Junior track ยท Foundation building
New to the space, and not sure where to start?
For people who are new, or relatively new, to the space. You may not have a project running or your first funding yet, and you may still be looking for your entry point.
Build the foundations: a story people remember, a community around your work, a path to your first funding, and the basic skills to run it, with tools that fit your budget.
Virtual, global and in English. Cohorts are planned for 20 people over 4 weeks.
Where you start
- So much to figure out at the beginning: how to start, who to work with, where the money could come from, how to get seen and trusted, and which tools to rely on without running up costs.
How it feels
- School-like: you learn by doing.
What you leave with
- A story you can tell, a first funding application under way, and people to do it with.
What's inside
Where to start
Sort the many possibilities into what matters now, what can wait, and what to let go.
Organise yourself
One place for your documents, tasks and conversations, instead of a head full of loose ends.
The right tools, at a cost you can carry
Choose what fits your work, and learn what is worth paying for and what is not.
AI, without the hype
What AI helpers can and cannot do for you, how to ask them well, and how to use them safely with other people's information.
Stay resilient
Routines and boundaries that make your pace one you can keep, and tools that take the repetitive work off your shoulders.
Allies, networks, partners
Find the people and organisations to work with, build a network that helps you, and start a first partnership.
Your pitch and your story, in the age of AI
Say who you are and why your work matters in a minute, then tell the longer story, with AI as a writing partner rather than a ghostwriter.
- Find your story: what you change, for whom, and why it matters now.
- Use AI to draft, adapt and translate, then make it sound like you again.
- Know when to say AI was involved, and what never to fake.
Your first funding
Find calls you can actually apply for, read what they ask, and turn your story into a first application.
Proof Day
Show the one thing you built for your own work, now in use.
The finish line
Every cohort ends on Proof Day
Proof Day is not a contest, and there is nothing to win. During the cohort everyone builds one thing for their own work, and on the last day shows it working.
- Real.
- In use, not a plan.
- Yours.
- Built for your own work, so it keeps saving you time.
Your proof could be
- Your work, organised in one place
- Your pitch and story, out there
- A first partner, approached
- A first funding application, sent
You show something you finished, not a result that takes years to arrive.
Meet your trainers
Each track has its own host, who stays with you through the cohort, and at least one trainer.
Junior track
New to the space, and not sure where to start?
Kajo Stelter
HostAction Network Worldwide Ambassador
To be announced
Junior track trainer
Less time in the office, more time in the field
You learn to hand the repetitive work to AI and good tools, on a live stack that keeps running after the cohort, so your hours go to the people and places you work for.
Register your interest
The academy starts as a beta, with the first cohorts planned for late 2026 or 2027. There is no fixed date yet. Register your interest, pick a track and tell us roughly when you could join. We plan cohorts around the interest we receive and get in touch when yours takes shape.