young ones next up

entry fee waiver & subsidies
deadline to apply: december 13, 2024

applying as an individual

Young Ones Next Up is an entry fee subsidy and mentorship program for schools and students.

For 2025, the Young Ones Student Awards will commit to fully subsidizing up to 250 entries from students who meet two or more of the following criteria:

• Attending an undergraduate or graduate program at a public university in the United States or abroad (public universities are schools that are primarily funded by a state or national government)
• Students attending a historically Black, Latinx, or Indigenous college or university, either public or private
• First-generation students (students who are the first person in their family to pursue higher education)
• Students are unable to participate in the awards for economic or financial reasons (i.e. experiencing economic hardship, attending a school with limited access to resources, etc).
• Students who are part of a historically underrepresented group, whether at the Young Ones Student Awards and/or in the advertising, design, and creative industry. 
• Other criteria (you should explain in your application)

In addition, we will offer up to 50 placements for 1:1 mentorship with a professional member of The One Club for Creativity community in order to help potential entrants polish their work and prepare it for submission. Applications for both mentorship and subsidies will be reviewed on a rolling basis through December 13.

IMPORTANT: The Young Ones Next Up Fee Waiver can only be applied to the Young Ones One Show - Brief Competition or Portfolio Competition.

mentorship (optional, but available!)

Mentorship for Next Up subsidy applicants will happen between January and February 2025. Mentorship is not a requirement of applying for a fee waiver, but is available to applicants who may want additional advice or support in the entry process.

Placements will be made in December 2024. If you are participating in Mentor & Creative through The One Club for Creativity, you cannot also participate in Next Up Mentorship.

In this two-month mentorship program, The One Club for Creativity will connect students from traditionally underrepresented paths with mid-level or senior mentors in the advertising or design industry. Throughout this mentorship, mentors and students will be expected to meet at least four times. Participants are encouraged to share their potential entry or entry ideas with their mentor upfront, since the goal is to create a confident, award ready entrant by the end of the mentorship period.

applying for a class or program

By applying for a subsidy for your class or program, you are committing to including a Young Ones One Show Brief as part of your curriculum. Due to demand, we can only accept requests for up to 25 waivers/school or program and these will be reviewed on a first-come first-serve basis. These fee waivers are extremely limited.

We are unable to offer subsidies to everyone who applies and priority will be given to programs who are currently underrepresented at the Young Ones Student Awards (2023 and 2024 Competition Years).

Please note that we respect that your privacy and any Young Ones entrants or winners who participated in the subsidy program will not be publicly identified unless previously approved by the applicant.