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Fellows Program Description and Application The Fellows Program offers two tracks. One is focused on career development or advancement in the area of humanitarian intervention and is a structured, intensive, hands-on mentorship experience. The other is focused on the Fellow learning how to build a non-for-profit or nongovernmental organization. Applicants for the Fellows Program are mentored 1:1 with Dr. Chris Stout, who is the founder of the Program and the Center for Global Initiatives. This is a rigorous and challenging program, but it is also very rewarding. Not all applicants are accepted this is not due to the applicant, but more so because I will only take on Fellows who I believe I can be of benefit to in helping them to achieve their goals and be successful in their subsequent work. I use a very structured, high-accountability approach that is adapted to each individual's needs and background in order to be the most successful, efficient, and productive in the use of your time. Due to the intensity of the Fellowship, I can only work with three Fellows at a time. Start and end times are variable as this is not a cohort model. Each person I work with will have instruction tailored to their specific needs and strengths.
WHY YOU MAY BE INTERESTED I have been involved with helping build start-ups, practices, and careers for on 30 years. Now I am developing scalable tools and services via a mentored, 1:1 fellowship. Applicants interested in advancing their career and skills and who are already successful are appropriate candidates as well as those recent graduates. Page | 2 I can assist in identifying ways to improve performance, sharpen skills and overcome hurdles. We can focus on helping you to increase interpersonal dexterity required in leading others as well as learn ways in which to improve the art of influence. I can assist in channeling strengths and abilities to help with challenging situations. I serve as an independent sounding board to test your ideas as well as brainstorm new approaches to your work or career, playing an invigorating role in situations where you may be frustrated or burnedout, I can help get to the root cause and assist you in making subsequent needed changes. Working together, I can help identify areas where you would like to improve such as skill development to refine in order to advance your career. I provide an impartial and objective outside perspective to issues along with the support you need to advance and get to where you want to go. In a sense, I will be serve as a conversational partner, or what Harvard Business School professor Thomas DeLong calls a “truth speaker.” I will also provide access and introductions to a vast network of colleagues, collaborators, and contacts that can accelerate your achieving your goals.
WHAT I LOOK FOR IN ALL APPLICANTS • • •
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Purpose & Passion: I want to understand why it is that you care deeply about your work or project, and what it is you are looking for help with. Resilience: Demonstrate how you foresee challenges, and avoid or bounce back from them. Leadership: What are your current skills and abilities that demonstrate what you have accomplished already and what is needed for you to become a better leader and achieve the goals of the work and professionally for yourself? Innovation: What is it about your approach is different from things that have been tried in the past? Importance: Explain to me the problem you want to work on why it matters to others as well as yourself on a global, regional, or local scale. Potential for Impact: I want to understand how your work will directly impact others, how you plan on measuring baseline and concomitant results many lives, or create systemic change. A Good Business Model: You do not have to have solved all the details of your work or how your organization will run, but please do show me that you are considering this thoughtfully and realistically in measurable, accountable ways.
ELIGABILITY REQUIREMENTS Applicant • You must be at least 18 years of age, fluent in English (written and oral ability), and able to commit 5 or more hours a week to their Fellowship. • You do not need to be based in the US or be an American citizen. • You need to have access to a computer, phone or Skype, and internet access. • You are welcome to reapply if not initially accepted if you revise your application.
Be as Specific as Possible I know that you do not have all the answers right now – but many applications do not advance to the next stage of consideration because answers are vague and lack clarity. If you don’t have demonstrated results, that’s also okay. Walk me through your thought process for what your goals might be and how you would measure them. For instance, don’t just write that you’re going to save the world – describe in detail how you plan to do it. Avoid vague generalizations in your responses. Instead, provide concrete Page | 3 examples, hypotheses, and statistics to establish a clear connection between the work you do or propose to do, and your goals and objectives. Know Your Field A competitive analysis should demonstrate how well you understand the landscape that you are working in, or planning to work in. Choose organizations that are similar in organizational size or geographic area to your interests, but also similar in mission and type of constituents. A strong competitive analysis identifies organizations whose work is most similar to yours (or your idea) and then clearly articulate what will yours apart; how yours will be better, what gaps it fills, etcetera. Ask for Help Get several people to proofread your application. Have a good editor read for mechanics (style, structure, spelling); have a content-area expert read for feasibility (logic and persuasion); and have someone who knows nothing about your idea read for coherence and clarity. After reviewing your answers, ask each person to pitch your idea back to you to see if your application is conveying your idea accurately. If this is a problem, I have a faculty member that can be of help. Please let me know if you need such a referral. Fees and Tuition Applicant should email their responses to Fellow Application, with the subject line “Fellow Application.” Upon receipt, an acknowledgement will be sent back to the Applicant. If the Application is complete, a PayPal link for payment of the Application Fee of $75 will also be sent. If the Application is incomplete, a notification will be sent back to the Applicant noting what is missing. Once a properly completed Application and Fee are received, the Application will be formally reviewed. This will generally take between 7 – 14 days. If the Application is approved, more materials will be sent, and meeting dates and deadlines for deliverables will be coordinated and mutually agreed upon. If the Application is not approved, the Applicant will be notified as to why. Please note, regardless of being accepted or rejected, the Application Fee is non-refundable as the same amount of time will be devoted in the review of all application materials. Tuition is $2500 for each two-month training engagement. It is generally expected that most Fellowships will run two to four months. If there are complexities that would extend a Fellowship’s duration due to the Fellow’s goals and work plan, such will be discussed and negotiated. Individuals completing the Fellowship will be provided with a certificate indicating successful completion along with an evaluation of “Successful Completion,” “Scholar” or “Honors Scholar” depending on the level of your performance in the Program. Special Information for Universities and International Programs Fellows also enrolled in a University or other International Program may request a transcript to be submitted to your program or university as confirmation of your successful completion of the Fellowship. There is no cost for this service.
Application – Founder Fellowship The track if for those wishing to start their own organization. Take careful note of the word limits for each essay question and be sure you don’t exceed or fall too short of this number in your responses. Please be succinct, but also complete in answering the following questions. Keep your responses concise and focused – each word should be important. 1. Describe the problem your organization will address and explain why it’s significant. Please include detailed information explaining the causes of this problem and why it still exists. A successful answer will provide a compelling explanation of why this issue is important to resolve. Provide as much numeric / statistical evidence as possible, evidence of the factors that create this problem, and why no one else has tried to solve or has succeeded in solving the problem. One common mistake made by applicants is stating the need without sufficient statistics, sources, or examples to support the claim. Show me that you have done your research and understand those you intend to help. As well, tell me about the lives of the population your organization will serve (Because your response is limited in length, it is acceptable to identify your references without providing the full level of detail that you would provide in a footnote, for example, you do not need to include publisher, volume number, page number, etc. No more than 3000 words please.) 2. Describe the specific product(s) or program(s) your organization will implement to solve the problem. A successful answer will provide the details of the solution your organization will implement and evidence to support that the solution will be effective. Please provide the specific activities of your solution and be sure you answer how exactly your organization will go about the work. (No more than 1000 words please.) 3. What will your work look like? What will you or your staff do on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis? Think about a member of the population served by your organization and tell me how they will experience your work or programs. Be specific enough that you are not just repeating the idea behind your organization over again, but actually explaining how your organization will carry out that idea in reality. After reading this answer in my review, I should understand exactly what your organization does and how it will solve the social problem you’re trying to address. (No more than 2000 words please.) 4. How is your idea for your organization innovative compared to other individuals or organizations addressing the problem? A successful answer will explain the current methods used to address this problem and why they have been ineffective. It will also explain why your organization will succeed where other organizations have not. It is very likely that there are a wide variety of organizations and entities, from local community organizations to governmental agencies, which deliver services to the community that you have identified. It is also possible that one or more organizations are focused on the same area of need, either in your community or outside of your community. (No more than 1000 words please.) 5. Walk me through what your desired outcomes will be. What you think you might measure five or ten years from now to know whether you’ve done a good job? It’s okay if you don’t have all the details figured out—just explain what you’re currently
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thinking in terms of measuring your impact. How will you track and assess the status and success of your organization? I’m looking for impact metrics in your response. How do you plan to track the status and progress of your organization? (No more than 1000 words please.) 6. Explain why you are so passionate about the problem and the population. Although a Page | 5 strong personal passion to solve a problem is not sufficient in itself, it can certainly help overcome many of the obstacles founders face. In this response, I am less interested in your passion for the particular technical solution you are proposing, and more interested in learning about your passion for working on the problem(s) identified or with this population. If you have a strong personal connection to this community that has motivated you to take action, I want to hear about it. Your answer should NOT be that “the problem is so huge, I had to act.” Most people are not choosing to act on this problem. So, what is your own personal motivation? (No more than 1000 words please.) 7. Now, from all the thought you have put to answering the prior questions, please tell me why you should be a Center Fellow? Launching a new organization is hard work and can be a risky and difficult task. A successful answer will explain your leadership style by using a specific example. The specific example does not need to be related to your proposed organization – any example from your past that highlights your leadership ability is acceptable. I’d like to understand what motivates you to want to do this work, and why you are dedicated to resolving this problem. Your answer will help me understand why you are the leader to do this work. (No word limit.) Please send your responses to the above questions along with your name, city, state, and country of residence; your favored email address for subsequent correspondence and phone number or Skype handle for discussions to me at DrChrisStout@gmail.com. Thanks for your interest! - Chris
Application – Humanitarian Intervention Fellowship This track is for those focused on career development or advancement in the area of humanitarian intervention via a structured, intensive, hands-on mentorship experience. Please be succinct, but also complete in answering the following questions. Keep your responses concise and focused – each word should be important. 1. Why you should be a Center Fellow? This is multi-part, first describe a past experience or accomplishment that demonstrates your leadership ability or potential. Relate this to working in the humanitarian space. How do you visualize yourself being different following the Fellowship period and successfully completing the program? Next, describe a time in your life when you were faced with challenges that compromised your success and how you managed the situation. Your answer should help us understand how you deal with difficult situations and could even highlight a time that you failed. This Fellowship will be hard work and I’d like to understand what motivates you to want to do this work. (No word limit.) Please send your responses to the above question along with your name, city, state, and country of residence; your favored email address for subsequent correspondence and phone number or Skype handle for discussions to me at DrChrisStout@gmail.com. Thanks for your interest! - Chris
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