This month marks the beginning of the second cohort of beVisioneers: The Mercedes-Benz Fellowship, the biggest fellowship in the world for young-eco innovators.
This year, beVisioneers grows from 100 fellows in their first year to 500 fellows, including fellows from five new countries: Kenya, Mexico, South Korea, Uganda and the United States.
Funded by donations from Mercedes-Benz, beVisioneers equips innovators aged 16 to 28 with the training, expert support and resources to bring their planet-positive projects to life.
Fellows do not need an entrepreneurial track-record or education, simply an idea that can help build a sustainable future. Financial accessibility is at the heart of the fellowship, where basic living and technology support for those who could not otherwise participate is provided.
New fellows include 28-year-old Fiona Njeri Macharia from Kenya, who is dedicated to revolutionizing farming practices through the utilization of IoT, big data, and blockchain technology. With beVisioneers Fiona is creating an end-to-end digital marketplace, empowering consumers to access a wide range of Indigenous and Traditional Food Crops (ITFCs).
Taylor Marshall from the United States is addressing the environmental impact of the funeral industry, particularly CO2 emissions from traditional caskets and metal leaching into the soil. At just 25-years-old, Taylor is promoting Green Burial Sites as a sustainable solution, cultivating willow for carbon sequestration and advocating for eco-friendly casket alternatives.
Dedicated to tackling global water scarcity and clean energy access, Abbosjon Azamov is a 24-year-old visionary innovator from South Korea. His idea is a system that integrates rainwater harvesting and solar power generation, storing both resources in an eco-friendly manner. Understanding the hardships of communities lacking electricity and clean water, Abbosjon aims to provide a sustainable solution that significantly impacts people and the planet.
And these are just three of 500 inspiring eco-initiatives, giving hope to us all as we collectively build a more sustainable future.
"As beVisioneers grows globally, we are increasingly better positioned to find and develop localized solutions to the world's most pressing environmental issues. This expansion allows us to support a broader spectrum of young innovators whose unique perspectives and ideas are essential in our collective effort to create a sustainable future” - Mariah Levin, Executive Director.
Applications for Cohort 3 will open later this year, where more countries will be added as the fellowship aims to expand their global reach to 1,000 fellows. For more information, please visit: https://bevisioneers.world/fellowship/
