Get involved
Partner with the leading talent incubator in B&H
We at the BH Futures Foundation help identify, nurture and retain STEM talent in the country by growing our community of like-minded, well-intentioned and growth-oriented people.
Why our partnerships bring value?
Trustworthy business-minded partner. We believe and constantly showcase that success is possible in Bosnia & Herzegovina where young people (with the right support) can develop globally relevant careers. We are building our community based on a clear and long-term vision where a meaningful relationship with our industry partners is of particular importance. One of our primary goals is to ensure that a large proportion of the talent we identify and nurture over years, stays in Bosnia & Herzegovina.
Young talent experts. We have developed a learning and experience ecosystem that compliments the traditional formal education environment. Developing a balance of IQ and EQ (Emotional intelligence), fused with a strong underpinning in enterprise skills (communication, strategic & critical thinking, decision making, commercial awareness etc), leadership and entrepreneurship are vital to the success of any student & young professional.
Plethora of collaboration points. Besides our three flagship programs (Futures Scholarship Program, Researchers Program, Entrepreneurs & Innovators Program) you can decide to collaborate on other projects (such as Futures Leaders Summit, Vera Snajder Award) and connect with the rest of the community through meet-ups and events.
Partnerships with companies
Your partnership with the BH Futures Foundation could be shaped around:
Joint scholarships - Based on your criteria, our Scholarship Department makes a pre-selection of the scholars from the incubation and acceleration program, while you make a final call on scholar selection and provide them with financial scholarship and internship. Read more about the joint scholarships with Mistral, MoP and Lanaco.
Internships - Based on your talent needs we do a pre-selection of our scholars and suggest them for the relevant positions. Your team makes a final decision and embarks one or more students on one of their first professional journeys. Read more about internship collaboration with the APS Fascade.
Company visits - Attracting talent is much easier once they are familiar with your values and operations. We are happy to organize company visits in the country and abroad to help students better understand the industry and job opportunities. Read more about one of our company visits here and here.
Professional courses - Programs we offer to students are based on personal and professional development and soft skills. Based on their interest and our partners’ offers we tend to additionally support them in acquiring hard skills through professional hands-on courses. Read more about professional courses we did with DKR - German Center for Robotics and Heimann Ingenieure.
Conferences/forums - Among other live events, our flagship conference Futures Leaders Summit is a leading platform in the country for ongoing collaboration between young STEM leaders, the local economy and the global community with the aim of creating the next generation of changemakers. Read more here.
Networking events - As we have staff, scholars, volunteers and contributors in the whole country, we love to move our meetings, meet-ups and other events between the cities. Our partners can initiate such networking events or offer their resources for the occasion. Read more about networking and joint events with MoP, Softhouse, and FabLab.
Providing mentors & speakers - Mentoring and knowledge transfer are at the core of our incubation and acceleration programs. Webinar and event speakers, workshop facilitators, mentors are crucial to our student’s progress and our partners usually provide some of their employees to join us in these roles. Read more about speaker from one of our partners here.
Donating licenses, software and equipment - Supporting our students’ efforts requires efficiency and our partners can share their licenses, software and equipment for the organisation or directly to our scholars. Read more about donated conference fees for WeAreDevelopers.
Donating money - Some of our partners decide to focus on what they do the best and to support us directly through a financial donation for the ongoing activities.
Do you have an idea for a partnership? Click here!
Partnerships with organisations
Your partnership with the BH Futures Foundation could be based on activities similar to these:
Mentorship Program
We kick-started the largest mentoring program in the region for disadvantaged youth from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina. In partnership with MarketMakers, we offer students industry mentoring through strategic partnerships with IT/STEM companies from Bosnia and Herzegovina. As a company you have an opportunity to partner with us and give your employees an opportunity to mentor high school and university students. The benefit for the entire tech industry is enormous. We will see an increase of students studying technical sciences, more young talent in your company and overall growth in the sector.
IEEE Innovation Nation
IEEE is the world’s largest technical professional organisation and BH Futures Foundation has enjoyed an active collaboration with this institution since our founding. In 2016 we partnered with IEEE to develop and deliver “Innovation Nation” a grassroots innovation & entrepreneurship program for Bosnia & Herzegovina. The program consists of two parts:
Education
Students throughout the country go through 8 modules of training (8 full days or 4 weekends), covering everything from introduction to design thinking all the way to business models and pitching in front of investors. Students who complete the training receive certificates and are eligible to compete in the Innovation Nation finals.
Competition
The Innovation Nation finals invite the best 10 teams who participated in the education program where they compete for start-up funding, attend the IEEE annual congress and receive technical/business mentors.
The program which was started in our homeland in 2016 has since been also run for 2 years in Sri Lanka (2018 & 2019) and will be launched in Central Africa in 2020.
Mozaik Foundation - Social Entrepreneurship
Mozaik Foundation is the leading impact investor in the Western Balkans region, with a mission to identify, empower and invest in value-driven and innovative social entrepreneurs. To date, Mozaik has worked with over 25,000 youth in Bosnia & Herzegovina. We signed a memorandum and partnered up to deliver the 2019 IEEE Innovation Nation. We are also active partners in the Lonac Hubs throughout BH where our scholars actively participate in community orientated projects.
La Terra Nostra - Enabling Learning in Srebrenica
Charity Foundation La Terra Nostra was launched with the intention to help those people from Bosnia and Herzegovina and the world who are eager to study and to accomplish more in their lives to fulfill their dreams. We partnered in our “Srebrenica Maker Space” project where La Terra Nostra gladly provided BH Futures Foundation with a dozen laptops to use and educate youth from the region. We are also working together and other non for profits to help the entire Srebrenica region.
La Trobe University - Australia Education Exchange
La Trobe University is one of Australia’s largest universities. It has consistently been ranked among the top 100 universities under the age of 50 and is recognised as one of the most innovative and forward looking institutions. From 2016 to date, we have partnered with this institution to bring over 100 Australian student on an international study tour to Bosnia & Herzegovina. Together, we have developed one of the most unique programs called the “Global Innovation Program” in which Australian students utilise design thinking methodology to solve problems citizens of Bosnia & Herzegovina face. We have been building bridges between the two countries and will continue to do so.
If you would like to facilitate similar program do get in touch with us.
This work has been well documented in literature and blogs.
Swiss Government and MarketMakers
MarketMakers is a project of the Swiss Government implemented by Helvetas (Switzerland) and Kolektiv d.o.o. (Bosnia & Herzegovina). MarketMakers has been implementing activities in support of sustained youth employment together with the private sector since 2012 and will run until the end of May 2021.
We partnered up with MarketMakers to expand our unique industry mentoring program to over 200 participants. Find out more here.
U.S Government & Global Innovation through Science and Technology initiative (GIST)
In 2020, our Foundation became the official partner of The Global Innovation through Science and Technology initiative (GIST), a U.S. government program on innovation and entrepreneurship. The program assists business people to establish startups. GIST participants in 135 emerging economies can develop skills, build networks, find mentors, and access financing through a combination of in-country training, a pitch competition, interactive online programming, and direct connections to U.S. experts.
Gandel Philanthropy - Joining Forces in Australia
Gandel Philanthropy is one of Australia’s largest independent family philanthropic funds. Gandel recognised our amazing work an partnered with us to host our annual gathering in Melbourne, Australia. Charitable work is admirable and we respect the incredible work this organisation is doing.
Do you have an idea for a partnership? Click here!
Get Involved
Bosnia & Herzegovina Futures Foundation is always on the lookout for strategic partners in the NGO and non for profit sector. Of particular interest are organisations which have close alignment to the mission of our foundation “Empowering the youth of Bosnia & Herzegovina through technology, education and leadership”. We are aware that we can make a better impact by joining our forces.