Not even serious car collectors believed the “Mona Lisa of cars” would ever be for sale. But on May 5, 2022, the hammer dropped on the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR Uhlenhaut Coupé – sold to a private bidder for a record-smashing €135 million.
That decision by Mercedes-Benz to auction one of its crown jewels set a powerful precedent. The proceeds seeded beVisioneers: The Mercedes-Benz Fellowship, now the world’s largest and most financially inclusive fellowship for young ecopreneurs.
Operated by The DO’s non-profit sister organization, The DO School Fellowships, beVisioneers: The Mercedes-Benz Fellowship is corporate citizenship reimagined.
“This global community of young innovators and experienced professionals is driving environmentally sound business models around the world while at the same time infusing new ideas and a deeper understanding of market realities into Mercedes-Benz,” said beVisioneers Executive Director Mariah Levin.
beVisioneers equips young people aged 16 to 28 from diverse backgrounds with the training, mentorship, and resources to launch environmental projects in their communities. In just two years, the fellowship has scaled from an inaugural cohort of 100 Fellows in 2023 to 500 in 2024 – with 1,000 new Fellows joining annually from 2025 onward.
Fellows’ projects address a range of urgent issues: Repurposing waste to build circular economies, using tech to clean waterways, helping farmers adapt to climate shifts, pushing for sustainable fashion practices, and reimagining wildlife conservation.
And yet these projects are just the beginning. Because at a time when global youth unemployment is soaring and Europe alone faces an €800 billion innovation gap, beVisioneers stands out as a global innovation engine.
“We’re building the largest ever effort to empower young entrepreneurs to create jobs for themselves and others, while developing the kind of green transformation the world urgently needs,” said The DO Founder Florian Hoffmann. “We’re so proud to be bringing this audacious program to life, thanks to the generous donation from our partners at Mercedes-Benz.”
Just two years into the program, the initial results speak for themselves:
- €1.3 million has already distributed in project scholarships
- 86% of Fellows are ready to launch prototypes by the end of their first year
- 96% report feeling more confident stepping into leadership roles
That momentum is powered by a thoughtfully designed support system. Over 12 months, Fellows receive hands-on training from venture coaches and experts. They’re also paired with mentors – many of them Mercedes-Benz employees trained through The DO School’s Impact Mentor program – who dedicate an hour a month to guiding their mentees.
“What’s often missing for young innovators is access – to networks, to experience, to encouragement,” said The DO Co-Founder Katherin Kirschenmann. “beVisioneers creates a support system that bridges that gap.”
In return, beVisioneers offers something rare: Earned optimism and surge of purpose at a time when so many are wrestling with uncertainty.
“Right now, it’s a real challenge to hold onto optimism and stay engaged,” said Levin. “But beVisioneers fills rooms with hope. These young people aren’t naive about the problems we face – they’re activated. And they’re hungry for guidance, so it’s an opportunity for experienced people to absorb that positivity and hope while helping to create real change as mentors.
”It’s a reciprocal model, and the results are clear: A full 95% of mentors report gains in their own leadership skills, while 89% say they’ve deepened their knowledge of sustainability, and 92% say they’d recommend the experience.
From the auction block to impact on the ground, beVisioneers proves that legacy and leadership can go hand in hand. And that in the hands of the right community, even a car can change the world.
Non-profit impact
