ACUMEN FELLOWS PROGRAM

Fellows can come from diverse cultural, geographic, and socioeconomic backgrounds and work in any sector, and they must be committed to ending poverty and injustice in their community through their work. They are individuals who are making a long-term play at system-level impact and are seeking the leadership skills and moral imagination to make it happen. The Fellows we seek are: Typically in one of the following trajectories: entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, and organizational builders whether for-profit, nonprofit, or in government. We define that as…

1. Entrepreneurs: founding or leading a for-profit or nonprofit organization that provides critical goods or services to the underserved
2. Organizational builders: supporting the growth of an organization, institution, or company focused on alleviating poverty or injustice but not as the founder or CEO
3. Intrapreneurs: creating innovative solutions to tackle poverty or injustice from within an existing institution by shifting its culture and building new collaborations
4. Individuals who have a demonstrated history of impact, commitment, and concrete connection to the region.
5. Leaders with strong personal integrity, unrelenting perseverance, and moral imagination.
6. Committed individuals ready to undergo an intensive year-long personal transformation and leadership journey followed by an induction into the larger Fellows Community.
7. Individuals of all ages and education levels who are able to participate in a program conducted in English or in Spanish for those in the Program in Colombia. There is neither a minimum age requirement nor a maximum age cut-off.​​​​​​​

Upon application submission, the selection team will carefully review submissions and participation at each stage of the process, and select candidates who will advance to the next stage. At each stage of the application process, all candidates will receive communication from our team about the progress of their application. Other Info The Fellowship looks for “builders” who are working to solve problems of poverty. Builders include Founders, CEOs, and senior leaders (COO, MD, etc.) at for-profit, nonprofit, or hybrid social enterprises, as well as corporate or government sector intrapreneurs. While these titles offer a glimpse of the types of roles Fellows play, what matters most is what you’re building and the track record of your impact.

1. Applicants must have a minimum of 5 years of professional experience and should be able to demonstrate their commitment to solving issues of poverty.
2. Applicants should demonstrate their ability and willingness to give (contributing their knowledge, experiences, networks, and/or ideas) and receive support from our community.
3. Applicants must have a reliable internet connection, be fully available to participate throughout the entirety of the program, and be able to participate in English or Spanish depending on the region and medium of instruction.