C.V. STARR SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP FELLOWSHIP 

The Starr Fellowship provides undergraduate students with funding, training, and mentoring to support their efforts to develop and assess new approaches to advancing social change. 

Beginning in 2012, an additional fellowship will be sponsored by Brown Student Agencies, a student run organization that operates several business on Brown's campus.  BSA is reinvesting the profits from its businesses in the local community and to support social entrepreneurial initiatives.  This Fellowship will sponsor a project which targets impact in the Brown or Providence community.  For more information about Brown Student Agencies, please visit: http://bsa.brown.edu

 NOTE: To sign up for office hours with Alan Harlam to discuss your application, click here.  Draft Applications are due December 9th, 2011 at 5pm.

Benefits: The Fellowship grants students with up to $4,000 each to support an intensive summer immersion project grounded in the entrepreneurial principles of innovation, impact, and sustainability.  In addition to monetary support, the Fellowship provides intensive skills training through “Starr Boot Camps”, and the support of a community of Social Entrepreneurs on campus through mentoring and peer critique. 

In the year following their summer immersion, Fellows may apply for up to $7,000 in matching funds to support continued efforts to deepen the project’s impact and the student’s learning experience.

Expectations: In addition to completing a 10-week full-time immersion project during the summer of 2012, Fellows are expected to participate actively in the Starr community.  This entails:

• Attending two half-day retreats (Spring/Fall 2012)
• Attending weekly meetings, which take the form of either a Peer Critique or Boot Camp (Spring/Fall 2012)
• Documenting progress of their project on the SII website through a series of blog posts. (Spring/Summer/Fall 2012)
• Mentoring applicants for the following year’s class of Starr Fellows (Nov '12-Feb '13), as well as mentoring admitted Fellows throughout their year in the program (1 hr/month, Feb '13- Nov '13)

Application Criteria:

Applicants will be asked to substantiate their project proposal with research and personal experience, as well as validation and support from context experts and community collaborators. Project proposals should address the following:

• Does the student have sufficient qualifications (academic, experiential) to be making this proposal?
• How does the project incorporate innovative approaches to drive change and sustain impact?
• Are the project’s expected outcomes clearly identified and does the project include appropriate plans for measuring and evaluating outcomes?
• Does the proposal include adequate measures to ensure financial and environmental sustainability?
• Is the project connected with and have support from appropriate community partners and stakeholders?

Application Timeline:

• December 9^th, 2011: Draft Proposals due via email to Alan Harlam (Alan_Harlam@brown.edu) by 5 PM.
• February 3rd, 2012: Final Proposal due via email to Alan Harlam (Alan_Harlam@brown.edu) by 5 PM.
• Early March: Applicants notified as to whether or not they will receive support.
• On or Before April 1st: Fellows must notify the University if they plan to take a leave of absense for Fall 2011.
  

Application Information & Materials

• Starr Fellowship Fact Sheet contains an overview of the Fellowship Program, an explanation of eligibility, and list of each of the required components of the proposal.

• Starr Proposal Criteria describes expectations for each of the proposal components in more detail.

• Starr Mentoring Protocol describes the process and protocol for the application mentoring program.

• Applicant Information Sheet is the form every applicant must include in their final application with basic information about themselves.