Is your teenager always coming up with brilliant ideas? If so, you might want to give them a heads up about The Palm Beach Philanthropy Tank, who will fund a winning pitch for “an exciting new challenge that gives area students an opportunity to create innovative solutions to community issues and social problems in Palm Beach County.”

That’s right, according to their press release, 7th – 12th grade students will be pitch an idea regarding: community impact, program feasibility, solution creativity, sustainability and team strength in front of a panel of four South Floridian philanthropists including William Meyer, Julie Cummings, Danielle Moore and Eric Becker. Eight to twelve 12 finalists will have the opportunity to win up to $15 thousand big ones for each idea and mentorship!

Evan Deoul, AB Bernstein’s Senior Managing Director who also co-chairs Palm Beach Philanthropy Tank, said, “We hope to excite Palm Beach County’s philanthropic community and especially encourage students to consider our area’s social problems and design innovative solutions to them.”

If you know of a young genius who this would interests, the deadline is December 15 and will be announced January 30, 2016. Winners will be mentored by the philanthropists who choose to fund their program. The mentoring period coincides with the 12-month funding period. The final event will take place in March 2016.

Palm Beach Philanthropy Tank is is organized by Advisors for Philanthropic Impact (API), a local non-profit which brought together highly regarded trust & estate attorneys, CPAs, financial advisors, life insurance professionals, and non-profit leaders, all collaborating to raise the tide of philanthropy in our community. Working with a curriculum built by Main Street Philanthropy, API has run 10-week programs at local schools which teach philanthropy.  The classes benefit local organizations like: Peggy Adams, Palm Beach Country Food Bank, Scripps, Operation Troop Support, & the Quantum House.

These courses have a profound impact on the student’s views and understanding of philanthropy, as The Benjamin School student Antonio R. explains at the end of the course.

“Our course has come to a close, but the lessons learned throughout its duration have been life changing. As a group, we explored the true meaning of philanthropy and how to efficiently pursue our dreams of helping the community improve. Both the qualitative and quantitative analysis’ are necessary when organizing a philanthropic project. The lessons regarding how to correctly perform such activities have truly enabled many of us with the skills necessary to continue our interest in this field. Nevertheless, I think the most important lesson drawn from this course was that each and every one of us can make a positive impact on our community. You don’t have to be rich to help others improve themselves. With organization and determination, we can achieve great things.”

Find out more about API and complete the application for Palm Beach Philantropic Tank at advisors4impact.org.