Imagination Foundation

Nirvan Mullick and Harley Cross founded the Imagination Foundation in 2012 inspired by the response to Mullick's short film, Caine's Arcade.[1][2] The two decided to start it 2 days after releasing the film, with a mission to "find, foster, and fund creativity and entrepreneurship in kids". 5 days after posting the film, the non-profit received initial seed funding of a $250,000 matching challenge grant from the Goldhirsh Foundation,[3] matching dollar-for-dollar public donations to a scholarship fund formed for Caine Monroy as part of the Caine's Arcade film. The foundation's first program was the Global Cardboard Challenge, which was initially started as a school pilot program, with over 200 schools in 9 countries taking part during the first 2 months. The program then launched world-wide with a second short film by Mullick called Caine's Arcade 2: From a Movie to a Movement, which was posted online in September 2012, and received over 1 million views.[4] Caine's Arcade 2 had appearances by Sir Ken Robinson, Jack Black, LL Cool J, and NASA/JPL Mars Rover's chief-engineer Robert Manning,[5] the film highlighted "the need to foster the creativity of children like Caine in communities around the world". It ended with a call to action, inviting the world to play by taking part in a Global Cardboard Challenge, which culminated in a Day of Play on October 6, 2012, the one-year anniversary of the flashmob created for Caine in the Caine's Arcade short film. Three weeks after Caine's Arcade 2 was posted online, volunteers had organized over 270 Cardboard Challenge events in 40 countries, with over 11,000 kids participating. Following this, the Global Cardboard Challenge became an annual event with many kids taking part each year, culminating in a Day of Play in early October. Imagination Foundation has also launched Imagination Chapters to provide "creative play" for kids every week, and has partnered with Disney, Google, AT&T, Time Warner etc.,.

Mullick received the 2012 Big Ideas Fest Innovation in Action Award[6] and the Dan Eldon Creative Activist Award from the Creative Visions Foundation. In 2012, Mullick spoke at Mattress Firm's National "Bed Talks" event, leading to a partnership for the 2013 Global Cardboard Challenge.[7] Mullick and Cross continued to run the organization until bringing on a full-time Executive Director, Mike McGalliard, in May 2013. In 2014, the Imagination Foundation was named one of 10 Champions in the Ashoka and Lego Foundation "Re-Imagine Learning Challenge", announced at the WISE Summit in Doha as "one of the most innovative, impactful and sustainable projects aimed at transforming the way the world learns."[8]

The Global Cardboard Challenge launched in 2012, inspired by Caine's Arcade, is an annual challenge that invites kids to build things using cardboard and recycled materials. It culminates in a global "Day of Play" where communities and adults come out to play and display the children's cardboard creations, celebrating the anniversary of the flashmob featured in the Caine's Arcade short film where a community came out to play the then 9 year old Caine Monroy's cardboard arcade in East Los Angeles. The event happens in school and out of school. The event engages kids to participate in S.T.E.A.M (Science Technology Engineering Art and Math) activities, and is often used as a fundraiser. It is now an annual event, and its website is www.cardboardchallenge.com .

In 2014, the Imagination Foundation partnered with the National Head Start Association and Lakeshore Learning to launch a national campaign to bring STEM education to pre-school children.[9] The partnership was announced at the Clinton Global Initiative America with a 3-year commitment to engage 30,000 pre-school children in early STEM education.

Imagination Chapters, launched in the fall of 2014, are pop-up groups that meet weekly to engage in 2 hours of "creative play". They launched as a 9-month pilot program in 30 locations in 7 countries, in partnership with Disney, MIT Media Lab, and Indiana University's Creativity Labs.

In 2013, Mattress Firm became the national sponsor for the Global Cardboard Challenge, and collected cardboard and craft supplies at point of sale, and then delivered cardboard boxes to American kids participating in the Cardboard Challenge. In 2014, Focus Features and Laika (company)'s "The Boxtrolls" joined Mattress Firm as title sponsors for the Global Cardboard Challenge, which included a special The Boxtrolls Cardboard Challenge.[10][11] The US Premiere of The BoxTrolls at Universal City Walk supported the Imagination Foundation. Disney partnered with Imagination Foundation to launch the Imagination Chapters program in 2014. In 2014 Reddit partnered with Imagination Foundation, by making the 3rd annual Global Reddit Day of Service on the same day as the 3rd annual Global Cardboard Challenge's Day of Play.[12] Imagination partnered with Time Warner for a special Earth Day Cardboard Challenge in 2014, with over 35,000 participants, partnered with Google on a "Science at Play" initiative, and partnered with AT&T Aspire on an Inventors Challenge in 2016 and 2017.

Official Website: www.imagination.org Global Cardboard Challenge: www.cardboardchallenge.com