Fearless Strivers Grant Contest

Official Rules (“Official Rules”)*

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THIS CONTEST MAY BE CANCELLED OR POSTPONED, IN FULL OR IN PART, IN SPONSOR’S SOLE DISCRETION FOR ANY REASON.

I. ELIGIBILITY:  The Fearless Strivers Grant Contest (“Contest”) is open only to black females who are at the time and date of entry:  (1) legal U.S. residents (including D.C.); (2) eighteen (18) years of age or older (or the age of majority in their state of residence, whichever is older) (which is eighteen (18) in most states, but is nineteen (19) in Alabama and Nebraska, and twenty-one (21) in Mississippi); and (3) a principal owner of a U.S.-based small business, as described below (referred to herein as, “Entrants”).  For the purpose of this Contest, a small business means a business with an annual revenue of three million dollars ($3,000,000) or less in calendar year 2022, who are authorized signing officers at said business, and whose business is physically located in the fifty (50) United States or the District of Columbia and is incorporated or otherwise considered a valid legal entity in good standing in its state of formation as of 2/1/23.  For purposes of the Contest, a ‘small business’ can be organized as a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or any other legal entity that employs no more than fifty (50) individuals on a full or part-time basis.  Officers, directors and employees of the Fearless Foundation (“Sponsor”), Mastercard International Incorporated (“Mastercard”), teamDigital Promotions, Inc. (“Administrator”) and their respective parent companies, divisions, subsidiaries and affiliates, and each of their respective agents, advertising, promotional and judging agencies of each of the foregoing, and any other entity or persons that develops, produces or distributes materials for or related to this Contest (collectively, the “Released Parties”), and members of the immediate families (defined for these purposes as including spouse, parents, grandparents, children, grandchildren, siblings, and each of their respective spouse) or households (whether legally related or not) of any of the above, are NOT eligible to enter or win this Contest.  The Contest is void in U.S. territories, including Guam, Puerto Rico and where prohibited by law.  Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein.  However, any grants to be awarded are to be made at the full and complete discretion of the Sponsor, and the Sponsor reserves the right to modify, cancel, or adjust the program requirements or operation at any time, for any reason.  Mastercard and the Fearless Fund are not responsible for the promotion, administration or execution of this Contest.

II. HOW THE CONTEST WORKS:  The Contest consists of an overall Promotion Period (defined below) in which one (1) prize winner will be identified from amongst all eligible entries received throughout each of the individual Entry Periods (defined below), based on the judging procedure and criteria outlined below.

The promotion period begins on or about 12:00:00 PM Eastern Time (“ET”) on 2/1/23 and will end at a date to be determined (the “Promotion Period”).  Each entry period (each, an “Entry Period”) will begin at 12:00:00 AM ET and end at 11:59:59 PM ET, except for the first Entry Period which will begin at 12:00:00 PM ET.  The end of the Promotion Period may be determined by Sponsor with no advance notice.

Sponsor’s designated servers are the official time clock for this Contest.

III. HOW TO ENTER:  Visit fearless.fund/strivers (the “Website”) during the Promotion Period and follow the instructions provided to complete and submit the entry form.  The submitted entry form, inclusive of all required business information, business-related questions and six (6) essay questions, will collectively be referred to as an “Entry” hereafter.  Website’s server must receive all Entries by the end of the Promotion Period.  Limit one (1) Entry per Entrant, per email address, per Entry Period.  If Entrant submits more than one (1) Entry during any given Entry Period, all Entries received after the first Entry will be void.  Once the Entry is completed and submitted, the Entry is final and may not be modified or edited.  All Entries must meet the Entry Requirements set forth below.  Those who do not follow all of the instructions, provide the required information in their entry form, or abide by these Official Rules or other instructions of Sponsor may be disqualified at Sponsor’s sole and absolute discretion.  All Entries that are late, illegible, incomplete, damaged, destroyed, forged or otherwise not in compliance with the Official Rules may be disqualified from the Contest at Sponsor’s sole and absolute discretion.  Entries generated by script, macro or other automated means and Entries by any means which subvert the Entry process are void.  Sponsor reserves the right to disqualify any Entry that it determines, in its sole discretion, has violated any provision of these Official Rules as applicable, and its decision in this regard is final.  All Entries will not be acknowledged or returned.  Assurance of delivery of Entries is the sole responsibility of the Entrant.  In the event of a dispute as to the identity of any Entrant who submits an Entry, the Entry will be deemed submitted by the account holder of the email account from which it was sent but only if such person is otherwise eligible.  The “account holder” is the person assigned an email address or username by the entity responsible for assigning it (e.g., Yahoo).  Winners may be required to show proof of being the registered account holder.  If a dispute cannot be resolved to the Sponsor’s satisfaction, the Entry will be deemed ineligible.  Sponsor, Administrator and affiliated entities are not responsible for lost, misdirected, misplaced, stolen, tampered with, deleted, or invalid Entries.

Entry Requirements:

All Entries must meet the following criteria, as determined within Sponsor’s final sole discretion:

• Entries that contain or otherwise infringe on any third-party names, trademarks, music, identities, copyrighted or patented material, and/or other material subject to third party rights are prohibited;

• Entries that include any reference to any patents and/or trade secrets of Sponsor or Released Parties and/or its competitors are prohibited;

• Entries that are obscene, offensive, contain any profanities, endorse any form of hate or hate group, or any language or images communicating messages inconsistent with the positive images to which Sponsor and/or Released Parties wishes to associate will be void;

• Entries cannot be sexually explicit or suggestive, unnecessarily violent or derogatory of any ethnic, racial, gender, religious, professional or age group, profane or pornographic, or contain nudity or any materially dangerous activity;

• Entries cannot promote alcohol, illegal drugs, tobacco, firearms/weapons (or the use of any of the foregoing), any activities that may appear unsafe or dangerous, or any particular political agenda or message;

• Entries cannot contain disparaging remarks, defame, misrepresent, invade the publicity, third party rights and/or the privacy rights of Sponsor, Released Parties, their products or any trademarks or other intellectual property they own, other products or companies, or any person, living or deceased;

• No background artwork should appear in the Entries unless it is an original work of the Entrant.  Any artwork, murals, etc. that can be seen in Entries must be created solely by the Entrant or Entrant must be the sole owner of all copyright interests therein;

• Entries cannot contain trademarks owned by others, or advertise or promote any brand or product of any kind, or contain any personal identifiable information, such as personal names, email addresses, etc.;

• Entries cannot communicate messages inconsistent with the positive images and/or goodwill to which Released Parties associate; and

• Entries cannot be in violation of any law, statute, regulation, or ordinance.

Sponsor reserves the right to void and disqualify any Entry not satisfying these requirements, as determined within Sponsor’s final sole discretion.

Entries cannot violate any law or regulation or any right of any third party, including those laws, regulations, and rights related to copyrights, trademarks, publicity, or privacy.  Entries cannot have been published or submitted in any other competition.  Entries must be original work.  Permission must be obtained from any person whose name or likeness is used in the Entry.  Neither Sponsor, nor its agents, shall be responsible for return or preservation of the Entries submitted.

Submission of an Entry is gratuitous and made without restriction and will not place Sponsor and/or Released Parties under any obligation.  Each Entrant acknowledges that Entries are not being submitted in confidence or in trust to Sponsor and that no confidential or fiduciary relationship is intended or created.  

IV. JUDGING PROCEDURE AND CRITERIA:  All eligible Entries received during the Promotion Period will be judged by Sponsor based on the following criteria by Sponsor and its designees:  1) Viability and strength of business (0-30 points), 2) How the business intends to use the grant (0-30 points), and 3) Potential for business growth (0-40 points).  At the conclusion of each Entry Period, the Entry with the highest score for such Entry Period, as determined by the judges, in their sole discretion, will be declared the potential prize winner (subject to verification of eligibility and compliance with these Official Rules (see “Winner Notification” section below).  In the event of a tie for any Entry Period, the tied Entries for such Entry Period will be re-judged based on:  Potential for business growth (0-100 points).  If there is still a tie, Sponsor will bring in a tie breaking judge to apply the same judging criteria to break the tie and determine the potential winner(s).  Sponsor reserves the right to select fewer than four (4) winners if, in their sole discretion, they do not receive a sufficient number of eligible and qualified Entries.  Any non-winning Entries received for any Entry Period will not roll-over or be included in subsequent Entry Periods.  Limit one (1) prize per small business.

Decisions of the Sponsor and judges are final in all matters relating to this Contest.

V. WINNER NOTIFICATION:  Potential winners will be determined approximately ten (10) business days following the completion of the applicable Entry Period and then notified within ten (10) business days by Administrator by telephone and/or email.

Prize winner status is subject to verification of eligibility and compliance with these Official Rules.  The Released Parties are not responsible for electronic communications that are undeliverable as a result of any form of active or passive filtering of any kind, or insufficient space in Entrant’s email account to receive email messages.  Should a potential winner decide to decline his/her prize for any reason whatsoever or not respond to the prize notification by the applicable response deadline, an alternate winner may be selected based on the selection process above, if time permits.

Prizes will be awarded to the principal owner of the small business, as submitted in the Entry.  If prize award is in conflict with small business policy or not feasible after Sponsor’s good faith effort to obtain verifiable small business principal owner contact details, prize will be forfeited and, at Sponsor’s discretion and time permitting, a runner-up may be selected.  Neither Sponsor, nor anyone acting on its behalf, is required to enter into communications with any Entrant.

VI. FOUR (4) PRIZES (ONE (1) PRIZE PER ENTRY PERIOD):  Each prize winner will be eligible to receive $20,000 awarded in the form of a check, issued to each prize winners’ registered name of business per the entry form, a 30-minute one-on-one virtual mentorship session with a Mastercard Small Business Mentor and a Mastercard Digital Doors Toolkit.  Approximate retail value (“ARV”) of each prize is $20,000.  A description of the Mastercard Digital Doors Toolkit is available online at https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/business/overview/grow-your- business/digital-curriculum.html.  Any additional details, including but not limited to, the time, date and exact individual to conduct virtual mentorship to be determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion.  Prize winners are required to comply with any and all applicable federal, state and local laws, and for any other fees or costs associated with the prize she receives.  Prize winners will be solely responsible for all federal, state and/or local taxes, and for any other fees or costs associated with the prize(s) they receive, regardless of whether they, in whole or in part, are used.  Prize winners will be required to provide Sponsor with a valid social security number before the prize will be awarded for tax reporting purposes.  An IRS Form 1099 may be issued in the name of winners for the actual value of the prizes received.  The value of the prize awarded will be reported for tax purposes, as required by law.  Unclaimed prizes will be forfeited.  

VII. ADDITIONAL CONTEST INFORMATION:  Except as provided herein, there shall be no transfer, assignment, cash redemption or substitution of prize(s) except by Sponsor, at their sole discretion, due to prize unavailability or causes otherwise determined solely by Sponsor and/or Mastercard, and then for a prize of equal or greater value.  Released Parties shall have no liability, due in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, by reason of:  (i) Entrant’s entry/participation in the Contest; (ii) any materials he or she may submit in connection herewith; (iii) the acceptance, possession, use or misuse of a prize or participation in any activities associated with the Contest or any prize awarded in connection herewith; (iv) the Released Parties’ violation of rights of publicity or privacy, claims of defamation or portrayal in a false light or based on any claim of infringement of intellectual property; and (v) any typographical, human or other error in the printing, offering, selection, operation or announcement of any Contest activity and/or prize.  Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to void any and all Entries of an Entrant who Sponsor believes has attempted to tamper with or impair the administration, security, fairness, or proper play of this Contest.  Sponsor further reserves the right to cancel, modify, or suspend the Contest or any element thereof (including, without limitation, any and all terms of the Contest’s Official Rules) without notice in any manner and for any reason (including, without limitation, in the event of any unanticipated occurrence that is not fully addressed in these Official Rules).  Released Parties make no warranty, guaranty or representation of any kind concerning any prize (or any portion thereof), and disclaim any implied warranty.

IX.ENTRY ERRORS/TAMPERING:  Released Parties are not responsible for late, lost, stolen, illegible, incomplete, misdirected, delayed, garbled, damaged, inaccurate or undelivered emails, Entries, theft, destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of Contest Data, defect/delay in transmission or communication.  Use of any device to automate or subvert Entry is prohibited and any Entries received by such means will be void.  No software-generated, robotic, programmed, script, macro or other automated Entries are permitted and any Entries received by such means will be void.

CAUTION:  ANY ATTEMPT BY ANY PERSON TO DAMAGE ANY WEBSITE OR OTHERWISE CORRUPT THE CONTEST OR TO UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST MAY BE A VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS.  SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO DISQUALIFY, PROSECUTE AND SEEK DAMAGES FROM ANY SUCH PERSON TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

X. WINNERS LIST:  For a list of winners, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to be received by 11/30/23 to:  Fearless Strivers Grant Contest Winners, c/o Fearless Foundation, 384 Northyards Blvd, Atlanta, GA 30313.

XI. SPONSOR:  Fearless Foundation, 384 Northyards Blvd, Atlanta, GA 30313.  

XII. ADMINISTRATOR:  teamDigital Promotions, 6 Berkshire Blvd, Bethel, CT 06801.

* The Official Rules were changed on August 31, 2023 and the new rules were posted that day.  However, it appears that due to an error, the webpage temporarily reverted to the old rules.  That error has been corrected and the operative Official Rules now appear here.