Inflection fellowship

Explore

Discover the next chapter of your impact career.

Join a guided fellowships of mission-driven professionals. Understand how your expertise and passion can create more positive impact and de-risk your career change through structured experimentation.

Next cohort starts 22 September - Limited places
Apply before 10 August for the Early Bird price!

Apply Get the brochure

Join our online info session

Learn about the fellowship, the application process, and get your questions answered.

Become inspired

A network of Science-For-Impact professionals to spark new ideas and energy for your next move.

Broaden your circle

Connect with new people, gain fresh perspectives, and discover unexpected opportunities.

Find your North Star

Explore what’s driving you, understand your options and find your direction with support.

Prototype your future

Test out new career paths through low-risk experiments to build your confidence before taking the leap.

How does it work?

The Explore fellowship provides structure, support and accountability to your exploration and experimentation.

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Interdisciplinary Pods

A facilitated online group of 5-7 diverse professionals with a shared mission, all exploring. their next chapter who can provide mutual support and accountability.

Workbook

A workbook of tried and tested methods to unlock your thinking and provide a common language inspired by design and systems thinking and coaching practice.

Fieldwork

A framework and support to design, run and review low-risk experiments to prototype and explore new roles, directions and domains.

Curate intros

Introductions to new people in vibrant community providing inspiration, networking, and opportunities to understand prototype your next phase.

Inspirational events

Regular curated online and in-person keynotes, workshops and fireside chats providing inspiration and insights into new trends, roles and opportunities.

Personal CoPliot

Personalised feedback and insights powered by AI that helps you reflect on your fieldwork and spot patterns alongside the support of humans.

Onboarding and membership

Fellowships are made up of a 12-week guided onboarding programme and an ongoing peer-supported membership.

Apply

Our fellowships are selective to ensure a high quality experience for all participants. Apply to be considered!

Kick start

A 12-week guided onboarding programme to help you established the connections, shared language and foundation to explore.

Part 1: Explore

Fortnightly 90-minute online guided pod session to help you understand how your expertise and passion intersects with opportunities.‍

Exploring you
Exploring what's possible
Exploring what's in the way
Exploring the leap

Part 2: Experiment

Weekly 60 min online pod sessions with the support to begin to plan, design and review low-risk experiments and prototype your career.

Membership

‍Continue the momentum: explore and experiment for as long as you need with support. We'll remix the pods based on your stage every quarter.

Apply Get the brochure

Our fellows

Wakana Fujisawa

Business Consultant

"The Inflection programme gave me a community of people who are on the same journey as me, a safe space to explore and exchange ideas. The programme provides a very helpful structure to progress my thinking, to share ideas and to start taking small incremental actions. I now have a clearer idea of what I am going to try next."

Ruth Wassermann

Strategic Collaborator

"Zinc inflection was a great way to engage with career pivot coaching in a very targeted way. Exploring how to donut with a lens of impact and purpose that comes from their deep sector expertise. It has given me some clarity and renewed momentum for my next career steps."

Amanda Penny

Doctor and startup medical advisor

“The Inflection fellowship has given me a framework to explore future roles that align with my values, accountability to follow through at each stage and a community of like-minded peers for support. It’s a great launchpad for anyone striving to pivot in their career to make a positive impact for people and planet!"

Nick Haisman-Smith

Executive Director and Co-Founder,
The Institute for Social and Emotional Learning

"A hugely energising opportunity to connect with others who care deeply about driving positive change — and to explore, together, how we can amplify the insight and experience we’ve each gathered over time."

Alexandra Kutas

Storyteller for social change

"Inflection gave me the space I wouldn’t have otherwise—to pause, reflect, and reconnect with what truly energises me. I especially loved putting into words, and seeing in action, what genuinely drives me. It was a powerful reminder that clarity doesn’t come all at once—it builds through honest reflection and intentional practice."

Sam Gregory

Fractional Chief Marketing Officer

“The Inflection program has been provocative and helpful, building momentum and adding clarity as I consider the next phase of my career. The shared experience aspect of the program was invaluable, and the resources provided served as an effective framework for discovery."

Commitment

Our fellowships typically require a minimum of 4 hour per fortnight, plus whatever additional time that you are willing to commit to make the change happen. Fieldwork, workbooks and engaging with copilot is on your schedule. Coffee intros at mutually agreed times.

‍A typical month onboarding looks like this.

Who is this fellowship for?

We’re looking for people with 10 years+ of professional or research experience who are frustrated by the impact of their current role and are ready for change.

As a human you are...

Curious and ready for change

Collaborative and generous with feedback

Open to learning and support

Driven by a strong sense of mission

Someone who wants to have a postive impact at scale

You're likely to working as...

Academic, researcher, post-doc, professor, scientist

Public sector advisor, researcher, civil servant, policy or data expert

Clinician, doctor, nurse or healthcare worker

Technical specialist in tech or pharma

Consultant, legal or finance professional

Industrial engineer, designer or product specialist

Non-profit or charity leader

Artist or creative professional with a mission-driven focus

Apply Get the brochure

Fellowship designed by

Eleanor Ford

Chief People Officer

Eleanor Ford is an exited founder, certified executive and team coach, and Chief People Officer at Zinc VC, backing individuals committed to solving the most pressing challenges facing people and the planet.

Across her career, she has worked at the intersection of innovation, human systems, and purpose, and at Zinc leads the selection and development of some of the most ambitious talent in Europe to realise their full potential.

The Explore Fellowship is designed as an immersive experience, blending deep personal exploration with real-world experimentation. It draws on Zinc's background in startup and venture building and design thinking, to create something that’s both rigorous and deeply human.

What makes this fellowship different?

Venture methodologies applied to you: You’ll learn how to think and act like a founder, grounded in what works from inside a leading VC environment — not just theory, but applied, tested tools. Applied to you.

Practice-based learning: This is a programme where you learn by doing — through live experiments, testing your ideas, and expanding your network in purposeful directions. Change gets real.

World-class coaching: We go deep - exploring what drives you, your inner obstacles, your north star. You’ll gain expert coaching frameworks that will stay with you for life. You'll know what matters.

Mission-driven by design: Every part of this Fellowship sits within our ecosystem of mission-led innovation, from mental health to climate resilience. At Zinc, we don’t do generic career change.

A cohort like no other: You’ll join a group of exceptional peers - people who are asking the same hard questions and pushing toward impact with the same fierce clarity. You'll inspire each other.

Join our online info session

Learn about the fellowship, the application process, and get your questions answered.

Why Zinc?

For nearly a decade, Zinc has supported exceptional people to build science-for-impact businesses through venture building programmes and investment.

Now we’re applying our approach to help professionals create impact in a broader range of ways. Our ecosystem and expertise creates the opportunity to empower individuals to thrive as agents of change.

More about Zinc

and join our agents of change