We imagine a world where our fellow WealthHackers are encouraged to develop and launch their hacks, and are supported through a combination of financial and social capital and access to an aligned hacker community. 

We are partnering with our first supporting sponsor, the UK-based Joseph Rowntree Foundation, to launch the inaugural Hacking Wealth Challenge and to identify new ideas or works in progress that can be significantly advanced with a one-time infusion of GBP 15,000 over a 4 - 8 week sprint. 

What are the requirements and timelines for the Challenge?

• The Challenge opens on Sep 2, and will close Sep 30. 

• Good uses of funds include building a prototype of a product or service; adapting an existing intervention to another jurisdiction or language; or conducting applied research for a new intervention.

• Selected hackers will be announced in early November. They will have until January 15 to utilise the award funds to work on their intervention. 

• Selected hackers will also attend an in-person gathering of their peers and additional stakeholders in early  2025 in the United Kingdom. Location and dates will be announced in November. 

• All submissions will have an opportunity to join the forthcoming WealthHackers Community.

• While the proposed hacks do not need to originate in the United Kingdom, explicit statements for how they would work there are supportive.

  Click here to apply for the Hacking Wealth Challenge

FAQs

What qualifies as a “Hack”?  

The WealthHacker initiative is looking for ways to subvert or reclaim existing mainstream instruments, and “hack” them to shift our systems towards the emergent, just and equitable future. The focus is on scalable subversions that go against the grain of the current system to rewire the way capital moves and flows. 

Below are example hacks that align inside of what we’ve identified as the five “dimensions” for these scalable subversions: 

Legal / Governance

• “Trust-busting” instruments that enable full expression of wealth

• Redefine “fiduciary duty” to be more than private wealth accumulation

• Alternative approaches to who are the legal guardians of wealth (eg. not trustee model)

Financial

• Models for making investment decisions more inclusive, participatory and democratic 

• Client service and business models that prioritise repair and the redistribution of wealth, power and privilege

• Alternative fund economics design and models that build community health and wealth

Digital

• Tools and practices for spend-down redistribution modelling 

• Financial Planning technology that supports holistic investment and financial planning decisions

• Alternative platforms, structures and tools that support investing in alternative economies

Accounting

•  Reimagine a P&L that captures all forms of value 

• Tax, regulatory and accounting policy reform and advocacy

• Tax planning that prioritises redistribution of wealth through solidarity, not charity

Behavioural

• Behavioural and psychological tools for wealth holders to redirect their wealth, manage family dynamics and replace misaligned intermediaries.

• Alternative approaches to stakeholder governance / accountability (eg. planning for future generations)

Hacking is tactical and applied, like the intervention a brilliant engineer made to attach a tiny rudder to the large rudder of a ship. It’s that little rudder, the trim tab, that initiates the turning of the entire ship, as Buckminster Fuller famously observed: 

“Think of the Queen Mary—the whole ship goes by and then comes the rudder. And there's a tiny thing at the edge of the rudder called a trim tab. It's a miniature rudder. Just moving the little trim tab builds a low pressure that pulls the rudder around.”

Similarly, hacks are specific, small innovations that have the capacity to turn the massive tanker that is the Wealth Defense Industry towards Justice.

How do I apply for the Hacking Wealth Challenge?

Please click here to apply for the Hacking Wealth Challenge.

Can I apply for the Hacking Wealth Challenge as an individual?

We encourage you to apply in whatever capacity feels most aligned with your project, whether that’s as an individual, as a motley crew of disjunct hackers, as an existing  team representing your org or institution, as a coalition of orgs, etc.

What sort of questions will I be asked to answer in the application?

The application is short and will require hackers to:

• create a profile for themselves and organisation (if applicable)

• describe the hack (approx. 1,000 words)

• describe what the funding will allow them to do

• answer a short series of questions (i.e. location, industry, projected outcomes, etc.) 

How will applications be reviewed?

Hacking Wealth Challenge applications will be reviewed across the following criterion categories:

• Strategic Alignment: Does the hack align with the intention and strategy of the WealthHackers Initiative?

• Team: How capable of building the hack is the team? 

• Budget: Does the award meaningfully impact and match the ability to implement the hack? 

• JEDI: Is the initiative strong on Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion? Are there strong partnerships (existing or potential)?

• Outcome Potential: Does the hack have the potential to develop outsized outcomes?