03/19/2025
Citizens to Collaborate with MIT Solve to Launch $100,000 Citizens Workforce Innovation Prize
March 19, 2025 (Boston, MA) – Big challenges call for
bold solutions—and that’s exactly what Citizens delivers through
the Citizens Workforce Innovation Prize, launched with MIT Solve. This
$100,000 award is designed to fuel groundbreaking solutions that will shape
the future of work. As part of the MIT Solve 2025 Global Challenge, this prize
will accelerate innovations that prepare individuals for today’s job
market and the evolving workplace of tomorrow.
As part of Citizens’ unwavering commitment to building the workforce of
the future, the prize will support up to four Solver teams across all 2025
Global Challenges or Solve’s portfolio of alumni teams. This initiative
is a key component of Citizens’ recent $10 million commitment for
2024-2025 to advance workforce development programming and solutions across
its footprint.
“Through our partnership with MIT Solve, we’re empowering bold
thinkers and problem-solvers to develop solutions that tackle the biggest
challenges in workforce development,”” said Michelle Hecht, Head
of Corporate Affairs at Citizens. “The Citizens Workforce Innovation
Prize will generate ideas that can drive impact in Boston and New York, with
the potential to scale and transform communities across the country.”
Hala Hanna, Executive Director of MIT Solve, celebrated the collaboration:
“We’re thrilled to welcome Citizens as a supporter in our mission
to drive innovation for social good. The Citizens Workforce Innovation Prize
represents a powerful investment in the future of work—one that will
empower visionary entrepreneurs to create lasting economic opportunity.
Together, we’re excited to support the next wave of breakthrough
solutions that will shape how people work and thrive.”
MIT Solve, an initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT),
is dedicated to driving transformational change by sourcing and supporting
innovative, tech-driven solutions to global challenges. The 2025 Global Solve
Challenge seeks innovators from around the world to address critical issues
and deliver real-world impact.
Applications for the MIT Solve 2025 Global Challenges are open until April 17,
2025. The Citizens Workforce Innovation Prize will prioritize solutions that
enhance workforce preparedness, create new pathways to economic opportunity,
and introduce innovative working methods.
For more information about the Citizens Workforce Innovation Prize and how to
apply, visit
Solve Global Challenges Through Open Innovation | MIT Solve.
To learn more about Citizens’ Sustainability and Impact efforts, click here.
About Citizens Financial Group, Inc.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest
financial institutions, with $217.5 billion in assets as of December 31, 2024.
Headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island, Citizens offers a broad range of
retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small
businesses, middle-market companies, large corporations and institutions.
Citizens helps its customers reach their potential by listening to them and by
understanding their needs in order to offer tailored advice, ideas and
solutions. In Consumer Banking, Citizens provides an integrated experience
that includes mobile and online banking, a full-service customer contact
center and the convenience of approximately 3,100 ATMs and approximately 1,000
branches in 14 states and the District of Columbia. Consumer Banking products
and services include a full range of banking, lending, savings, wealth
management and small business offerings. In Commercial Banking, Citizens
offers a broad complement of financial products and solutions, including
lending and leasing, deposit and treasury management services, foreign
exchange, interest rate and commodity risk management solutions, as well as
loan syndication, corporate finance, merger and acquisition, and debt and
equity capital markets capabilities. More information is available at www.citizensbank.com or visit us on X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn or Facebook.
