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A Fellowship for Nonprofit Executives
Peer-to-peer Learning + one-on-one Executive Coaching.
Open for Applications!
Overview
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About
The Fellowship is a 1-year immersive program for a select group of leaders creating social impact. This training will strengthen your capacity to run and resource your organization while managing change and maintaining life-work balance. The Fellowship provides motivation and accountability, a space for growth, mentoring, know-how and elements of management consulting. We understand that people like to do things their way. Our cohorts are reflective of our visions of inclusion and diversity. Our Fellows are spanning the gamut in term of seniority, area of services, age, race, and gender. The agencies they represent are equally diverse in focus, staff size and budget magnitude.The program provides peer-to-peer mentoring, one-on-one coaching and ongoing support towards a defined goal. From ideas about new funding to strategies for scaling efforts, Fellows will benefit from a cross-pollination of thoughts meant to explore, improve and even incubate specific projects and concepts. Beyond this, the program is about keeping at the forefront important, but often overlooked questions such as “How can I do what I do, better, faster, more effectively and with joy?” and “Is this fully engaging my talents?” to the all-powerful provocation: “What’s next?”Merging the theoretical with the practical, the program aims to make the life of a changemaker a bit easier, their organization more sustainable and successful, and their products/services more valuable. And every now and then, we like to throw in elements that feel like a cross between Shark Tank, ToastMasters, and a psychotherapy session.
For more information about current cohorts and the application process, please email Cristina Gallegos at cristina (at) skylarx (dot) co
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Fellowship Objectives
Develop a solution and implementation plan for a specific problem. Add more perspectives and approaches to your arsenal. Deepen your skills as a more effective manager. Acquire new strategies to scale/replicate efforts. Become highly tactical during day to day activities. Raise more capital. Enhance your support network of peers, funders and community partners.
Once a Fellow is part of the program, we work around their schedule as much as possible. The experience can be as light or as intensive as they need it to be; there is no judgement. Average in-person participation time: about 32 hrs/year (1 onboarding call of 30 minutes + 4 retreats X 7 hrs. each = 28 hrs. + 6 one-on-one sessions X 1 hr. each).
Fellows get ongoing, structured, deep support + a brain trust + 6 coaching sessions that emphasize continuity and accountability + a strategist as part of their personal fan club for a year; this can be used to figure out anything from career woes, to staff frustrations, to income strategies. And to round it off, we’ll throw in any and all opportunities as they arise because once a Fellow, always in our circle.
To keep people on track, each month there will be a deep interaction (either an individual session or a retreat). In addition, we will provide support via email or phone, guidance on specific issues – big or small – and whatever else Fellows need help with. We create the space, moderate the dialogue, create synergies, bring ideas to the table, create connections to people, highlight potential follies, motivate, and bring a dose of realism so Fellows can take their work to the next level.
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Opportunities
To insure depth of engagement, we believe in keeping our groups very small (6-12 participants are selected for each cohort). Non-profits, Foundations, B Corporations and Social Enterprises are eligible for participation. To apply, you have to be a Founder, Executive Director, Development Director, C-level executive or Board Member. We’ll always build a synergistic mix of people for each cohort in a supportive, idea-rich environment rooted in a culture of dialogue. The curriculum is highly focused and purpose-driven, drawing solutions from diverse fields and areas of knowledge
Working Towards the Greater Good
“What is different about this fellowship is that in addition to the executive coaching, in addition to the elements of management consulting, networking and everything else, Fellows benefit from a facilitated circle of trusted and experienced colleagues to help place a handful of guideposts in the vast loneliness of leadership. The whole year is designed around pushing the envelope, helping each Fellow think bigger and bolder, experimenting with ideas and growing professionally in a highly-collaborative peer group of changemakers. This is an accelerator for those that are ready and have the courage. To get something magical out of it, you have to contribute something of yourself.”
Cristina Gallegos
FELLOWSHIP CRITERIA
Eligible applicants are
1) Leaders of a non-profit, social enterprise or B Corp (Executive Director, Founder, C-level executive, active Board Member, etc.)
2) Able to commit to attendance to 4 quarterly retreats
3) Eager for growth through innovation and willing to carve the time and do the work that will take them and their agency to the next level
4) Interested in achieving more work/life balance OR looking for the next step in your career as a non-profit leader
This is a competitive process and up to 12 Fellows only will be accepted for each cohort. Enrollment priority will be given to applicants actively looking for solutions to specific issues and/or social problems. Each Fellow is expected to bring to the table 1-2 issues that are on a spectrum from “seemingly insurmountable” to “small”. We are excited to provide a platform to solve these issues during the Fellowship.