Accelerator Dates: July 19th – July 30th


Application Deadline:
 July 9th

Apply Now

A Lifetime of Impact Begins

The Western Union  Fellowship is a program for young entrepreneurs and community leaders who are from and working with highly marginalized, refugee, and forcibly displaced communities around the globe.

This year-long program is designed to equip these next-generation entrepreneurs and leaders with the skills and experience to increase access to economic opportunity, integrate into their communities, succeed in the evolving nature of work, and transform their communities.

Each Fellow will receive $1,000 in Seed Funding to launch/grow their ventures and initiatives

Is this Program For You?

This program is for next-generation high-promising entrepreneurs and community leaders who are from and working with highly marginalized, refugee, and forcibly displaced communities around the globe. Ideal applicants will join with relevant social impact and leadership experiences with proven experience of building community development projects within these communities.

We are looking for applicants from the following countries: Austria, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, France, Germany, India, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Uganda, United Kingdom, United States

You must be able to commit to the intensive 2-week Accelerator (July 19th – July 30th) and the year-long Fellowship program (July 2021-July 2022).

This is a fully funded program thanks to the support of Western Union Foundation.

Program Structure

The Fellowship begins with a virtual two-week intensive Accelerator that will focus on:

Building Community

Community is one of the pillars of the Fellowship experience. A diverse cohort of young leaders and entrepreneurs form partnerships, collaborations, and further their growth and integration as leaders in their community

Skill Development

Including growth mindset, courage, resilience, creativity, and leadership. Fellows will be guided through the process of overcoming key challenges faced during the process of becoming transformative leaders.

Basecamp Training

Each Fellow is trained and receives a stipend and logistical support to lead a three-day Basecamp in their home community to empower at least 30 additional entrepreneurial leaders per Fellow.

After the two week Accelerator, each Fellow will join a year-long Fellowship including…

  • Lead a Basecamp in their respective community. A stipend will be given for logistical and administrative costs.
  • Join a monthly All Hands on Deck meeting that include skill development workshops and opportunities to build community amongst the cohort
  • Receive $1,000 in Seed Funding to launch/grow their ventures and initiatives
  • Regularly attend Master Courses with the world’s leading entrepreneurs and practitioners, further strengthen their skills, and build a powerful global network. Past Master Course teachers include co-recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize, the youngest person to run for US Congress, and the inventor of Google’s self-driving car.
  • Join a pod with other Fellows from their respective regions and regularly check in with each other via regular one-on-one meetings.

At the end of the year-long Fellowship, all of the Fellows will participate in a high-profile Summit to share their progress and impact throughout the program.

Program Details

The year-long Fellowship will be delivered in a virtual format. Synchronous activities will take place between 8:00 AM – 11:00 AM Mountain Time. The time commitment for the two-week Accelerator is approximately 20-25 hours per week, which includes class time and outside-of-class work. The time commitment for the remainder of the Fellowship, excluding leading a Basecamp, is approximately 10 hours per month. Fellows should also plan to spend 40-50 hours over one to two months to organize and lead a Basecamp in their community.

Watson Institute shares Western Union Foundation’s belief that education is the surest pathway to economic opportunity. We are excited to scale the impact of Western Union Foundation and Watson Institute’s partnership and bring Watson Institute’s proven model to over 1,100 forcibly displaced and marginalized young leaders and entrepreneurs and their communities globally.

 

Final program launch and design are pending Western Union Foundation approval.

For more information please open this link

Western Union Fellowship