beVisioneers: The Mercedes-Benz Fellowship

🇮🇳 Fighting Climate Disasters | Chaitanya Sakre In Mumbai, flooding has been more and more of devastating and disruptive force —something Cohort 1 Fellow Chaitanya Sakre witnessed firsthand as a student. With climate change driving more frequent and intense rainfall, the city is being pushed to its limits. But Chaitanya has a solution: water-absorbing porous asphalt that allows rain to drain away instead of pooling on roads. His innovation doesn’t just reduce flooding—it also helps communities harvest rainwater for daily use, minimizes road damage, and cuts down on costly repairs. ✍️ Learn how Chaitanya is transforming infrastructure to help his community withstand extreme weather. #bevisioneersthemercedesbenzfellowship #bevisioneers #fightingclimatedisasters #SustainableInfrastructure #MumbaiFloods

📚 Meet Scaling Mentor Ezra Anajonu & Mentee Prashant Jibhakate For Ezra, mentorship has been a rewarding challenge—offering guidance, navigating obstacles, and seeing firsthand the growth of a young innovator. Along the way, he has gained new perspectives himself, with one lesson standing out above the rest: resilience. Cohort 1 Fellow Prashant reflects on the past year under Ezra’s mentorship, detailing how their conversations, insights, and shared problem-solving have strengthened his skills and deepened his understanding of what it takes to drive meaningful change. 🪴 Scaling Mentors are professionals who volunteer to coach a beVisioneers Year 2 Fellow to make progress on their planet-positive project. They coach Fellows who received Project Scholarships to apply their Fellowship learnings to their project. 📩 Applications to become a beVisioneers Mentor are now open. - https://ow.ly/NGnO50UZthI. #bevisioneersthemercedesbenzfellowship #bevisioneers #mentorship #mentors #leadership #ProfessionalGrowth

🗨️ The question isn’t if it will happen. It’s when. India is experiencing record-breaking rainfall and flooding. Kenya is enduring its longest drought periods. Uganda is battling relentless floods. From Kenya to India to Uganda to Los Angeles, climate disasters are escalating—unpredictable, unstoppable. A climate disaster waits for no one—prepared or not. 💭 As we watch all of this unfold before our eyes in real time, we ask ourselves: How can we be more prepared? How can we reduce the risk of disaster? Who is doing the work? Who will care to help our planet? In this upcoming video series we explore the worlds of Chaitanya Sakre, Hannah Njambi and Pamela Musimenta —Fellows on the frontlines, building solutions to protect communities before the next disaster hits. ✍️ Stay tuned to learn more about the young people who are working to make their communities safer and more sustainable. #bevisioneersthemercedesbenzfellowship #bevisioneers #Uganda #Kenya #India #fightingclimatedisasters

🚀 Congratulations to Cohort 2 Fellow Lauren Click and the Arizona Composting Council! 🎖️beVisioneers: Mercedes-Benz Cohort 2 Fellow, Lauren Click has been named the US Composting Council’s Young Professional of the Year at COMPOST2025 for expanding composting programs to over 110 public schools nationwide, including 101 in Arizona. 💭 The Arizona Composting Council (AZCC), which Lauren co-founded in 2024, also received the USCC State Chapter Rookie of the Year Award for its leadership in advancing composting infrastructure in Arizona. Their work is dedicated to driving progress in sustainability and food waste reduction. 💡The United States generates approximately 66 million tons of wasted food from the food retail, food service, and residential sectors yearly. Of this amount, about 3.3 million tons (approximately 5%) were managed through composting. We need intitiatives like Lauren's, now more than ever. 🙌 A well-deserved congratulations to you, Lauren, on this achievement! #bevisioneersthemercedesbenzfellowship #bevisioneers #sustainability #composting

💫 At beVisioneers, mentorship is about much more than just sharing knowledge—it's about fostering a collaborative relationship where both Mentors and Mentees grow. Their dedication goes beyond just advice—it's about empowering the leaders of tomorrow to build sustainable, impactful ventures. ✏️ They find immense fulfillment in supporting young innovators as they navigate the early stages of their careers, offering insights while also learning from the fresh perspectives of the next generation. A key component of the program is the 1:1 guidance each Fellow receives. 💬 Mentors will: —> Dedicate just 1-2 hours monthly from August 2025 to June 2026 to make a lasting impact —> Discover new eco-innovation and sustainability ideas from diverse, solution-focused youth —> Connect with environmental experts and influencers worldwide —> Enhance your leadership skills through regular feedback and support to ambitious entrepreneurs. 💭 See what a few of our current Mentors have to share about their experience; Viet-Chi P., Stephanie Salewyn, Omar Meléndez and Markus Paff. 💻 Applications are open apply to be a Mentor today - https://ow.ly/ptch50USr16. #bevisioneersthemercedesbenzfellowhsip #bevisioneers #mentorship #mentor #opportunites

🚀 Within beVisioneers, there is ample opportunity to shape your own journey—whether through collaboration, exploring new interests, or seeking out opportunities to grow. 👋 Meet Cohort 2 Fellow David Hirschelmann, LL.M an innovator focused on advancing carbon credit certification. Throughout his time in the Fellowship, David has expanded his expertise, built connections with like-minded individuals, and deepened his understanding of corporate sustainability. He credits his Mentor Stephanie Salewyn for providing invaluable resources, including a visit to explore the energy efficiency department at Mercedes-Benz. 💡David’s journey highlights the opportunities within beVisioneers, where Fellows are empowered to take bold steps, gain new insights, and form meaningful connections that shape their path toward positive change. #bevisioneersthemercedesbenzfellowship #bevisioneers #mentorship #planetpositive

🌍 146,000 people could be protected from flooding in Mumbai with a single neighborhood redesign. This bold idea is just one example of how young innovators are tackling the climate crisis head-on. Across the globe, climate disasters are on the rise—an 83% increase in four decades —and each year, 20 million people are displaced due to its impacts. While no community is immune, marginalized and low-income populations face the greatest challenges. Meet three Fellows who are tackling this inequality head-on and building resilient communities: 🔹 Chaitanya Sakre (India): Flood-proof roads for safer neighborhoods and rainwater recycling. 🔹 Pamela Musimenta (Uganda): Reforesting degraded lands while creating sustainable incomes for 400+ households. 🔹 Esther Lucy Adeke (Uganda): Reducing crop burning that leads to uncontrolled fires and improving air quality and soil health. These stories highlight the urgent need for diverse, localized approaches to climate resilience. 🔗 Read the full article to discover how these Fellows are turning bold ideas into impactful solutions: https://lnkd.in/emjFhMnV #InnovationForChange #ClimateAction #ClimateCrisis #bevisioneersthemercedesbenzfellowship

 🌟 What Students Need to Know to Thrive in 2025 – Tips from Chiedza Mutsaka Skyum, beVisioneers: The Mercedes-Benz Fellowship Fellow & Community Director 🌟 In today’s fast-changing world, students need more than technical skills to succeed—they need strategies to stay ahead of the curve. As a Fellow and Community Lead at beVisioneers: The Mercedes-Benz Fellowship, Chiedza has spoke with EFMD Global, sharing key tips for students navigating the future of learning and work. 💡 Chiedza’s Top Tips for 2025: 1️⃣ Collaborate Across Borders 2️⃣ Learn from Different Generations 3️⃣ Reflect to Grow 4️⃣ Think Ahead These practical strategies equip students with the adaptability and resilience to thrive in a constantly evolving world. 💡 Do you have tips of your own? Share them with our community in the comments! 🔗 Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/ec3GbivV

💬 When Dr. Tavseef Mairaj Shah applied for the bV mentorship program, he intended it to be a two-way journey of mentoring and learning—and that’s exactly how it has turned out. Together, scaling Mentor Tavseef and Mentee Ceri Flook are driving impactful solutions in agriculture and soil health. Ceri’s AI-powered soil health project helps farmers restore soil biomes and tackle climate challenges. ❓Do you or someone you know have what it takes to guide the next generation of changemakers? 📨 Applications to become a Mentor are now open - https://ow.ly/VjOO50UPhqF #bevisioneersthemercedesbenzfellowship #bevisioneers #mentorship #opportunities #planetpositive

''The next generation of business leaders is eager for management education that respects the planet — but some schools are quicker to catch on than others.'' We're thrilled to be mentioned in The Financial Times as part of a new approach to planet-positive education. To build a more sustainable future, we need innovation from young people around the world. Our unique learning journey provides them with everything they need to strengthen their local environmental efforts, scale their projects and develop their leadership skills through our long-term community. "Training on entrepreneurship with sustainability is not really something you can teach in a classroom, listening to a professor,” says Katherin Kirschenmann, Co-Founder of The DO.