Deadline: 14 November 2011
Open to: Passionate individuals from all geographies, sectors, backgrounds, religions and ages
Fellowship: Stipend that covers reasonable monthly living costs for the duration of the year-long program
Description
Applications are now open for the 2012-2013 Acumen Fund Global Fellows Program from eligible candidates all over the world who have already decided on a career in venture philanthropy, who are seeking a career at the highest levels in the corporate world but want to better understand and impact problems of global poverty, and budding social entrepreneurs who want to learn about managing organizations in demanding settings.
Each year, Acumen Fund recruits highly talented and passionate young professionals to reflect on their role as leaders, build their leadership capacity, and provide much-needed management support to their investees.
Program Structure:
Acumen Fund’s year-long fellowship for the Class of 2013 will begin in September 2012 with eight weeks of intensive and multidisciplinary leadership training in their New York City office. Training topics cover a wide variety of soft and hard skills, ranging from self-reflection, negotiation, and storytelling to functional topics such as investment techniques, valuation, marketing and operations. The Fellows also meet with leaders from diverse fields, as well as leading writers and thinkers. Training will explore issues related to our investment geographies and sectors as well.
Following training in New York, Fellows begin their nine-month field placements with Acumen Fund investees. Each Fellow is assigned to a company where they support senior management in tackling critical business issues – market expansion, business plan refinement, supply chain improvements, or even leading a new business initiative.
The Selection process:
October-November: Online application accepted
November-December: Phone interviews
January-March: In-person interviews
April-May: Final selection
Eligibility
- There is no specific age or degree required for the program. Acumen Fund Fellows are drawn from a pool of talented, passionate individuals from all geographies, sectors, backgrounds, religions and ages, having:
- Proven track record of leadership and management responsibilities,
- Experience working in emerging markets,
- Unrelenting perseverance, personal integrity, and critical thinking s,kills
- Strong passion and commitment,
- 3-7 years of work experience,
- Graduate degree preferred.
Fellowship
Acumen Fund provides Fellows with a stipend that covers reasonable monthly living costs for the duration of the year-long program. The stipend is designed to cover only costs associated and incurred during the program. You should not expect to save any money during this year or to use this stipend to cover previous expenses (e.g., student loans). During the program in New York, Fellows will be provided with additional resources to secure housing. Stipend amounts will vary for the country placement portion of the Fellowship, adjusting for the cost of living in different countries, but these stipends are also designed to cover the basic costs associated with safe yet frugal living.
Travel to New York for the first portion of the program, travel to and from field placements, travel to and from the mid-year meeting, and costs associated with necessary visa arrangements will be covered by Acumen Fund.
Acumen Fund will also arrange appropriate health insurance and computing services including a laptop and video camera for use during the fellowship year.
Application
The online application form.
Hi there,
Thank you for publishing this interesting offer. I am very keen to find out more:)
I had one question in particular: Could you comment a bit more on the location of field placements? as it is not very clear for me from this article.
Are the field placements going to take place in NY as well, or somewhere else around the world?
Dear Dominika,
As you probably already read, the eight weeks of training are held in New York. After that the fellows are placed with Acumen Fund investees. According to their webpage the Acumen Fund invests in India, East Africa and Pakistan. So I suppose that those are the locations where the fellows will be placed. As always the safest thing to do is contact the Fund. This is the address you can send your question to – fellows@acumenfund.org.
Kind regards,
Dijana
Mladiinfo