Charlotte, North Carolina — The winners of Fast Company’s 2023 World Changing Ideas Awards were announced on Tuesday, May 2, honoring sustainable designs, innovative products, bold social initiatives, and other creative projects that are changing the way we work, live, and interact with the world.
Lotus Campaign was recognized as a Finalist for its Landlord Participation Program (LPP) – a transformative, one-of-a-kind model to solve homelessness in America. The program, which brings together the for-profit real estate sector and the nonprofit social services sector, houses people experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, homelessness in a more holistic fashion and on a scale never before seen. The LPP was recognized in Fast Company’s “On the Rise” category, which represents up-and-coming businesses and organizations.
This year’s World Changing Ideas Awards showcase 45 winners, 216 finalists, and more than 300 honorable mentions—with health, climate, energy, and AI among the most popular categories. A panel of Fast Company editors and reporters selected winners and finalists from a pool of more than 2,200 entries across urban design, education, nature, politics, technology, corporate social responsibility, and more. Several new categories were added this year including rapid response, crypto and blockchain, agriculture, and workplace. The 2023 awards feature entries from across the globe, from Italy to Singapore to New Zealand.
Fast Company’s Spring 2023 issue (on newsstands May 9, 2023) will showcase some of the world’s most inventive entrepreneurs and forward-thinking companies that are actively tackling global challenges. The solutions cover everything from water reuse in urban environments and modular housing to an initiative combating book bans and a program that spotlights trans-friendly salons around the world.
“What all of these companies and organizations have in common is the relentless pursuit for better and the belief in change, and it’s a great honor to be included among them” said Beth Silverman, cofounder & executive director of Lotus Campaign. “We have seen that through innovation and by simply bringing together unlikely allies, it is possible to solve homelessness – a problem that has for so long been deemed as unsolvable.”
“It’s thrilling to see the creativity and innovation that are so abundant among this year’s honorees,” says Fast Company editor-in-chief Brendan Vaughan. “While it’s easy to feel discouraged by the state of the world, the entrepreneurs, companies, and nonprofits featured in this package show the limitless potential to address society’s most urgent problems. Our journalists have highlighted some of the most exciting and impactful work being done today—from housing to equity to sustainability—and we look forward to seeing not only how these projects evolve but how they inspire others to develop solutions of their own.”
Since launching the LPP in 2018 in Charlotte, N.C., Lotus Campaign has facilitated housing for nearly 400 people in neighborhoods with strong opportunity structures at a cost of less than $1,000 per person per year. Each program participant receives ongoing support from local social services non-profits partnered with Lotus. With a 98-percent success rate, the vast majority of LPP participants have moved on to living independently, while more than 100 others have renewed their leases at least once. Currently, Lotus is expanding its innovative program to the Triangle region of central North Carolina.
About the World Changing Ideas Awards:
World Changing Ideas is one of Fast Company’s major annual awards programs and is focused on social good, seeking to elevate finished products and brave concepts that make the world better. A panel of judges from across sectors choose winners, finalists, and honorable mentions based on feasibility and the potential for impact. With the goals of awarding ingenuity and fostering innovation, Fast Company draws attention to ideas with great potential and helps them expand their reach to inspire more people to start working on solving the problems that affect us all.