how it works

The Breakthrough Accelerator is an 11-month program that provides innovators with the funding, community, and support they need to drive sustainable change. The program is structured around key activities that strengthen teams and advance each innovation toward clear developmental milestones. These include in-person learning workshops, virtual learning sessions, coaching calls, and opportunities to connect with peers. Each activity is designed to support meaningful progress along an innovation’s journey—whether these milestones are reached during Breakthrough or as a result of building the team’s capacity to achieve them beyond the program.

in our 11-month accelerator program, teams will:

Receive $125,000 to grow their innovation and support travel to in-person events.

Receive tailored guidance and support through 1:1 coaching sessions.

Expand knowledge and skills in testing their innovation with end users, measuring impact, and planning for growth and sustainability.

Access resources and tools developed and curated to support their work.

Engage with Breakthrough’s youth advisors to ensure that innovations are informed by young people’s perspectives.

Participate in peer learning opportunities with a cohort of like-minded individuals.

Attend two in-person learning workshops and learn, share, and grow alongside the cohort.

Showcase their innovation at a culminating event called Demo Day—held both in-person and virtually—to potential investors/funders and the public.

Join the Breakthrough Alumni network to continue supporting and learning from each other and future cohorts.

Hear from past Breakthrough innovators:

I liked the intensity of how quickly we moved, while being matched with positivity and encouragement from the Breakthrough team. [Breakthrough] feels like a very supportive environment.

This experience has clarified a lot for our team, giving us direction, and helped us feel more optimistic about our project having future success.

The Breakthrough flexibility was incredibly helpful. So many things didn’t go according to plan … But then you’re always so flexible and understanding and just responded with, “How can we support you?”

Just like that flexibility and that openness as far as [saying], “You’re gonna have a ton of ideas, not all of them are gonna work” … I think that’s what’s different with Breakthrough compared to other forms of funding or support.

It was very energizing to connect with other creators doing this work!

We are grateful for this opportunity as it is a unique resource that allows us creativity that our traditional funds will not allow. We never feel that we have to convince leadership at Breakthrough Accelerator to care.