The Stanford Center on Longevity’s Design Challenge is a premier global competition that mobilizes young designers to develop creative solutions to the complex challenges of aging. The 2025 theme, “Reimagining Education and Learning for Long Lives,” invited students around the world to rethink how we learn, grow, and thrive over a century-long lifespan.

This year’s Challenge drew over 230 submissions from 31 countries, reflecting a surge of global interest in building more inclusive, adaptive, and lifelong learning ecosystems. From this diverse pool, eight exceptional finalist teams were selected: three from the United States, two from Slovenia, two from India, and one from Italy. Their projects exemplify the power of cross-cultural creativity and youth-driven insight:

• Bloom (School of Visual Arts, USA) – A mobile app that empowers unemployed youth to explore career paths and overcome mental health hurdles through interest-based activities.
• Flo (Indian Institute of Technology, India) – A card game inspired by the Japanese concept of ikigai, guiding players in connecting personal challenges to individual strengths.
• Kahaani (MIT WPU, India) – An educational toolkit using games to foster social-emotional learning in marginalized children.
• KoMi (Sapienza Università di Roma, Italy) – A web-based platform that builds soft skills and creates digital portfolios for professional development.
• Mission of Generations (University of Maribor, Slovenia) – A board game that fosters intergenerational learning by helping grandparents and grandchildren improve digital skills together.
• Praxice (University of Maribor, Slovenia) – A platform that bridges the gap between academic theory and hands-on experience for young IT professionals.
• Silver Tech Explorers (Harvard University, USA) – A hybrid learning program offering in-person digital literacy workshops for older adults, supported by an AI classroom assistant.
• Veritas (Texas A&M University, USA) – An online course on digital fact-checking designed to combat misinformation among youth in Pakistan.

All finalist teams were invited to Stanford University for the culminating event: the Design Challenge Finals. Prior to the event, each team was matched with expert mentors—leaders from industry and academia—who helped refine their concepts and pitches. At the Finals, teams delivered 7-minute presentations followed by in-depth Q&A sessions with a distinguished panel of judges, competing for cash prizes of $10,000, $5,000, and $2,000.

Beyond the competition, the Finals featured thought-provoking programming that expanded the conversation around education and longevity. Stanford sociologist and Center co-director Mitchell Stevens delivered a keynote titled “Building a Learning Society,” which challenged audiences to differentiate between ‘schooling’ and ‘learning’ in the context of longer lives and dynamic career trajectories.

A panel on Entrepreneurs in Education brought additional depth, highlighting the evolving demands of the workforce, the rise of artificial intelligence, and the critical role of lifelong learning in shaping equitable futures.

After a day of inspiring dialogue and innovation, the top three winners were announced:

• 1st Place: Bloom (School of Visual Arts, USA)
• 2nd Place: Flo (Indian Institute of Technology, India)
• 3rd Place: Praxice (University of Maribor, Slovenia)

The 2025 Design Challenge would not have been possible without the time and dedication of our reviewers, mentors,  judges and generous sponsors. Your support is helping shape a world where longer lives are not only possible—but purposeful, creative, and well-lived.

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About the Challenge

The Stanford Center on Longevity Design Challenge is a global competition aimed at encouraging students to design products and services to improve the lives of people across all ages. Established in 2013, the Challenge is focused on ways to motivate and empower people in their daily lives both inside their homes and in their community.

The challenge is made possible by generous sponsorship from a number of companies and foundations, including Target, Finance of America Reverse, American Honda Motor Company, Eskaton, Halbert Hargrove, Odyssey Group Coaching LLC, Tushara Dilanie, and Wealth Architects LLC.