The Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellowship gives you the confidence, resources, knowledge, network, and financial support to build a startup with an impact.
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.
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
- Certificate awarded for 100% completion of DDQIC’s essential entrepreneurship training modules
Queen's University Information
Founded in 1841, Queen's University is a non-profit public higher education institution located in the urban setting of the large town of Kingston (population range of 50,000-249,999 inhabitants), Ontario. Officially accredited and/or recognized by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, Ontario, Queen's University (QU) is a large (uniRank enrollment range: 20,000-24,999 students) coeducational higher education institution. Queen's University (QU) offers courses and programs leading to officially recognized higher education degrees such as bachelor degrees, master degrees, doctorate degrees in several areas of study. See the uniRank degree levels and areas of study matrix below for further details. This 178 years old higher-education institution has a selective admission policy based on students' past academic record and grades. The admission rate range is 40-50% making this Canadian higher education organization a averagely selective institution. International students are welcome to apply for enrollment.
Eligibility Criteria
In order to be eligible to apply for the scholarship, applicants must:
- Have applied for a Masters of Science (M.Sc) in Islamic Finance at University of Dundee.
- Have firmly accepted their offer of entry for the Postgraduate MSc Islamic Finance programe, starting in September 2020 or January 2021. This can be a conditional or unconditional offer.
- Have International, Home/EU or RUK fee status, as verified by the University of Dundee.
- Applicants who can evidence their refugee status will be considered as a priority group, however we may invite additional students to apply.
Offered Benefits
Financial Support:
- 15 Fellows will receive a stipend of $500 CAD
- Opportunities to pitch for funding in Dunin-Deshpande Queen’s Innovation Centre seed funding competitions
Mentorship:
- Fellows are matched to industry leaders and entrepreneurs in the final phase of the program
- Receive feedback at important startup milestones
Phase
Phase 1: Explore – December 2021-February 2022
1000 exceptional candidates receive access to a curated list of online entrepreneurship courses and work through the first 11 steps of the Disciplined Entrepreneurship framework workbook. Candidates have several months to demonstrate their commitment to the entrepreneurial process by completing the training and progressing on their ideas’ respective milestones.
Phase 2: Ignite – February-April 2022
30 finalists with an outstanding commitment to the entrepreneurship process, who will have excelled at the milestones set out in phase one will be selected to join this phase. Under this phase, they will continue to go through an additional curated list of additional online entrepreneurship courses and work through the remaining steps of the Disciplined Entrepreneurship framework’s workbook. At the end of this phase, the participants will pitch their ideas, competing for the fellowship, and the most advanced and promising business ideas will become the finalists who receive the fellowship.
Phase 3: Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellowship on Entrepreneurship – May-August 2022
15 Fellows will be selected to join DDQIC’s summer incubation program. During this phase, Fellows will get the opportunity to work on their ideas, access seed funding, and participate in weekly 3-2-1 pitch presentations about the work they are doing as they transform their ideas into scalable startups. In addition, Fellows will receive a $500 stipend and dedicated coaches and mentors from DDQIC’s Global Network of industry experts and entrepreneurs.
Founded in 1841, Queen's University is a non-profit public higher education institution located in the urban setting of the large town of Kingston (population range of 50,000-249,999 inhabitants), Ontario. Officially accredited and/or recognized by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, Ontario, Queen's University (QU) is a large (uniRank enrollment range: 20,000-24,999 students) coeducational higher education institution. Queen's University (QU) offers courses and programs leading to officially recognized higher education degrees such as bachelor degrees, master degrees, doctorate degrees in several areas of study. See the uniRank degree levels and areas of study matrix below for further details. This 178 years old higher-education institution has a selective admission policy based on students' past academic record and grades. The admission rate range is 40-50% making this Canadian higher education organization a averagely selective institution. International students are welcome to apply for enrollment.