Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellowship on Entrepreneurship 2026

Published: 21 Oct 2025

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.

Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellowship on Entrepreneurship

Application Deadline	December 15, 2025
Type	Fellowship
Sponsor	Mastercard Foundation

Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellowship on Entrepreneurship Benefits

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

Best in Class Training 

Mentorship and Networking 

Financial Support and Opportunities 

• 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

 

Requirements for Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellowship on Entrepreneurship

• We accept students and recent graduates from all academic disciplines, and from any African post-secondary institution. Whether you are already working on a business or you are looking to start something new, we can help you.
• We are looking for participants who are committed to developing their entrepreneurial mindset and taking advantage of the resources provided to develop their own enterprise. 
• The program is delivered virtually and can be completed at any pace, however the most committed participants will commit at least 10 hours per week. In order to progress through the program phases, participants will submit assignments online, adhering to strict deadlines.
• The program content is delivered in English. Mentorship may be offered in English and French.
• Assignments and pitches must be completed in English. Prospective fellows who are unable to speak or write English are still encouraged to apply and form teams with someone who can fulfill all the requirements of the program in English.
• Prospective fellows may also work with their local university to come up with a strategy to make sure they are able to access university resources that will help them navigate the challenge related to language ability.

Selection Process

Program Timeline

Phase 1: Explore (January-February)

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.

Guiding Questions:

• Who is my customer?
• What can I do for them?

Milestones:

• Make observations through interviews or some other means
• Clearly define and validate the problem you are solving by speaking to end users
• Validate or invalidate key assumptions which are the basis of creating the solution you want to work on
• Ideate – generate solutions to the problem you are solving
• Create a journey map of your end users’ experience using your solution

Phase 2: Ignite (March-April)

180+ 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.

Guiding Questions:

• How does your end user acquire your solution? 
• How will this be funded or become financially sustainable?

Milestones:

• Develop channels to market and reach out to any necessary partners
• Create a business model or a plan for funding your solution
• Prototype your solution in the simplest way possible that still allows you to generate meaningful feedback from end users
• Validate all critical assumptions by creating experiments and test your solution using your prototype

Phase 3: Launch and Fellowship (May-August)

Up to 60 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. Fellows will have the opportunity to compete in a pitch competition for more seed funding at the end of the program.

Guiding Questions:

• How do you execute your solution? 
• How can you scale it?

Milestones:

• Pilot your solution in a more real life scenario
• Generate expressions of interest, end users, or customers
• Create a plan to scale

Graduation (August)

Startup entrepreneurs (Fellows) will complete their incubation program at the end of August. After graduation, Fellows will continue to receive post-incubation services, support, and pitch competition opportunities as part of DDQIC’s network.

High-performing Fellows will be invited to participate as ambassadors and mentors for future Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation Fellowships as well.

Successful candidates will be notified of our decision by the end of December 2025.

Phase 1 – Explore Entrepreneurship January 2026 – February 2026

Phase 2 – Ignite Entrepreneurship March 2026 – April 2026

Phase 3 – Launch Entrepreneurship May 2026 – August 2026

 

Check also:
Queen Elizabeth Scholarship (How to Apply)

Application Deadline

December 15, 2025

How to Apply

Interested and qualified? Go to Mastercard Foundation on queensu.qualtrics.com to apply

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