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The American Dreamers Initiative
Applications open now · First grant awarded January 2027
Blue collar?
This one's for you.
The American Dreamers Grant is $1,000, awarded twice a year to someone in blue collar work who's just getting started or going out on their own. Applications never close. No essay contest, no GPA requirement. Tell us what you're building and why.
Why we're doing this
My dad built his dream with his hands. Now we're funding yours.
I grew up in a blue collar house in Mass. My dad put in 25 years in the union, then started his own wood flooring company, he built something with his own two hands so that I'd get a shot at building mine. That's the whole American dream, right there: one generation grinds so the next one gets to chase something.
Every energy drink brand chases athletes and gamers. Nobody chases the guy who's been up since 4:30, who's already had two energy drinks before most people have had coffee, and who nobody's ever once said thank you to. That was my dad. He's who we built Underdog for, and this grant is how we say thank you, and help the next person build the thing they're dreaming about.
Joey StanizziFounder, Underdog Energy · Here's the honest version, in 90 seconds →
Watch our story
90 seconds · with Joey
The grant
One grant. Twice a year. Big enough to matter.
We'd rather give one person a real set of tools than hand out gift cards. Applications never close, we award in January and June. Apply once and you're in for every cycle after.
Open · Apply any time
$1,000The American Dreamers Grant
Two kinds of people
Just getting started in blue collar work: first job, first apprenticeship, first year on a crew. Or going out on your own, leaving a crew to run your own thing. You don't have to be in a school or a program.
- Rolling applications; awarded each January and June
- Spend it on tools, boots, equipment, a cert or test fee
- We film the handoff only if you're up for it
- Didn't win? You stay in the pool. No need to reapply.
Not an award, a way in
Know someonePut their name in
You can nominate them
Foremen, instructors, shop teachers, crew leads: if someone on your crew or in your program deserves this, put their name in. A vouch from someone who's watched them work counts for more than anything they'd write about themselves.
- Foremen and crew leads
- Trade school instructors and program directors
- Anyone who's watched someone earn it
- Underdog makes the final call
01
Tell your story
Four minutes. What you're getting into, where you're at, what the tools would unlock.
02
We read every one
Real people, not a form filter. Apply whenever, you're in the pool from then on.
03
The handoff
January and June. We show up with the toolbelt, your jobsite, your school, wherever you are.
04
Your story runs
With your permission, your story becomes an American Dreamers episode.
Apply
What are you building?
We're not looking for the most polished answer. We're looking for the guy who skipped college, got a welding cert, and is trying to buy a house at 22. The woman three months into an HVAC program working nights to pay for it. The mover who's about to buy his own truck. The kid who started with one mower and is about to hire his first guy.
Write it like you'd say it. That's what we're reading for.
Every applicant, winner or not, joins the American Dreamers list: who won this cycle, what's coming next, and where to find Underdog once we hit shelves this fall.
You're in.
We read every one. You'll hear from us either way at the next award, and if it's not you this time, you stay in the pool. You don't have to apply again.
Check your texts. We sent you something.
The series
The stories we're telling
Because the mission isn't real until someone has a name and a face. Nobody has to be on camera, but the ones who want to be, we film properly. American Dreamers, Episode 1, Fall 2026.
Started with one mower
Now he runs three crews. The whole arc, in ninety seconds, shot on his own jobsite.
6:30 AM, cooler's full
We show up at morning break with free cans. No pitch. That's the whole bit.
The handoff
Surprising an apprentice with their first set of tools. The reason any of this exists.
Questions
Straight answers
Who's actually eligible?
Anyone in blue collar work who's at one of two turning points: just getting started (first job, first apprenticeship, first year on a crew) or going out on your own, leaving a crew to build your own thing. Construction, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, welding, landscaping, moving, trucking, warehouse, manufacturing, fishing, diesel, roofing, excavation. If you work with your hands, you're in.
Do I have to be in school to apply?
No. School has nothing to do with it. Apprenticeship, union program, community college, or you just showed up to a jobsite and learned it, all the same to us. Plenty of the best applicants have never set foot in a classroom for this.
Why only one grant, twice a year?
Because $1,000 buys a real set of tools and $100 buys a gift card. We're a small company. We'd rather do one thing that actually changes how someone starts than spread it thin enough that it doesn't change anyone's.
If applications never close, when do I hear back?
We award in January and June. Apply any time, whatever's in the pool when a cycle closes gets read. If you don't win, you stay in for the next one automatically. You never have to reapply.
Who picks the winner?
We do. We read every application, and we weigh nominations from instructors and foremen heavily, if someone who's watched you work put your name in, that counts for a lot.
Do I have to be on camera?
No. Filming is opt-in and it doesn't affect whether you win. Plenty of people don't want to be on TikTok and that's fine, you're still eligible.
What can I spend it on?
Tools, boots, a toolbelt, a certification or licensing test fee, safety gear, equipment. Anything that gets you further into the work. We'll ask what you used it for, that's it.
Do I have to buy anything?
No purchase necessary. Applying is free and buying Underdog doesn't improve your odds.
Who's behind this?
Underdog Energy, a small performance drink company out of Maine. Every energy drink brand in America chases athletes and gamers; none of them have ever shown up for the people who actually build things. We're a small brand and we're not pretending otherwise, we'd rather start with one real grant than a press release.
What do you do with my information?
Your application goes to us and nobody else. We don't sell it, we don't share it. You'll get email updates about the grant and the initiative, and you can unsubscribe any time. Texts are optional, leave that box unchecked and it changes nothing about your application.