The Break 2022 Programme Details
Your Community – A collaborative movement
Welcome to The Break community!
The Break fellows are part of a collaborative community working together to support other women entrepreneurs, grow and achieve women empowerment in the business sector.
You will take part in an online platform where you will connect with other fellow candidates and participate in community networking and learning events.
You will co-create this movement that unfolds from the values and principles we have identified as a group. We will design the goals, rules and roles towards achieving transformational results that go beyond The break 2022. What do we want The Break Community to be in 2023 and beyond?
You will onboard into the online platform in August. The first community session is scheduled on Monday 29th of August. See you there!
The Break School – 2022
Welcome to School of Entrepreneurship, where you will meet and learn from experts on very different topics. Each webinar normally lasts 2h and combines theory, practice and discussions. You will have to participate in at least 18 hours in order to qualify successfully as a Break fellow. You are encouraged to participate in as many classes as your agenda allows.
The classes will be online and all 280 fellow candidates are invited to join live. Sessions will also be recorded in case you cannot attend live. Access to the webinars is restricted to The Break 2022 fellow candidates. You will need to be onboarded and to register in the community platform in order to access the links to the sessions.
THU 1st september
4-6pm CET
building engaging PURPOSE DRIVEN communities

Valentina Demori
Head of Community B Corp | Civic Engagement | Art of Hosting
The teacher: Valentina holds a masters in Community Psychology and has taken part in England’s National Community Organisers Programe. She is an expert in designing engaging communities.
The class: Through the case of the B Corporation movement, we will understand how we can go from managing a company with an audience to another with an engaged community. In addition, the session will serve as a starting point for the collective design process of The Break movement.
Topics: #marketing #communitybasedprojects #design
TUE 6TH september
4-6pm CET
Lessons from corporate strategy and innovation

Monica Chao Janeiro
Director of Sustainability of IKEA
President of WAS (Women, Action, Sustainability)
The teacher: Mónica is an expert at implementing visionaries strategies. She has led the transformation of multinational companies. She has a strong focus on implementing new trends and sustainability.
The class: Through the case of Ikea but not only, we will understand the advantages and limits of corporate innovation strategy and sustainability. We will also understand what it takes for small business to establish relationships with big players.
Topics: #corporateinnovation #strategy #sustainability
WED 7TH september
4-6pm CET
the strategic implications of regeneration

Carol Blázquez
Director of Sustainability
at Ecoalf BCorporation
The teacher: Carol leads the sustainability department of one of the most innovative fashion companies across the globe. Ecoalf is an activist brand that collects sea garbage and transforms it into durable clothes. Among different projects, she’s a partner of Women Action Sustainability (WAS).
The class: Sustainability is not only a moral obligation but a tool for competitiveness and brand innovation. But is a no harm policy enough? Regeneration comes to define a new framework whereby businesses strategy, activities and resources can be subsidiary to the goal of improving the planet.
Topics: #strategy #regeneration #brandactivism
TUE 13TH SEPTEMBER
4-6PM CET
brand storytelling & strategy

Gloria Gubianas
CEO Hemper Handmade
BCorporation
The teacher: Gloria has developed a business strategy with the goal to position Hemper as a pioneer of sustainability. In 2019 she was chosen as “Women entrepreneur of the year” by Chanel Foundation. She is in the Nova 111 list, among the most talented youth in Spain.
The class: Throughout the past years, Hemper has had to adapt rapidly. Flexibility is not only a marketing advantage but a key need in brand value and customer engagement. Brand storytelling is strategy, market segmentation and communication. We will learn how to design and tell stories that persuade and engage.
Topics: #brand #storytelling #communication
THU 15TH september
4-6pm CET
Internationalization strategies

Djémilah Hassani
Top 100 woman in Social Enterprise 2022 by Euclid Network – Head of Regional Strategies at the Chamber of Social Solidarity Economy of Mayotte
The teacher: Djémilah believes that changing the world is about making connections across the globe. Since 2018, she advises businesses on internationalization and has built strong strategic partnerships to create opportunities for them in the oversea regions and Indian Ocean.
The class: Consider the possibility of expanding your impact across borders. Wether this strategy is around the corner or later in time, start building a global culture and designing market strategies and potential partnerships towards internationalization. The Break is an opportunity to connect globally and access new markets.
Topics: #internationalization #partnerships #marketing
tue 20TH &THU 22 sept. 4-6pm CET
STRATEGIC DESIGN FOR BUSINESS INNOVATION I & III

Bu Haces
Head of Strategic Design at Impact Hub Madrid – Innovation Consultant & Mentor
The teacher: 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.
Class 1: Design is solving the real problem. We design services, activities, teams, events and meetings every day. You will learn how to identify real problems based on human-centric research, and design more effective solutions as an ongoing strategy which will determine all the areas of your business and targets.
Topics: #strategicdesign #designthinking #human-centric #entrepreneurship #innovation
Class 2: Business Design and Agile Management.Building scalable businesses is key for the first startup sprint. You will learn how to design a business around your solution that leverages measuring, testing and iterating to constantly reply to the voice of your customers while overseeing new business opportunities.
Topics: #businessdesign #agile #SCRUM #entrepreneurship #scaleup #innovation
WED 21ST september
4-6pm CET
STRATEGIC DESIGN FOR BUSINESS INNOVATION II

Ana Hernanz
Head of Design & Product at Igeneris – Acumen Fellow 2022 candidate
The teacher: 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 class: The process of testing is key to business and product development. It requires a right strategy, team coordination, focus on value and quality over quantity. There is an endless number of ways to build prototypes to test products, services or ideas and obtain feedback from the market. The goal of this session is to learn testing techniques (what to test and how to do it) to validate new ideas and take your project forward.
Topics: #lean #businessinnovation #testing #design #prototyping
TUE 4TH OCTOBER
4-6pm CET
Business to regenerate local ecosystems

Celia Ojeda
Leading sustainable project at Greenpeace – PhD Biology – Sustainable Cities
The teacher: Celia leads projects for a fairer and more sustainable world at Greenpeace. She is committed to social justice and ecology. She currently focuses on biodiversity, creating sustainable communities, protecting oceans and forests and changing the agri-food system.
The class: Celia’s session covers SD11: Sustainable cities & communities in the intersection with business. How can we see our territory as a result of our business model and not just as a resource? Regeneration of local communities can mean integrating ecology into our goals and defining our business accordingly.
Topics: #SDG11 #businessdesign #sustainability
THU 6TH & TUE 11TH OCT
TUE 8th & THU 10th nov
4-6PM CET
Leadership and Communication for entrepreneurs

Korinna Irschitz
Leadership, communication and negotiation trainer and consultant focused on the business sector.
The teacher: Solopreneur; Leadership and communication trainer and consultant in the
market of multinational corporations and life science companies.
Korinna is a Solopreneur having built her business on being an experienced
trainer and coach successfully working in the international big corporation
industry. She is skilled in Coaching and accompanying leaders, entrepreneurs
and individuals in becoming the leader they want to be and living the life they
want to live. She has an MBA in Change Management focused on the Impact of
Leadership on Change from Karl-Franzens-University Graz in Austria.
The classes: SyNet Group has generously partnered with The Break to deliver the highest training possible on leadership development for women entrepreneurs. All 4 sessions are connected, so it is highly recommendable to see them as 4 parts of one workshop as the content will build upon the previous one and there will be tasks as preparation between workshops.
In 4 sessions we will cover the following topics that are built on each other.
- Passion and authentic Leadership
- Leading self and others in a VUCA world
- Communicating at “eye-level” across hierarchies
- Alliances, networking and stakeholder communication
Topics: #leadership #communication #personaldevelopment
THU 13TH october
4-6pm CET
How to build a company culture.
From zero to hero

Sofía Trenor
Head of EU Public policy
at AWS & Vice-Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Taskforce at American Chamber of Commerce to the EU
The teacher: Sofia is the Head of EU Affairs for Amazon Web Services in Brussels, she leads cloud computing related policies since 2017. She is also the Vice Chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Task Force at the American Chamber of commerce to the EU.
The class: Business culture is more than the way we behave within the organization. Designing the right culture is a strategic decision for long term results. Diversity, productivity, talent, technology, happiness, sustainability are big words. But are they just words or key factors from where organizations’ performance unfolds?
Topics: #culture #strategy #diversity #talent
tue 18th october
4-6pm CET
what i’ve learned through my 10 year journey

Lupina Iturriaga
CEO at Fintonic.
TOP 50:Europe’s most influential women in the startup space
The teacher: Lupina is the founder and CEO of Fintonic. She graduated in Business Administration where she won a scholarship for academic merit. She has been assigned by FORBES in The 10 Spanish executives leading the digital transformation and the TOP 50:Europe’s most influential women in the startup space. Fintonic is a mobile-centric consumer banking platform that provides its users with insurance and investment products, and targeted loans.
The class: Lupina will share with us her inspiring and insightful 10 year personal and professional journey. What did she underrated? What did she overrated? How should we lay the foundation of a strong startup?
Topics: #entrepreneurship #management #leadership #OKR
THU 20th october
4-6pm CET
CREATING SUCCESSFUL MULTI-STAKEHOLDER COLLABORATIONS

Leda Stott
Specialist: Partnership and Sustainable Development
The teacher: 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.
The class: As purpose driven businesses rapidly emerge, it is more evident that the concepts of partnerships and business development are being blurred. Understanding the complexity and potential of the context where we operate helps us move from a project perspective to a system perspective in order to change what is mediocre or unfair.
Topics: #strategy #partnerships #systemsthinking
tUE 15th NOVEMBER
4-6pm CET
Setting okr for strong organizations

Sofía Benjumea
Head of Google for Startups
Europe, Middle East and Africa
The teacher: Sofia Benjumea founded The South Summit as the leading startup conference in Southern Europe. She’s been the head of Google for Startups in Spain and more recently was promoted to expand Google’s impact globally.
The class: What do organizations need to survive or thrive? What can we learn from Google as an organization? Sofia has been advising startups across many different sectors for the last 10 years. Defining objectives is essential to follow the right strategy but how do we navigate uncertainty? We will learn to create strong organizations by setting the correct results and indicators.
Topics: #okr #effectiveness #culture
tHU 17th, TUE 22ND & THU 24TH NOVEMBER
4-6pm CET
DESIGNING EFFECTIVE Crowdfunding

Francesca Passeri
Deputy Director at European Crowdfunding Network
The teacher: 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.
The class: 3 sessions. Crowdfunding is great. Not only it attracts investment, creates community and helps with market testing. Creating effective campaigns requires adequate branding, product and communication. Don’t miss this 3 session workshop on creating effective crowdfunding campaigns and achieve your strategic goals.
Topics: #crowdfunding #validation #fundraising #community #marketing
DATE TO BE CONFIRMED
4-6pm CET
digital transformation

Almudena de la Mata
Managing Partner at Blockchain Intelligence (Metaverse). Professor. Digital & Human Transformation
The teacher. Dr. Almudena de la Mata is managing partner and founder of Blockchain Intelligence, founding partner of Impact Hub Madrid and co-founder of Innovation for change. Board Member. University Professor. Speaker. Certified coach.
The Break School Calendar
The Break 2022 fellow candidates are kindly invited to save the following dates.
Classes will start at 4pm and finish at 6pm CET time. You will have to complete at least 18h of classes (both live or viewing recordings) but you are encouraged to participate in as many as you can. Please note that the programme is subject to small changes.
September 2022
October 2022
November 2022
Your Mentoring Journey
15 hours
of individual mentoring
to strengthen your project
Your one-to-one mentoring process will be managed by your host organization. First sessions will start in August and continue during September, October and November.
Host Organizations – 2022
Twelve Host Organizations with a great background in facilitation and project incubation, have been selected to host the experience while in Spain.
They will be in charge of coordinating the whole journey for their group, facilitating workshops, designate mentors and make sure you have the best time in Spain.
1 The Social Circle, Cantabria
2 Asociación Rooral, Zaragoza
3 Pueblos Remotos, Gran Canaria
4 Fundación Roberto Rivas, Pontevedra
5 Consorcio de la Zona Franca de Vigo, Pontevedra
6 Impact Hub Málaga, Málaga
7 CEEI Burgos, Burgos
8 Asociación Pandorahub, Tarragona
9 Bikonsulting, Álava
10 AlmaNatura, Huelva
11 Genion, Alicante
12 Impact Hub Donostia, Guipúzcoa
Experience Spain Dates – 2022
After the first online month in September, the 280 Entrepreneurs are divided in two groups of 140 to travel to Spain during October or November.
These are the dates related to that trip.
October Cohort
27th September: Trip from home to Madrid + Welcome Event
- Shuttle Taxi from Madrid Airport to your hotel
- Stay in Madrid – RIU Hotel , Plaza España
- Welcome Event in EOI Business School
28th September:
- Breakfast at RIU Hotel
- Madrid Team Cultural Gymkhana!
- Trip from Madrid to your assigned Host Organization
23rd October:
- Travel from Host Organization to Madrid
- Stay in Madrid – RIU Hotel , Plaza España
- Goodbye Event in RIU Hotel
24th October:
- Goodbye Event in RIU Hotel
- Travel back to your country
November Cohort
2nd November: Trip from home to Madrid + Welcome Event
- Shuttle Bus from Madrid Airport to your hotel
- Stay in Madrid – RIU Hotel , Plaza España
- Welcome Event in EOI Business School
3rd November:
- Welcome Event
- Trip from Madrid to your assigned Host Organization
28th November:
- Travel from Host Organization to Madrid
- Stay in Madrid – RIU Hotel , Plaza España
- Goodbye Event in RIU Hotel
29th November:
- Goodbye Event in RIU Hotel
- Travel back to your country
Everything you need to know about the Programme
HOURS & COMMITMENT TO THE BREAK
PLEASE NOTE that your entrepreneurship organisation and you will keep track of your engagement in all different activities. Participation in the minimum hours per activity are mandatory to become a The break 2022 Fellow
The program will start in August. Your entrepreneurship host organization will contact you to start co-creating your experience and mentorship journey. The program runs Monday to Friday from September to November (70 days approx). However, your entrepreneurship organization could book your first remote sessions in August. The amount of hours will vary depending on each participant’s level of engagement.
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Entrepreneurship School: the programme consists of 40h approximately of online classes out of which you will have to participate in at least 18h to successfully complete the program and become a fellow. However, you are encouraged to participate in as many as your agenda allows. All sessions will be recorded and you will have access to the recordings. We encourage you to get the most out of the live experience. These online classes are offered plenary to the whole group of 280 fellow candidates. You can find the programme calendar in this page but also in your community platform with the links to the sessions and all relevant information.,
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Your one-to-one mentoring journey: You will have to participate in 15h of one-to-one mentoring sessions. These include introductory remote meetings with your facilitator, mentor, and specialized mentors and advisors. While in Spain you will have face-to-face mentoring sessions.
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Group sessions with your host community: You will have to participate in 16h of group sessions with your peer fellow candidates. These include peer-to-peer learning and group mentoring sessions managed by your host organization, among other activities. Please coordinate these with your host organization, they are preparing a very unique experience for your group in Spain. Activities related to co-designing possible solutions to address your local challenge are among the mentioned mandatory 16h of group sessions and will also be guided by your host organization.
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Business field visits (3 visits): You will have to participate in at least 3 visits during your time in Spain that will be organized and facilitated by your host organization.
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Other sessions: Participants are encouraged to participate in networking sessions, remote community clusters, local activities, trips, etc.
The intensity and load of hours dedicated to The Break activities is assumable. A less engaged fellow candidate could dedicate 70 hours throughout the 70 days of the program (1 hour per day on average). A very engaged participant could dedicate 140 hours in average or more. Your participation in all sessions will be tracked as part of the mandatory monitoring and evaluation and reporting activities. We kindly ask you to be responsable, collaborative and empathetic with the community goals.
YOUR IMPLEMENTING PARTNERS AND FOCAL POINTS
Impact Hub is the implementing partner but the experience is also decentralized through twelve entrepreneurial organisations. One of them will also take care of your experience in Spain and your mentoring journey.
Contact Impact Hub at thebreak@impacthub.net for any matter related to: travel logistics, events in Madrid, webinar programme (school) and community platform. Contact the person of your entrepreneurial organization for any questions related to your mentoring itinerary, group sessions and experience in your host community.
TRAVEL LOGISTICS AND ACCOMMODATION
IMPORTANT: your airport of origin and flight will be selected according to the following criteria: (1) Reliability of the airline, (2) Carbon emission compensation policy, (3) Suitability of the schedule for you to arrive at the welcome event in Madrid. This means that in some cases, you may have to travel by your own means to an airport that is your second closest option to fly to Madrid.
- From the Madrid-Barajas Adolfo Suárez airport, The Break staff will organize your taxi service that will take you to the Hotel Riu in Madrid, in the Plaza de España, where you will be during your stay in Madrid, both on arrival to Spain and on returning back to your country.
- For both the October and November Cohorts, the welcome event will be at the EOI facilities. The next day you will travel to your host community. All transportation from and back to your home airport will be managed by The Break.
- From Friday, July 29th, Nautalia, the travel agency, will contact you to issue your flight ticket to Madrid.
- If you are part of the October Cohort, you will fly to Madrid on September 27 in the morning and you will fly back to your country on October 24 in the afternoon or evening.
- If you are part of the November Cohort, you will fly to Madrid on November 2 in the morning and you will fly back to your country on November 29 in the afternoon or evening.
- Some participants could have slightly different arrangements in order to be in Madrid for the events.
The Break is a collaborative movement to create a strong and fertile ecosystem of female entrepreneurship. The main impact of the experience is to promote valuable relationships among the 2022 fellow candidates towards transforming the reality of gender bias in entrepreneurship.
During the first days of August, you will receive an invitation to register on The break’s community platform where you will be able to connect with other fellow candidates, post, chat, access the calendar of events and participate in community sessions. The Community Managers will be Cristina Pan and María Solano, from Impact Hub/The Break team. For any matter related to your registration and participation in The Break digital community, you can write to cristina.pan@impacthub.net
Please note that only participants who successfully complete the program will be able to become fellows and be part of the community once the program is over. The Break is a community and it will be you who decide, once the program is over, how you want The Break to be and how you want this movement to expand.
THE SCHOOL OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP
The Break is an individual and unique experience where you will design your own journey. You will be able to choose your preferred topics among the program training sessions agenda. All sessions will be online live. Every fellow candidate must choose 18h of training sessions. These can be attended live or deferred. We strongly encourage you to participate live in as many sessions as you can. Sessions will be inspiring, fun, useful, practical and will surely generate networks and friendships.
Thanks for letting us know your areas of interest (strategic partnerships, design, circular economy, crowdfunding and alternative finance…). We have brought along the best possible team of professors, PhDs and entrepreneurs for The Break 2022 school of entrepreneurship.
All classes will start at 4pm and finish approximately at 6pm CET Madrid time. Some teachers will teach two, three or even 4 sessions.
The dates will be as follow:
September 2022 class dates: 1st, 6th, 7th, 8th,13th,14th,15th, 20th, 21st and 22nd.
October 2022 class dates: 4th, 6th,11th,13th,18th and 20th.
November 2022 class dates: 8th,10th,15th,17th, 22nd and 24th.
As part of the objective of accelerating more mature, more sustainable and more innovative projects, each fellow candidate will receive 15 hours of individual mentoring sessions.
The individual mentoring process will be managed by your assigned host organization. Introductory sessions could start remotely in August or September depending on your schedule. During your stay in Spain, in October or November you will continue to have remote mentoring sessions but also in person. It will be you, together with the facilitator of your assigned organization, who will design that itinerary according to the needs of your project and the team of mentors of the organization.
In the Entrepreneur Manual, you will be able to fill in the mentoring sheets, the learnings, areas that you have worked on in the sessions and plan for the next session.
GROUP SESSIONS & OPEN INNOVATION CHALLENGE
During The Break, you will have group sessions with mentors and peer to peer learning sessions for collective learning. You are the best asset of the program and you will have a great space for collaboration and valuable conversations.
During September the remote group sessions will begin and then during the Spain experience there will be sessions of many types: B2B field visits, networking events and activities as part of an open innovation process. The Break is a talent attraction programme and you will participate in co-designing effective solutions to challenges identifies in your host community.
Your entrepreneurship organization will manage your group sessions in Spain and also some remotely. Also on the community digital platform, you will have groups to participate according to your interests.
As always, the entrepreneur’s manual will be your diary of activities, insights and progress in your projects and you will record all the activities in which you participate in coordination with the entrepreneurial organization.
These editable canva document is for you and every other participant to personalize. It will provide you with relevant information of The Break, contact details, your host community and will allow you and your facilitator to keep track of your experience. It includes simple templates on training, mentoring sessions, or group activities to capture ideas, thought and insights and think about ways in which they could potentially influence your strategy.