The American Express Leadership Academy Emerging Innovators Bootcamps are 2-3 day intensive training for social entrepreneurs and changemakers who can benefit from expert guidance, peer support and a safe space to reflect on inner growth and wellbeing. The leadership academy is powered by Ashoka and American Express.
The Bootcamp, which will take place in New York City, Paris, Mexico City, Nairobi and Dakar over two to three days will feature intensive training for 125 rising social innovators to discuss and analyze best strategies to grow and sustain their social ventures.
Twenty-five innovators will gather in each of the five locations to receive expert guidance and peer support and to reflect on the inner growth and wellbeing necessary to be a strong leader.
The graduates of the academy will become a part of the 2,000+ member strong American Express Leadership Academy Alumni Network and some of them have gone on to win prestigious social innovation awards, including the Ashoka Fellowship, and honours from organizations like Echoing Green, Skoll, StartingBloc and Unreasonable Institute. They have also been included in the Forbes “30 Under 30” list.
Since 2013, the American Express Leadership Academy Emerging Innovators Bootcamps have supported a total of 409 entrepreneurs in Mexico, Canada, Europe, the United States and throughout Africa. It is through these kinds of collaborative efforts that American Express and Ashoka continually seek to boost entrepreneurial talent.
Criteria
Successful applicants will score top marks in each of the following areas:
- Innovation. Applicants should describe how their solutions are driven by original, ground-breaking ideas or approaches. The strongest applicants will apply out-of-the-box thinking to critical social problems in their region.
- Social Impact. Applicants should have launched their initiative already and achieved some level of impact or uptake in their communities—no untested ideas will be considered. Top applicants will also be able to explain how they can grow their impact on a national or international scale.
- Sustainability. Applicants should have a clear and feasible plan for their projects to become sustainable. They should describe not only how they currently fund their work, but also how they plan to maintain financial support for the work in the future.
- Ethical Fiber. Applicants should demonstrate courage, ethical fibre, resilience and empathy towards others.
The top 125 applicants will receive:
- An invitation to an American Express Leadership Academy Emerging Innovator Bootcamp happening in a location near you—New York City, Mexico City, Berlin, Dakar or Nairobi.
- Selected Emerging Innovators will also be featured in social media campaigns on Ashoka and American Express’ social media platforms.
Deadline June 30, 2019. Apply here.
