Becoming a Fellow

Candidates interested in becoming a Fellow must be nominated by a third party who knows him or her well and is prepared to speak candidly and objectively about the their qualifications. You cannot "apply" to be a Fellow. So what kind of candidates are we looking for? The criteria differ slightly from Fellowship to Fellowship, but generally they can be described as follows. 

Entrepreneurial leaders at an inflection point and willing to take action
We look for people who make things happen. Our strongest candidates have started something, grown something – even if this happens inside an organization – and have achieved significant success in their careers.
 
At the same time, we look for individuals who are now at an “inflection point”—looking toward the broader role they might take on in their communities or globally. By this we mean that they are ready and able to pause, re-evaluate the things that matter to them most, and dedicate time and energy to making a difference in society using their skills, passions, networks, and platform to launch a leadership venture.
 
Who is not a great fit for our Fellowships?
We get many candidates who we consider to be "fully baked" – meaning they have already reached the point where we hope our Fellows to be when they graduate a Fellowship. We applaud their work. But the Fellowships are not designed for them. We get other candidates who are wonderful people, but who may not be at the right stage in their life/career for the programs. Some are so busy building their business or organization that it’s clear they won’t be able to make the time for or truly focus on all the Fellowship experience entails. We feel this focus is necessary in order to be open to deeply examining the world through the new and different lenses of the Fellowship experience.

Part of a class “mosaic”
Fellowship classes are made up of 20-22 high-integrity, highly diverse individuals. In creating the perfect class, programs weave together Fellows from various personal and professional backgrounds, whose experiences will complement, challenge, and inspire each other in the seminar room and throughout the Fellowship. Each Fellow should have something to teach and to learn from the others. We call this process of building the ideal class "creating the mosaic.” It's both a science and an art. Unfortunately, many amazing individuals are not included because they don't fit the class mosaic for that particular year. That's why we often reconsider candidates, sometimes for a number of years, before they are selected.

Learn more by visiting a Fellowship's home page