What is the Unity for Humanity program?

(Header Image: Dot’s Home, UFH 2020 grant recipient)

Unity for Humanity is a Unity Social Impact program that empowers changemakers to foster a more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable world using real-time 3D (RT3D).

Unity for Humanity connects, uplifts, and serves communities across three focus areas: environment and sustainability, digital health and wellbeing, and education and inclusive economic opportunity.

Unity for Humanity was born out of the desire to support social impact creators building in Unity. The program was co-founded in 2018 by producer and environmental activist Amy Zimmerman, with the visionary support of the VP of Social Impact, Jessica Lindl.  With their leadership, The Unity for Humanity program grew from a small annual grant at Unity, to a robust creator support program.

 In 2021 alone, Unity for Humanity has supported creators through:

• The Unity for Humanity Grant for all social impact content using RT3D
• The Rare Impact Challenge for mental health and wellbeing projects
• The Environment and Sustainability Grant, created in collaboration with Project Drawdown and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

The Black Visions Grant, which supported Black-led social impact, including four projects selected for the Tribeca Film Festival Juneteenth Program

Bringing people together and empowering visionary RT3D creators to make a positive impact on the world is what drives the Unity for Humanity program. We believe that stories rooted in community have the power to create positive global change.

Whether it’s a game encouraging citizen science, an AR experience about civil rights, or a tool for connecting children impacted by grief, global creators are using RT3D to make an impact in their communities.

Unity for Humanity is guided by several big questions: How can technology serve humanity and global communities? How can we exponentially grow the impact social impact creators are having around the world? How can we amplify underrepresented voices using RT3D?

The values of respect, empathy, and opportunity are embedded in everything we do. Our aim is to foster an inclusive social impact creator ecosystem.

Please note: Unity for Humanity will not accept projects or content that includes or promotes hate, violence, bullying, harassment, threats against individuals or groups of people, or illegal content.

The Unity for Humanity program supports social impact-driven RT3D projects. All project genres (game, XR, film, solution, etc) are eligible to apply, so long as they are built on a real-time 3D platform. In order to apply for a Unity for Humanity Grant, projects must be in production (early-stage production is accepted). Creators should be able to share their vision for the project, visuals, in-progress work, and impact plan.

All projects must be impact-driven – meaning that they have measurable impact goals and/or calls to action – and encompass themes of social, healthcare, education, humanitarian, and/or environmental issues. Projects must also align with at least one of the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

The rubric

To make sure all future applicants have as much information and context as possible, this is what our Unity for Humanity judges are looking for when reviewing projects. We hope this transparency will help strengthen your Unity for Humanity grant applications.

When reviewing grant applications, we consider inclusion, impact, viability, and vision.  

1. Inclusion: Inclusive storytelling is at the heart of Unity for Humanity. Does the project reflect a diversity of experiences and backgrounds? Does the project have a natural connection to the community and audience being represented or served through the work? Does the application demonstrate that the creators are thinking about future audiences and distribution of the work in an inclusive way?
2. Vision: Is there a strong motivation for creating the work? Does the project express a unique perspective? Does the project reflect a strong sense of compassion for humanity?
3. Impact: Does the project have measurable impact goals and calls to action? Is the project aligned with at least one of the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals? 
4. Viability: Does the team have a realistic plan of execution for the production and distribution of the project so that it can achieve the greatest impact? Is it realistic in scope? 

You can find more information and details about the judging process in our Unity for Humanity FAQ. If a grant is announced with a theme – for example, digital health and wellbeing – we may provide even more theme-specific criteria. This information will be shared in our FAQ.

Grant Details

The Unity for Humanity Grant is designed to support the vision of the creator(s) and the ability of the project to make an impact on the world.

• Creators who are awarded a Unity for Humanity Grant can expect to receive financial support. These funds are awarded to support the completion and distribution of their social impact project. 
• Grant recipients are also awarded technical support, which includes a kick-off consultation with our developer relations team and bespoke assistance from Unity technical support.
• We are pleased to also offer our grant recipients marketing support, industry mentorship, and invitations to events including the Unity for Humanity Summit.
• Most importantly, grant recipients join our incredible community of social impact changemakers and visionary storytellers committed to creating a better world. 

If you are interested in applying for a Unity for Humanity Grant or attending future events, please subscribe to the Social Impact newsletter. To see how creators are using RT3D to drive meaningful change, please check out unity.com/humanity and the Changemakers showcase.