Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellowship on Entrepreneurship

About Opportunity

For African students and recent grads with a desire to solve pressing problems and bring entrepreneurial ideas to life, the program is split into three online courses where you will learn the foundations of entrepreneurship, receive virtual coaching, develop your own business idea, and demonstrate your commitment in order to advance to the next course.

The Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellowship on Entrepreneurship gives African students and recent graduates the opportunity to access training, resources, financial support and a network of mentors to develop their entrepreneurial skills and start building their own venture. The 8-month program develops the exceptional entrepreneurial skillset and mindset of leaders to drive social and financial impact.

Program Benefits:

• We provide participants who demonstrate a willingness to learn, take risks, and commit themselves fully with the best that our innovation centre has to offer.

Best-in-class training:

• Business bootcamp delivered by Queen’s University faculty and industry leaders who bring decades of combined entrepreneurship and C-Suite experience.
• The Disciplined Entrepreneurship framework, a proven step-by-step framework for scalable startups developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
• Pitch coaching and mastery.
• Live workshops on marketing, goal setting, and recruiting are held throughout the program.
• Opportunity to earn micro-credentials on Entrepreneurship awarded by Queen's University for successful completion the courses.

Mentorship and Networking:

• Liaise with mentors and speakers leading innovation and entrepreneurship in North America
• Access a Global Network of Queen’s entrepreneurial alumni
• Join a cohort of thousands of like-minded students and recent grads from across Africa
• Fellows are matched to industry leaders and entrepreneurs in the final phase of the program
• Receive feedback at important startup milestones.

Financial Support and Oppurtunities:

• Up to 60 Fellows will be selected in the final phase to receive a stipend of $500 CAD
• Opportunities to pitch for prizes of up to $15,000 CAD in the pitch competition at the end of the program
• Opportunities to travel to the Dunin-Deshpande Queen's Innovation Centre to build lasting connections that will help your further your business venture.

Inclusivity:

• We believe we do our best work when we tackle problems from diverse perspectives.
• We are committed to eliminating barriers to entrepreneurship and making the program inclusive to as many people as possible. We are constantly iterating and improving the courses in response to user needs.

Award