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The Fellowship Programme
for 1,000 Women Entrepreneurs

#TheBreakFellowship

Applications finish on 17th May at 12am CET

EN_Funded by the EU NextGenEU_NEG

Join the break


A once-in-a-lifetime journey to build an international network of 1000 women entrepreneurs, develop key skills, boost your business and immerse yourself in a 27-day work retreat in Spain. The Break Fellowship is compatible with your work agenda.

A +7,000€ worth fellowship programme funded by the European Union

The Break Fellowship: a life-long community that starts with a hybrid 12 - week acceleration programme towards 3 transformational goals

Goal 1

Acceleration:
You and your Business

Take your business to the next level through the latest design and management methodologies, high-level alliances and expert mentoring.

A tailored journey for stronger and more sustainable businesses through workshops, mentoring sessions and peer validation.   

Goal 2

Collaboration:
A life-long international community

The Break community is on a mission to reshape entrepreneurship in the European Union. 

From early stage to mature entrepreneurs.

Expand your network and market. Benefit from diversity: a community of 1,000 women where we expect more than 50 nationalities across the European Union.

Goal 3

Local Development

Giving back is in the DNA of the Breakers. While in Spain, you and your colleagues will  engage in some open innovation activities to solve local challenges.

Grow your business while collaborating, learning and having fun with like-minded entrepreneurs and locals.

 

Eligibility

Proof of EU Residency

Apply regardless of your nationality  if you reside legally in the EU (excluding Spain) 

In 2022 we counted on 52 nationalities.

No more than 5 years in business

Calling for young businesses, solopreneurs and freelancers. From a business idea or MVP to a company with no more than 5 years since constitution.

Fluency in English

The Break Fellowship is fully delivered in English.  

Applications finish on 17th May at 12am CET

The Fellowship in numbers

8.75/10

Average programme global evaluation by the 280
2022 fellows

1000

EU resident female entrepreneurs on a mission to collaborate and expand their markets.

3

Goals:: Build an international community, develop your business and create positive impact in local territories.

+60h

High value specialized training and mentoring on management, design, leadership and innovation

28

Days working retreat in Spain. Break your routine to expand your impact.

+30

Entrepreneurship partner organisations.

+7,000€

Worth fellowship including training, mentoring, travel and accommodation, culture and networking events.

What the Breakers say

The Break 2023 calendar overview

Selection process

Applications, interviews and fellows selection and confirmation

APR-MAY

MAY -JUNE

Onboarding

Detailed information about destination, logistics, and travel bookings by organization

REMOTE TRAINING

Remote Opening Event

Online training, community and mentoring sessions

JULY & SEPT
PROGRAMME STARTS

28th SEPT- 25th OCT

Experience Spain

opening event

Madrid 1 night

Networking sessions, presentations and cultural walk.

Working Retreat in your Local Innovation Community

25 days

Individual work, training & workshops, field visits, community events and open innovation challenge

closing event

Madrid 1 night

Networking sessions, fellows’ presentations, community and next steps

Our team of +30 experts collaborating with us

We are bringing on board some of the most influential women in business and academics for an extraordinary collaborative learning journey

Sharolyn Wynter

CEO + Founder at Xpat, Inc. | Executive Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Advisor

Sharolyn Wynter (she/her) is an executive DEI advisor with 15+ years of experience supporting, leading, and advocating for DEI efforts across the globe. She also leverages DEI insights from her company Xpat, Inc., a global community for underrepresented expats, nomads, and study abroad students.

CRISTINA SANCHO

Sustainability Lead at Impact Hub Madrid

Specialist in Sustainable Development and Corporate Social Responsibility. Committed to the social, environmental, cultural and economic impact of organizations and businesses. Specialized in environmental impact analysis and circular economy strategies. 

Carolina Rossi

Managing Director at CRP Investment & Consulting

Experienced Chief Marketing Officer with a proven track record of success in working with entrepreneurs and business leaders across Europe, North and South America. She has specialized in the blockchain & web3 markets and putting together global remote teams to achieve unified goals. 

Francesca Passeri

Deputy Director
European Crowdfunding Network

Francesca is a enthusiastic supporter of the European Union and crowdfunding, with a soft spot for social inclusion and regional development. She is an expert in designing crowdfunding campaigns across very different sectors.

leda stott (PhD)

Specialist: Partnership and Sustainable Development

Leda is an international specialist in multi-stakeholder collaboration. Over the last 25 years she has worked in the management, training and evaluation of partnership projects and processes. Leda has a PhD on the topic of partnership from the University of Edinburgh and has taught at universities in the UK, Spain, Norway and South Africa.

Valentina Giraldo

Founder of LaValentina Design

Valentina’s ultimate dream has always been to position Colombia as the Creative Paradise of the world. To pursue this goal, she relocated to Mexico and started expanding into new markets across Mexico and the Americas. Now over 25% of their sales depend on global markets. Valentina has ongoing projects in Mexico, Chile, USA, Ecuador, and a total of 15 countries (and counting) that shape the future of the company.

bu haces

Head of Strategic Design at Impact Hub Madrid - Innovation Consultant & Mentor

Bu looks forward to developing human-centric and disruptive solutions for companies that contribute to sustainable world development. She infuses energy into processes, helps teams and organizations achieve better, more human, and meaningful outcomes, and forms ecosystems where people can shine.

Maysoun Douas

Director of StartUp Commission Entrepreneur and innovation expert

PhD in Physics,  entrepreneur and an innovation expert, Mayson is the creator of Excellenting, an algorithm that matches technological supply and demand by mapping innovations.As a community builder, she creates ecosystems that bring together the necessary economic actors to generate opportunities for development and innovation. 

ANTHEA KAVANAGH​

Founder of Good Plan Finance

Anthea is a finance expert with 20+ years of experience advising world-leading companies in corporate finance, FP&A, business strategy and financial transformation. She recently started Good Plan Finance to provide financial guidance and support to women led companies because she loves numbers, plans and representation.

Korinna Irschitz

Consultant on Leadership and Change management

Experienced Instructor with a demonstrated history of working in Corporate Business and in the Management Consulting Industry. Skilled in Negotiation, HR Consulting, Executive Coaching, Leadership, Team Building and Personal Development. She is a strong entrepreneurship professional with an MBA in Change Management focused on the Impact of Leadership on Change.

Katherine MIlligan

Director at Collective Change Lab

Katherine Milligan is a Director at the Collective Change Lab, a think tank focused on systems change. Named a «Top 100 Women in Social Entrepreneurship” by the Euclid Network, Katherine is affiliated with many innovation and entrepreneurship networks, including the Geneva Innovation Movement, Accelerate2030 and The Wellbeing Project.

ana hernanz

Head of Design & Product at Igeneris - Acumen Fellow

Ana is in charge of product and design at Igeneris, where she designs new business models for large companies. She finds and shapes high-impact business concepts where her clients are not focusing on.

The Break is for you if...

  • You are open to learn, share and be challenged by inspiring women.
 
  • You are ready to change your routine and experience a personal and professional trip, that helps both you and your business to grow.
 
  • You are flexible and easygoing, ready to embrace uncertainty, challenge, and fun moments .
 
  • You are open to travel where you have never been before, socialize with locals and enjoy Spanish culture.
 
  • You’re empathetic, grateful and thrilled by generating collective impact.

The Break is NOT for you if...

  • You are looking for an all-inclusive fancy holidays.
  • You don’t see the value in sharing with women from very different sectors and backgrounds.
  • Your work schedule is so rigid that you cannot commit to occasional 90 minutes individual mentoring sessions and other group sessions.

Apply now for the last edition

Terms & FAQ

Terms

The Break is an entrepreneurship Fellowship Programme in Spain for EU resident women worth +7,000 €. The Fellowship is funded by the European Union designed by Escuela de Organización Industrial EOI School and powered by The Break Alliance.

1,000 female entrepreneurs and freelancers will embark on a transformational journey: a 12-week entrepreneurship programme, including a 27-day work retreat in Spain.

The Break 2023 fellows will work towards 3 common goals: 

  • Goal 1: You and Your Business. A tailored training journey for more innovative and sustainable businesses through workshops, mentoring sessions and peer validation.   
  • Goal 2: A life-long international community. Expand your network and benefit from diversity. A community of 1,000 women where we expect more than 50 nationalities across the European Union.
  • Goal 3: Local Development. While in Spain, you and your colleagues will engage in open innovation activities to solve local challenges.

Expenses covered by The Break are estimated in +7,000 eur and include:

  • Transportation costs from the European airport of origin to Spain and vice versa.
  • Accommodation in Spain during the whole experience.
  • The entire training itinerary: webinars, individual and group mentoring, workshops, programme business trips and events.
  • Travel and medical and insurance.

Expenses not covered by The Break:

  • Food while in Spain (except during Madrid events, where it will be fully covered)
  • Expenses related to trips out of the programmed group visits.
  • Medical tests related to covid-19 (antigen tests, PCRs…)
  • Your personal expenses could vary depending on your location and eagerness to go out and participate in leisure activities. Your personal expenses could vary from 500-900 € approx.

The Break is part of the EU Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan and is aligned with the Spanish National Entrepreneurship Strategy (España Nación Emprendedora), the long-term governmental vision to make Spain a reference country in innovative entrepreneurship before 2030. For the implementation of the first edition of the program, EOI has launched a public tender in December 2021 which has been awarded to Impact Hub.

All actions within the Spanish National Plan for Recovery, Transformation and Resilience (PRTR) and therefore the Break Programme must comply with the principle of Do Not Significant Harm (DNSH). This applies both to the projects of the participating women entrepreneurs and to the sectoral challenges proposed by the Spanish communities. The DNSH principle implies that no action may go against the six environmental objectives for which the absence of significant harm has been assured: climate change mitigation, adaptation to climate change, sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources, circular economy, pollution prevention and control, protection and recovery of biodiversity and ecosystems.

Note that the following requirements are mandatory:

  • Women* candidates must be at least 18 years old. We encourage women of all ages to apply! 
  • We are looking for open-spirited women determined to learn, question, boost their business and create an international community to transform our planet.  
  • Have a fluent level of conversational and written English.
  • EU residents (except residents in Spain) regardless of their country of origin.
  • Be in charge or hold responsibility in an entrepreneurial project:
    1. Early stage: in case the business is not yet established, the candidate should have at least an MVP proposal or market validation proposal. 
    2. Have an operating entrepreneurial project with no more than 5 years since constitution. This may include start-ups, scale-ups or high growth businesses. 
    3. Be a Spanish national residing in the EU except in Spain, with an entrepreneurial project  and wanting to expand into Spain. 

    Please note that only one person per project will be allowed to join the Programme.

  • It is recommended that your entrepreneurial/ freelance project is part of the following sectors (please consider them as opened and inclusive, we want to attract very diverse projects and skills): 
  1. Industry: with sustainability and digitization as the main challenges for the improvement of production processes and competitiveness, and favoring a new industrial model based on collaborative innovation, productive means connected and flexible, transparent and integrated supply chains, and more technological distribution channels and customer service.
  2. Tourism and Culture: sustainable and inclusive tourism, tourism technologies or travel tech, creative industries, generation and dissemination of culture, management of cultural and historical heritage, crafts and traditional trades, digital creation…
  3. Mobility: both in urban and rural areas and that has an impact in individual and collective transport, freight transport, logistics, infrastructures and citizen awareness for a change of model towards sustainability and circularity.
  4. Health: e-health or electronic health, m-health (access via mobile), innovation in the processes of health services, use of RRSS to interact with the population, development of new drugs and therapies, etc.
  5. Construction and Materials: new buildings, more sustainable reforms and rehabilitations, new materials, intelligent automation and home automation, new models of property and/or coexistence (coliving, cohousing…)
  6. Energy and Ecological Transition: energy efficiency in buildings and industry, renewable energies for a «decarbonized» economy, new technologies for energy storage, waste management, environmental restoration, circular economy, water efficiency…
  7. Banking and Finance: innovation for a change of model both at the technological and interaction with its stakeholders, omnichannel, office of the future, etc.
  8. Digital and Telecommunications: AI, supercomputing, cybersecurity, and all initiatives that help reduce the digital divide between populations in order to achieve real equality of opportunity.
  9. Agro-food and livestock sector: especially aimed towards an ecological and sustainable agriculture and livestock.
  10. Biotechnology: with specific applications in medicine, industry, agriculture or environment. 
  11. Social Entrepreneurship: business initiatives clearly driven to solve social and environmental challenges specially focusing on vulnerable groups. . 
  12. Rural development: attraction of professionals, support services for rural populations so they don’t have to emigrate, talent return initiatives, technological solutions, etc.

*Please note that this is a women-only event that intends an inclusive definition of women. We are welcoming and respectful of women, including trans women and any others who identify as a woman in a way that is significant to them.

Apply now or share the Break with a friend who inspires you!

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Frequently asked questions

Yes, apply as soon as possible. The Break 2023 2nd Cohort fellows will be invited to apply from April 2023. Start your application as soon as possible so you can start your interview process and save your spot for the fellowship! 

The Break calls for 1,000 creative and diverse women entrepreneurs to build an innovative ecosystem. We consider “entrepreneur” from a broad perspective. If you are working on a project proposal or moving towards MVP, or if you have a leading role in a startup or an established business that is less than 5 years old, you may apply. Freelancers are also included in this category and are welcome to apply.

While in Spain, a work space, wifi and other resources involving work are guaranteed. It is estimated that fellows will dedicate 2h per day in average to The Break activities.

Weekends are free and any activity will be voluntary.

Expenses covered by The Break are estimated in +7,000 eur and include:

  • Transportation costs from the European airport of origin to Spain and vice versa.
  • Accommodation in Spain during the whole experience.
  • The entire training itinerary: webinars, individual and group mentoring, workshops, programme business trips and events.
  • Travel insurance and medical and insurance.

Expenses not covered by The Break:

  • Food while in Spain (except during Madrid events, where it will be fully covered)
  • Expenses related to trips out of the programmed group visits.
  • Medical tests related to covid-19 (antigen tests, PCRs…)
  • Food costs are estimated at 20-30 € per day.

Common shopping or access to supermarkets will be provided to lower your food expenses. However, please bear in mind to have some money for extra activities or eating out on weekends. We estimate around 550€ for your whole stay including food.

You will land in Madrid Barajas Airport and be taken care of by The Break while you are in Spain. The Spain experience starts with a two-day event in Madrid to then travel to your local community.

This could be a small village in the Pyrenees or a rented house in Malaga.

You will gather up in groups of 14-20 entrepreneurs during your stay in Spain but will be able to connect with more than 300 entrepreneurs physically during the welcoming and farewell event in Madrid. You may have to share a room with other The Break fellow candidates while in Spain.

You will be grouped with other fellows according to different factors: skills, sector of professional activities and other interests and motivations. The Break is designed over the idea of collaboration, creativity, community impact and collective learning.

You will not be able to cancel your trip once booked. Please bear in mind that we are implementing The Break with Public funds and we must be extremely careful with making the most out of them. The Break Fellowship is not an individual non transmisible experience.

The Break is inclusive and understanding of mother’s circumstances up to a certain extent. We are open to considering mothers bringing children if they are looked after by other parents or tutors but only if the best possible experiences for the little ones can be guaranteed. Please know that a sudden change of setting and language could turn into a difficult experience for them. Note that the fellowship only covers expenses related to the participation of the entrepreneur and therefore all family and transport expenses will have to be covered by the candidate. Please bring out this issue throughout the selection process to know more details and get some practical examples.

Participants will be asked to attend at least 75% of the programme activities. The organization understands urgent things coming across unexpectedly that could result in absence. 

Weekends will be free for participants to decide their own schedule, but normally a group-voluntary activity will be offered to those who want to join.




The program is based on collaboration and collective learning so we count on your knowledge and skills towards achieving the community goals. In addition to supporting other participants you will have to deliver:

  • Your personal Business Action Plan to summarize your experience, areas of improvement and next goals. 
  • Your group Open Innovation Report including the key aspects and conclusions of your work in reshaping critical challenges that you will undertake in your Local Innovation Community.
  • Attend at least 75% of the programme activities and sessions that are mandatory.

The Break is a programme where entrepreneurs share , during 28 days, their life with other women. In this period, transportation, flights, hotels and accommodations with different policies about animals are involved. Therefore pets are not allowed in this programme.

NOTE: guiding dogs are allowed if you can properly demonstrate it with official papers.

Yes, of course. We are looking for diverse female founders from Europe. If you have a disability and certain accessibility needs for your stay in Spain you can add those to your registration form, we will talk with you about it and make sure that you can be matched to an organization that is suitable for you.

Organizers

The Break is designed by EOI and powered by The Break Alliance

Strengthening entrepreneurship since 1955

EOI (Escuela de Organización Industrial) is the first business school founded in Spain (1955). As a public foundation attached to the Spanish Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism and co-financed by European Funds, we have promoted +80,000 entrepreneurs and SMEs. More than 84,500 executives and business managers specialized in leadership, internationalization and sustainability have attended our programs.

THE BREAK ALLIANCE

IH_BLACK-01

Impact Hub

Leading the sdg driven community

Impact Hub is the largest global network of entrepreneurial communities with impact. +17,000 professionals present in +100 cities from 60 countries around the world. Together with other allied organizations, we create and execute programs to promote innovative proposals and social transformation.

mentorday

Mentor Day

we accelerate your business

Mentorday is a non-profit, private and independent association, made up of more than 850 professionals business leaders and entrepreneurs who volunteer to promote new companies that generate employment. It is an impact accelerator that has organized more than 71 vertical programs, successfully promoted more than 1,000 companies from 33 countries, and generated more than 6,000 jobs.

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Startup ST.

the place where your ideas become startups

Startups Investments (Startups. st) supports and promotes entrepreneurs, startups, and technological and digital SMEs through several actions and acceleration programs. The company is responsible for more than 25 startup acceleration programs in the last 7 years, with a presence in 3 countries, more than 7,500 hours of training and support developed, with a volume of capital raised by participating startups of more than 33.7M €.

The Break is designed by EOI and powered by The Break Alliance

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The Break is possible with the support from

This program is part of the Spain Entrepreneurial Nation, the long-term vision promoted by the Government to make Spain a reference country in innovative entrepreneurship in the year 2030. This vision is articulated in the Spain Entrepreneurial Nation Strategy promoted from Government Presidency through the High Commissioner for Spain Entrepreneurial Nation.

For any further questions, please contact thebreak@impacthub.net