Designed and implemented by The DO School Fellowships and funded by Mercedes-Benz, the beVisioneers fellowship aims to make a positive and lasting impact on the environment by identifying promising young innovators from around the world, irrespective of background, and providing them with the training, mentoring, expert support and funding to realize their local projects for sustainable action. read more about beVisioneers here

beVisioneers fellows are young innovators, aged 16 to 28, with promising ideas for sustainability projects. They come from diverse backgrounds and are selected without regard to socioeconomic standing. In the first year of the program, all fellows will come from one of three regions—India, South Africa and a section of Europe that includes Denmark, Hungary, Germany, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. 

To help fellows realize their project ideas, the beVisioneers program offers them an intensive one-year hybrid-learning phase that culminates in their project’s launch. As part of the intensive program, fellows receive weekly online training in entrepreneurial, leadership and sustainability skills as well as one-to-one mentoring, access to experts in relevant fields, access to project funding, and needs-based access to a financial stipend. 

Overall requirements:

• Speak fluent English
• Be willing to share your personal experiences and business expertise

For mentors:

• Have experience and/or skills in impact mentoring or coaching. Certification, previous mentoring of young people and basic sustainability knowledge and interest in sustainability development is a plus
• Live and/or work in one of the nine countries of the fellowship’s first year (India, South Africa, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Denmark, Sweden, Spain or the UK)
• Be willing to dedicate circa 15-20 hours over the course of 12 months
• (Optional) Have some previous experience, knowledge or interest in sustainable development

For experts:

• Possess specific technical or soft skills and knowledge, for example in communication, business development or sustainability
• Be willing to spend around 5 hours per year helping fellows, either through presentations or smaller Q&A sessions

• Become part of an exciting community of professionals working jointly towards positive environmental impact.
• Give back by accelerating the professional and personal development of global, motivated young environmental entrepreneurs.
• Learn to clearly communicate and gain new perspectives.
• Train your leadership skills through teaching, motivating and offering honest feedback.
• Meet and exchange with global experts.

Mentors provide guidance, advice, feedback, and support to their matched beVisioneers fellow via monthly calls, depending on the specific goals and objectives negotiated with the fellow. Mentors will receive a sample outline for the monthly calls as a guideline for how best to support your fellow. Mentors will help the fellow grow as a leader and in developing their environmental project.

For the first year, only mentors in the nine countries (India, South Africa, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Denmark, Sweden, Spain or the UK) will be matched. However you can still apply and be considered for later years as the program expands.

Mentor-mentees matches are determined by an algorithm following a combination of criteria including location, sector of interests and skills.

In most cases yes, there will be some exceptions if a fellow does not have a good match in the same region.

No, the matches are chosen by the fellowship team.

Mentoring will happen online through the dedicated beVisioneers platform. Mentors will have access to a series of optional tools (feedback tools, case studies, career development conversations, etc) for your work with the fellow. You will also have quarterly check-ins with the beVisioneers team as well as networking and exchanging opportunities with the other mentors.

The mentorship aspect of the fellowship is 12 months from June 2023 until May 2024. As you sign the Mentor code of conduct, you commit to the 12 months but if you have a valid reason to stop, you can reach out and we will find a replacement for you.

You will have regular touchpoints and check-ins both with the beVisioneers team and your fellow. You will be informed about dedicated contact points in the unlikely case of an issue to help resolve it.

• Become part of an exciting community of professionals working jointly towards positive environmental impact.
• Give back by accelerating the professional and personal development of global, motivated young environmental entrepreneurs.
• Give concrete support to new and exciting ideas in the environmental space.
• Meet environmental experts and influencers active worldwide.

You can use the same application to be considered as an expert or a mentor.

The application will be open from 15th of April until the 31st of May, the application link will be sent directly to selected candidates. The results will be communicated by the end of June.

Being an expert can take many different forms. We might call upon you to join our virtual program for a live session,  judge a business pitch, give feedback on a business plan or help a fellow with an engineering or supply chain issue. The formats mostly will be one-off Q&A sessions or pre-recorded videos.

This will depend on your skills and areas of expertise and how they match with fellows’ needs. We do not expect a commitment of more than 5 hours over the period of 12 months.

We will prioritize experts who live in the target countries to strengthen local networks and relationships, however, we may engage experts beyond these countries if there is high alignment with fellows’ needs and opportunities.

Yes, being an expert is voluntary.