Terms & Conditions for participation in the Close the Gap program (“CtG”)
Intention of the Close the Gap program
The Close the Gap program is a project on behalf of the adidas AG, organized, managed and implemented by Impact Hub GmbH (IHC) and Impact Hub Houston (IHH), collectively the Organizer. CtG aims to support diverse social entrepreneurs aligned with adidas’ “One Starting Line” pillar by providing them with mentorship in areas such as marketing, branding, finance, operations, HR, and digital transformation to help advance their ventures, especially those that are led by founders from and directly impact women, Latinx and BIPOC communities.
Close the Gap is adidas’ commitment to strengthen the community of social innovators by providing skills-based mentorship to diverse ventures and real-time support that addresses their specific needs, ultimately driving economic advancement, job creation, and increased societal impact in underrepresented and BIPOC/Latinx communities. Close the Gap focuses on three pillars: Improving Access, Removing Stereotypes and Creating Visibility.
adidas believes that through sport we have the power to change lives. To enable this change, Impact Hub and adidas have teamed up to “Close the Gap” by connecting the expertise of adidas employees with diverse social ventures to co-create meaningful impact for the BIPOC/Latinx communities they serve. Participants will get tailored mentoring and coaching support from adidas to strengthen their skills, accelerate their efforts, and potentially scale their impact.
Target Group
CtG targets social ventures whose founders’ and/or the communities they serve include (but are not limited to) people who are underrepresented in mainstream business, tech and startup environments, such as women, Latinx and BIPOC.
Online Application & Documents
Organisations and initiatives must submit their application online via closethegap.impacthub.net between August 20, 2020 and September 9, 2020 (23:59 CET). Please review the FAQs prior to your application at closethegap.impacthub.net.
All fields on the application form must be filled in with the corresponding information in complete sentences or bullet points and in English. References to attachments (e.g. ‘see website’ or ‘see attached documents’) or ‘no statement’ are not permitted and will not be considered. Please note the maximum number of characters in each instance. These fields must be filled in as concisely and comprehensively as possible, taking into account
the limited number of characters.
Partially completed application forms will not be accepted.
Only fully complete applications received before the deadline on September 9, 2020 (23:59 CET) will be considered. By submitting an application, the applicant accepts these conditions for participation.
Confirmation of Application
After your application is submitted, you will receive an automatic confirmation of receipt. If you do not, please contact us immediately via email: houston@impacthub.net with “Close the Gap Application” in the subject line.
Publication of Winning Teams
Winning entrepreneurs will be publicly announced on the closethegap.impacthub.net website and in a press release, including venture name, a short description as well as visual material provided by the applicant in the application form.
Selection Process
The selection process is conducted in two stages:
Stage 1: Review of all applications and selection of the top 30 by the Organizer.
Stage 2: Welcome and onboarding of all thirty ventures.
Venture selection criteria are as follows:
- Equity – The proposed idea is led by underrepresented entrepreneurs or is supporting diverse populations.
- Innovation – The proposed solution is developing an impact-driven business that can redesign an existing system.
- Impact – The proposed solution will have a measurable positive impact on the local community and will work towards closing the opportunity gap.
- Industry – The proposed solution focuses on Education (mentorship, equity, skills training, job readiness, economic empowerment) and/or Sport (performance, training, good health, fitness, advancement to sport equipment/safety equipment, positive impacts to the lives of athletes) initiatives.
Applicants who do not fit within the “Target Group”, and/or do not meet the above selection criteria are automatically disqualified.
The thirty ventures selected to participate in the CtG program will be notified on the week Sept 14–18, 2020. After mentor matchmaking is complete, the formal mentorship will begin on October 5, 2020. There will be an opening celebration to kick-off the program on this day.
Eligibility
Applicants must submit their solution in the field of education and/or sports.
Participation is excluded for (a) IHC, IHH, any adidas Group entities or their agents and their first and second degree family members, as well as (b) anyone else who is directly or indirectly professionally connected with the CtG and their family members and (c) anyone who participates for non-private purposes.
One entry per venture. If more than one entry is received, only the first entry will be accepted.
Program Details
30 ventures will be selected to participate and will receive:
- Expert business advice and coaching from adidas’ employees. Each venture will be matched with an adidas employee who will be their designated mentor for the duration of the program.
- Visibility of venture among the Impact Hub and adidas network.
- A free Global Connect Membership and access to the Impact Hub network.
Applicants selected to participate in the program may not transfer the rights of this program participation to a third party.
If a winning venture cannot be contacted or fails to confirm acceptance into the Program within 5 business days of notification, the Organizer reserves the right to select an alternative winner and the original winner will forfeit the support. The Organizer reserves the right to modify or withdraw the support from any venture.
Participation Fee
There is no participation fee to take part in the program.
Cancellation of the program, no Entitlement to Participate
Organizers reserve the right to cancel this program at any time. There is no entitlement to participate.
Legal Notice and General Rules of Behaviour
The Organizer reserves the right to reject applications that:
– Do not meet the participation criteria;
– Participants may not use the program for the expression of political or religious ideas.
– Entries may not conflict with applicable law or regulations, the rights of third parties, nor may they incite, advocate or express pornography, obscenity, vulgarity, hatred, bigotry, racism or gratuitous violence or is in any other way inappropriate.
– Are submitted by organisations whose products violate or exhibit the above criteria from competition at any time. The legal recourse is excluded.
– Entries may not in any way harm the Organizer or adidas, their affiliates, their agents and/or the brand of adidas.
– Participants may not upload, post, email or otherwise make available any material that contains software viruses or any other computer codes, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the use of any software or devices on the website.
– Participants cannot derive any rights from their participation and have no right to any payment or other compensation for their entry or their participation.
– The Organizer has the right to refuse any entry which contains material which is offensive, insulting, injurious, obscene, offending, vindictive, indecent, perverted, immoral, aggressive, sexually oriented, racist, derisive, slanderous, discriminatory, or in any other way not in line with good taste and decency, or which Organizer deems in its sole discretion to be otherwise unacceptable.
– The Organizer retains the right to exclude participants from participating in the program and to delete entries from the website, if these are not in line with these rules of behaviour or are otherwise in conflict with the Terms.
– It is prohibited to reproduce or publish anything relating to the program without the prior explicit written consent of the Organizer.
Limitation of liability
The Organizer is not responsible or liable for costs or expenses of participants in connection with or relating to participating in the Competition. The costs of the use of the internet are for the account of the participants.
The Organizer is not responsible and exclude any liability for (i) network- (cable, internet or other relevant networks), computer hardware or software disruptions of whatever nature which might lead to a limited, delayed or lost entry, (ii) other problems or calamities, of whatever nature, that are connected with the functioning of the network (cable, internet or other network), the website, computer hardware or software, and (iii) mistakes in the entering or processing of personal data, except in case of gross negligence or wilful misconduct of the Organizer.
The Organizer is not responsible or liable for any incompatibility between technologies used, in the broadest sense, during the program and the hardware and software configuration used by the participants.
To the fullest extent allowed by applicable law, the Organizer and any agencies involved in the program are not responsible or liable for any loss, damages or injury caused by participation in the program.
If the program, for whatever reason, progresses differently than foreseen or the Competition appears to be in conflict with applicable law, the Organizer reserves the right to annul, terminate, amend or postpone the program without any liability of the Organizer and without a right of compensation for the participants.
Data Protection
The Organizer assures that all documents will be treated with the utmost confidentiality according to European law (GDPR). All submitted documents will be made available to the juries only for the purpose of conducting the selection process. The juries are bound to secrecy.
By participating in the Close the Gap program application process, the applicant agrees that his / her personal data may be used for the purposes of carrying out the selection and that IHC and IHH collects, stores and uses data for this purpose and, if necessary, forwards it to adidas AG or other third parties.
In accordance with the statutory provisions, every applicant has the right to access his / her personal data, as well as the right to have their data corrected, blocked or deleted. To exercise these rights an email can be sent to support@impacthub.net. Please note that such a revocation would cause us to no longer use the personal data collected for the purpose of this application and may affect the applicant’s participation in the competition.
To find more about IHC’s data privacy guidelines, please visit closethegap.impacthub.net/website-privacy-policy/.
Declaration of Agreement
The applicant declares that he / she has all rights to the submitted documents and agrees to the publication of the documents and their contents (pictures, photos and graphic material, logos etc.) attached to the application on the website closethegap.impacthub.net. All rights to the submitted documents and contents remain with the applicant.
Video and Audio Recordings
Participants agree that the Organizer and adidas AG shall be entitled to publish photo, video and audio recordings made as part of the Close the Gap program on the program website, on adidas AG, IHC and IHH homepages, on social media, in the adidas AG, IHC and IHH newsletter, in flyers, and in brochures for the purpose of public relations and documentation either via adidas AG, IHC and IHH itself as well as via media and network partners.
Contact Information of Organizer
The Close the Gap program is organized and implemented by Impact Hub GmbH (Lindengasse 56/18-19, 1070 Vienna, Austria) and Impact Hub Houston (1801 Main St. #1300, Houston, TX) on behalf of adidas AG (Headquarter of the adidas Group, Adi-Dassler-Straße 1, 91074 Herzogenaurach, Germany). The operator of the internet platform is IHC.
Email: houston@impacthub.net
Further information: closethegap.impacthub.net
Applicable law / disputes
The decision of the Organizer is final and binding. No correspondence will be entered into relating to the result of the Competition.
If any Clause of these Terms is found by a competent court or other competent authority to be void or unenforceable, that Clause shall be deemed to be deleted and the remaining Clauses shall continue in full force and effect.
The Terms are governed by and construed in all respects in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Austria. Any and all disputes arising out of or in connection with the Terms shall in the first instance be submitted to and settled by the competent courts of Vienna, Austria.
Promoter reserves the right at all times to amend the Terms without any liability to the participants or any third party. A revised version of the Terms will be published on the website.