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Thank you for taking the time to consider sharing your vision and work with us. This webpage is a one-stop-shop for all you need to know before applying. We've included as much information as possible to empower you (to decide) to apply to the Camelback Ventures Fellowship.
<aside> đź“Ł The Camelback Fellowship Application is closed. Our next application will open in August 2024. Sign up for updates at camelbackventures.org/apply.
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đź“©Â Sign up for updates on the next cycle at camelbackventures.org/apply.
âť“Take our Alignment Quiz to quickly gauge if Camelback is fit to support your venture
💻 Watch our 2024 Fellowship + Application Webinar hosted on 1/31.
📝 View last application cycle’s application questions in a format that you can easily draft your responses for next cycle.
<aside> đź“Ł Cohort 13 of the Camelback Fellowship will run between July - October of 2024 which includes:*
Outside of programming, Fellows are expected to spend 8-10 hours a week on their venture development.
*****Subject to change
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That’s the question! The Camelback team has spent many hours unpacking where our “sweet spot” is in accelerating founders. We are ruthlessly committed to supporting early-stage entrepreneurs of color, women, and non-binary founders in education and conscious technology. That’s not going to change anytime soon. ****But when we dig deeper, we know there’s more to it than just “early stage.” And we know some of you are left asking “what even is conscious tech?!” We’re hoping this will make things clearer.
When it comes down to it, we believe answering this question is more of an art than a science. It’s rarely a binary conclusion. We invite you to break out your 🖌️ paint brushes and draw outside the lines of yes or no with us 🎨. To do this, we’re sharing our eligibility criteria, venture & founder profile, and portfolio make-up. Along the way, you’ll hear directly from Camelback team members and alumni about what we want to see. Additionally, you’ll have access to our selection process so you see the tools we have to understand how we evaluate fit. By doing so, we’ve called ourselves into the humble practice of transparency 🔍.
We also want to underline the 🖼️ frame to this question - we’re intentionally inviting you to assess whether we’re the partner for you. The resources to follow are meant to empower you in understanding who we are, what we’ve supported in the past, and where we’re going in the future. You’re the artists here 🧑‍🎨! We hope you’ll see us as a part of your masterpiece.
By the end of this application season, we’ll have identified up to 6 Education Fellows and up to 6 Conscious Tech Fellows for a total cohort of 12 ruthless founders.
To extend the metaphor here, you’ll see where we intentionally use colored emojis to clarify alignment.
KEY:
🟢 = Green means good to go! These are the definitive criteria to be a Camelback Fellow.
🟡 = Yellow means we may pause and to learn more OR have reservations about this criteria
🔴 = Red is a hard stop for us - meaning we can’t accept applicants with this criteria
💡 = We’re on the lookout for applicants that meet this criteria as a characteristic, sector, or strategy that we’re interested in supporting! These themes were identified by Camelback team members, alumni, and youth advocates through community design empathy building activities.
If you’re looking for the highlights, here are the non-negotiables of being a Camelback Fellow:
Founder:
🟢 Self identify as a person of color, women, or non-binary founder
🟢 Over the age of 18
🟢 Able to commit ~10 hours week for 16 weeks to Fellowship activities
🟢 Founder, co-founder, CEO or Executive Director of venture
🟢 Lives in the United States
🟢 English Proficiency
Venture:
🟢 Non-profit, for-profits, hybrid, or school model
🟢 Qualifies into our Education or Conscious Technology track
🟢 Is mission-aligned to Camelback Ventures
🟢 Majority (>50%) of customers or beneficiaries live in the United States
🟢 Original idea of the founder and/or founding team
Ineligible:
🔴 Ventures that fall underneath an umbrella organization and/or associated with an established entity (e.g. if you’re starting a school within an existing network of schools)
You’ll notice that we use the singular in referring to applicants and Fellows. While ventures with co-founders are eligible, ultimately the application must be completed by a single representative who will be nominated to complete the Fellowship. Camelback only has funding for one leader from each venture; therefore, you must select one leader to be the Camelback Fellow (who will also complete the Fellowship programming.)
đź“ą For more color on what it means to be in the #camelback fam, listen to how our team describes the qualities of a Fellow.
<aside> đź“Ł Ready to apply? Learn how to draft and submit your application here.
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