2020 Promising Ventures Fellowship
The Promising Ventures Fellowship is an accelerator program designed to meet the unique needs of social entrepreneurs in Early Childhood Development (ECD). The program provides a high level of support to a small group of ventures that we believe have enormous potential to drive social impact at a national scale for children and families facing the greatest adversity.
Meet the Promising Ventures Fellowship Class of 2020. Together with our partners, Sesame Workshop & The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University (HCDC), we selected the ten Fellowship teams based on their current outcomes, potential for scaled impact, and our ability to meaningfully support their growth and impact goals.
Tailored to meet each team where they are, the fellowship program runs for ~14 weeks and provides customized programming including:
Personalized coaching and help from Promise’s team of experienced entrepreneurs and executives towards ambitious social impact and growth goals that the ventures are each working on
Adaptive leadership workshopping of a pressing organizational challenge
Impact advising from our partner, the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University (HCDC)
Mentoring / advising from our partner, Sesame Workshop
Connections and access to the field’s key leaders and stakeholders
Guaranteed slot at our January 2021 Show+Tell virtual demo event
Tight-knit community of peer ECD social entrepreneurs
Applications for the Fellowship are currently closed. Stay connected to hear about future programs.
Learn more about the Fellowship
Sesame Street's Super Grover and Awara from Promise Venture Studio talk about the Promising Ventures Fellowship Program
Members of the Promise, Sesame and HCDC teams give an overview of the Promising Ventures Fellowship Program
“I describe the Promising Ventures Fellowship as ‘engaging my head and my heart’. Knowledgeable in their craft, the Promise and HCDC teams are able to clearly guide us, making the uptake and application of new skills easy. Equally as challenging and perhaps even more remarkable, is the teams’ ability to engage my heart, causing me to reflect on the purpose of my venture, the meaning behind the problem I wish to solve, and deep value behind the work that I do. The combination of the two is the magic of Promising Ventures as a cohort.”
“Being an entrepreneur can be lonely, especially as a new executive director. Being part of the Promising Ventures Fellowship where we openly compare notes, share challenges, and celebrate wins is incredibly empowering. I now have a network of trusted colleagues who I can simply call for a check-in or who can help me navigate an unexpected challenge.”
“While there were many valuable aspects of being a Promising Fellow, perhaps the most helpful was having the opportunity to listen to and learn from other fellows. Through discussion and collaboration, we were able to acquire and apply new ideas, and thus, continue to grow! And it was evident that we were also able to make valuable contributions to other teams. By working together, we were able to take positive steps forward.”
Thank you to our partners, Sesame Workshop and The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, for their support in the design and execution of the Fellowship.