compete to win cash prizes and raise the visibility of a provider organization or business. An example of the type of solutions we are looking for include automatic door opener for individuals in wheelchairs, and mobile apps for vision-impaired individuals, just to name a couple. To view past showcase winners, click here.
Goals
1. Highlight innovative products and services that are transformative and promising.2. Promote a culture of innovation using technologies and best practices to enable a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workforce that provides care and services for older adults.
3. Raise the visibility of innovators in the field of housing, care, and services for older adults.
What types of innovations are we looking for?
In 2023, we will accept entries that enable qualified individuals with any form of disability to have the same job opportunity as able-bodied individuals. We are particularly interested in workforce solutions that encourage a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion particularly to qualified disabled staff. If your solution can help overcome barriers to employment for disabled staff, consider applying to the Innovation Showcase.
Eligibility & Criteria
Eligibility
- The innovation must address solutions and opportunities for qualified workers with disabilities to have the same job opportunity as able-bodied individuals.
- Impact: The solutions promote an equitable workplace by including disabled workers of all types. Impact also considers how the solution affects staff recruitment and retention, operation efficiency and effectiveness, resident satisfaction, and health outcomes.
- Innovation: The solution is transformative and enables a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workforce providing housing, care, and services for older adults. Innovation can be a product, process, technology solution, or service that can better enable disabled workforce with barriers to employment. Innovation creates value and opportunities for settings serving older adults that is either completely new or improve on established approaches.
- Feasibility: The solution is practical in terms of operation, implementation, scalability, and sustainability.
- Market Experience: The solution has a track record in the market of housing, care and services for older adults and is a proven viable concept, with documented market penetration, units sold, revenue generated or other indicators that demonstrate market experience.
- Impact (40%)
- Innovation (25%)
- Feasibility (25%)
- Market Experience (10%)
Winner and Prize Information
First Place The first-place winner will receive a $10k cash prize and an opportunity to meet with Amazon’s Funding Team.
People's Choice
The People's Choice winner will receive an award and recognition as the chosen solution voted by the attendees of the Annual Conference.
Timeline
- Dec 19, 2022 – Application Opens
March 10, 2023 – Application DeadlineEXTENDED TILL MARCH 24, 2023- March 31, 2023 – Top three finalists notified
- April 10-21, 2023 – First Place Finalists Interview for a cash prize ($10k) and meeting with Amazon
- May 1, 2023 –Showcase the top three finalists at General Session. Voting for People’s Choice Award Opens
- May 3, 2023 – Announce First Place Winner and People’s Choice Winner at General Session.
