52 Social Entrepreneurship Fellowships for Innovators Around the World

Updated January 30, 2025

Looking for a program to channel your passion for social innovation and change? These social entrepreneurship fellowships have opportunities in over 70 countries and cover a variety of fields — everything from education, economics, the environment, and more. If one of the programs sparks your interest, make sure to bookmark it to your ProFellow account.

U.S.-Based Social Entrepreneurs

1 Hotels Fellowship at E2

1 Hotels Fellows will work in partnership with Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2) Emerging Leaders Program to identify pressing environmental issues and needs across the country, and then organize and execute projects that help communicate and amplify the business and economic case for smart policies to address these issues. Fellowships are restricted to early or mid-career professionals who currently work in sustainability, clean energy, water, infrastructure or related fields. Each fellow will receive a stipend of $20,000, plus other benefits.

Activate Fellowship

Activate empowers scientists and engineers to reinvent the world by bringing their hard-technology research to market to address climate change and other global challenges across industries. Activate transforms scientists into high-impact entrepreneurs through the Activate Fellowship, a two-year immersive experience that provides funding and fosters the resources, knowledge, networks, investors, and partnerships that fellows need to succeed as startup founders. Fellows receive a yearly living stipend of $80K – $110K, health and travel benefits, and $100,000 in research funding. And it’s free—Activate is a non-profit and does not take equity in fellows’ startups.

ASU Prep Microschool Entrepreneur Fellowship

The Microschool Entrepreneur Fellowship is a year-long fellowship program that will give you access to robust training, proven curriculum resources, teaching methodologies, and ongoing support. If you have an innovative idea for a microschool focused on K–12 learners ASU Prep can help you get started. Parents, educators, existing school leaders, and entrepreneurs are eligible to apply. Limited funds are available for those who need financial assistance.

Camelback Fellowship

Camelback Ventures is offering a six-month fellowship focusing on coaching, capital, connections, community and curriculum specifically for people of color and women or underrepresented entrepreneurs. Multiple summits are held for the fellows to strengthen their professional connections and further their endeavors through refining personal management style. Fellows are offered $40,000 in seed funding to create change in their communities.

Draper Foundation Grants

The DRK Foundation seeks to dramatically improve the lives of people and the world around us through innovative strategies, systems changing approaches, and disrupting technologies. To do this, the DRK Foundation partners with entrepreneurs to build strong and capable organizations. DRK grants provide significant funding, mentorship and an unparalleled network of entrepreneurs. Candidates must be experienced, dedicated social entrepreneurs with a developed, early-stage idea for a non-profit organization based in the United States. The DRK Foundation provides $300,000 in unrestricted startup funding, paid over 3 years.

Drexel Fund Founders Program

The Drexel Fund offers a paid fellowship to innovative leaders with a strong desire and plan to launch high-quality, private schools for low-income children. The fellowship includes leadership coaching, cohort trainings and school launch support. Founders receive a living stipend and a budget for their individual learning plans during a one-year fellowship that culminates in founders requesting school start-up funding. Fellows with approved program plans will receive financial resources while starting the school as they grow full capacity. Successful schools will also be eligible for more funding to expand the school model.

Fellowship for Utopian Practice

Culture Push’s Fellowship for Utopian Practice is a testing ground for new ideas that aim to create positive social change through civic engagement and horizontal learning opportunities. Culture Push serves artists by providing creative, analytical, and logistical tools in the creation of truly transformative projects. Artists must complete their project in New York City and will have support and mentoring through all aspects of the project as they build and exhibit their work. Financial assistance of $1,000 is provided at the start and other fund-raising opportunities are available to help complete the project within 1 year.

Future Leaders in Action (FLIA) Fellowships

For up to 13 weeks over the summer, Future Leaders in Action (“FLIA”) places fellows, emerging social sector leaders in youth-oriented nonprofit organizations to develop or implement enrichment programs which cultivate their leadership skills. Fellows work full-time, on-site with a partner on an enrichment program that focuses on one of the following areas: advancing skills for success, promoting public health and protecting the environment. There are fellowships available in New York, Portland and Iowa and past partners have included Boys & Girls Clubs, the Fiver Children’s Foundation, Big Brothers Big Sisters and other health related organizations.

Halcyon Incubator

The Halcyon Incubator program equips early-stage social entrepreneurs with the support they need to transform audacious ideas into scalable and sustainable ventures, and change the world. Fellows learn many aspects of running a business, receive mentorship throughout the entire process and make connections that will benefit them as they move forward with their idea. The fellowship includes a 5-month residency at the Halcyon House in Washington, DC, workspace after the initial training and a stipend. Available to social entrepreneurs from around the world who are fluent in English and have legal work status in the U.S. during the time of the fellowship.

MIT Climate & Energy Prize

The Climate and Energy Prize is a startup competition organized by MIT students. Each year, teams of students from around the world compete for more than $100,000 in prize money. The competition seeks to move the world closer to net zero carbon emissions by empowering ambitious entrepreneurs to solve the world’s most difficult climate-related challenges. The program is for students with climate tech and energy start-up ideas that can change the world. Only new ventures are eligible to compete in the MIT CEP. Projects within existing businesses are not eligible for entry.

The Ripple Fellowship

The Ripple Fellowship is a fully funded, 9-month educational program for young adults ages 18-24. With a comprehensive curriculum, immersive travel experiences, and 1:1 mentorship, The Ripple Fellowship will mold impactful social entrepreneurs who will go on to create lasting change in their communities. Fellows will have two domestic travel experiences, engage in a weekly online curriculum facilitated by a variety of experts and changemakers, be paired with a mentor, construct a business plan that supports people and the planet, and participate in a formal incentivized business pitch to The Ripple Center community at large.

Roddenberry Fellowship

The Roddenberry Fellowship is a 12-month program for activists from across the country who are working to protect the most vulnerable and to make the US a more inclusive and equitable place to live. Twenty Fellows will be selected to receive $50,000 each, as well as tailored support, to help implement a project or initiative in one of four areas: civil rights, climate change and environmental justice, immigration and refugee rights, and LGBTQIA and women’s rights. Fellows are free to try different approaches to achieve impact and the organization provides 1-on-1 coaching as well as other mentoring resources.

Tory Burch Foundation Fellows Program

The Tory Burch Foundation Fellows Program is a nation-wide competition for women entrepreneurs. Each Fellow will participate in a one year program which includes: mentoring, networking and business guidance for one year, a $10,000 grant to further their business education, and a 3-day trip to New York City to the Tory Burch headquarters that will include the opportunity to participate in a pitch competition. The winner of the pitch competition will receive $100,000 grant investment. Your company must be registered and operated in the United States.

Wild Gift Fellowship

Each year, Wild Gift selects a small group of “better world entrepreneurs” for a 12-month Fellowship that includes mentoring, fundraising support, and wilderness-based programs that teach leadership and business skills while building a lifelong support network. Each Fellowship begins with a 20-day team expedition in the Idaho wilderness. The expedition challenges each Fellow physically and emotionally and connects them to the natural world on a very personal level. After a year of monthly video calls and mentoring, Fellows return to Idaho to reconnect and float the Salmon River. At the conclusion of the Fellowship, Fellows are welcomed into an active group of alumni and supporters.

Global Social Entrepreneurs

Accountability Incubator

The Accountability Incubator Lab’s flagship initiative to provide passionate and innovative young leaders from Nepal, Pakistan, Liberia, Mali and Nigeria with catalytic support to develop and implement low-cost, high-impact solutions for accountability in their communities. The two-year intensive program provides accountapreneurs with: training and knowledge building; hands-on mentoring and management support; network and community building; media outreach; and up to $10,000 in seed funding contingent upon performance. Participants are expected to work a minimum of 20 hours per week in order to effectively develop their project.

Acumen East Africa Fellows Program

The Acumen East Africa Fellows Program is a one-year, fully-funded leadership development program that gives 20 individuals from across East Africa the training they need to accelerate their social impact and leadership potential. Fellows participate in five seminars and travel and accommodations are covered. During each seminar, Fellows receive world-class trainings on topics ranging from design thinking to adaptive leadership. Candidates are entrepreneurs who started their own organization, or individuals who are influencing change within an existing organization.

Acumen Regional Fellows India

The Regional Fellows Program is a one-year leadership development program that equips 20 extraordinary individuals from across India with the knowledge, support system and practical wisdom to unlock their full potential and drive positive change in society. Over the course of a year, Fellows remain in their jobs while taking part in five week-long seminars, where they receive the tools, training and space to innovate new ideas, accelerate their impact, build a strong network of social leaders from across their region and around the world. All costs associated with participating in the program are covered. Candidates are Indians of all ages and education levels.

Acumen Regional Fellows Pakistan

The Regional Fellows Program is a one-year leadership development program that equips 20 extraordinary individuals from across Pakistan with the knowledge, support system and practical wisdom to unlock their full potential and drive positive change in society. Over the course of a year, Fellows remain in their jobs while taking part in five week-long seminars, where they receive the tools, training and space to innovate new ideas, accelerate their impact, build a strong network of social leaders from across their region and around the world. All costs associated with participating in the program are covered. Candidates are Pakistanis of all ages and education levels who are able to participate in a program conducted in English.

Ashoka Fellows

Ashoka Fellows are leading social entrepreneurs who we recognize to have innovative solutions to social problems and the potential to change patterns across society. Ashoka Fellows work in over 70 countries around the globe in every area of human need. From nomination to election as a Fellow, candidates go through an extensive series of in-depth interviews, a judging panel, and a final executive board vote. There are no age, education, class, race, or other such bars to election. The three year fellowship includes a living stipend to cover all expenses (customized for each Fellow). Applications accepted all year round on a rolling basis.

Cansbridge Fellowship

The Cansbridge Fellowship seeks to build future leaders through a program that fosters growth through creating new ideas and using a powerful network for change. Leaders and entrepreneurs who think outside the box and who have a past as risk-takers are invited to apply. Fellowship includes international work experience in Asia, a conference in San Francisco and access to the Cansbridge Global Network. Applicants must be undergraduates currently enrolled in a Canadian college or university and pursuing a degree in business, science, design or technology.

Cordes Fellowships

Cordes Fellowships provide exceptional social entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders engaged in poverty alleviation and economic justice enterprises the opportunity to participate as Delegates in the Opportunity Collaboration, a four-day problem-solving, strategic retreat. Cordes Fellows attend the full Opportunity Collaboration and take part in all Delegate sessions. The all-inclusive Cordes Fellowship includes all on-site costs for housing and meals (5 nights lodging, 3 meals per day), gratuities, airport shuttle, etc. All Fellows are responsible for their own roundtrip airfare. Financial need is a primary consideration.

Echoing Green Global Fellowship

Echoing Green’s world-renowned, and highly competitive, two-year Fellowship program provides more than $2 million in seed funding to a diverse group of the world’s most promising social entrepreneurs. Fellows receive up to $90,000 in funding to launch new organizations, health insurance and professional development stipends, access to Echoing Green’s robust network (500+ alumni), leadership development opportunities, and one-to-one support and counseling. Applicants must be fluent in English, have an independent social entrepreneurship organization in the startup stage (2 years or less), and be committed full-time to their venture.

Global Changemaker Fellowship

The Global Changemaker Fellowship is a 6-month advancement virtual program intended to interface and develop a pipeline of Social Change Leaders who are focused on handling challenges in their local communities. Over the course of the program, the Fellows continue with implementing their initiative while participating in immersive workshops, training, and mentorship. The fellowship equips changemakers with an opportunity to get access to global knowledge, community, training, and tools to become more effective collaborators of change and grow their initiatives. The program seeks leaders aged 13-30 with an entrepreneurial mindset.

Global Good Fund Fellowship Program

The Global Good Fund accelerates the development of high potential young leaders tackling the world’s greatest social issues through entrepreneurship. We achieve this by investing both targeted human and financial capital in these leaders through our 12 month fellowship program. We support our Fellows in their natural work environments, craft personalized Leadership Development Plans, and pair Fellows with personalized executive coaches through implementation with up to $10,000 in funding. We additionally provide fellows with leadership assessment resources, a network of peer leaders, and sector expertise.

Miller Center Accelerator Program

Miller Center provides capacity-strengthening services to leaders of business for good. For social entrepreneurs addressing women’s economic empowerment and climate resilience who want to scale their impact, Miller Center offers pro bono programming with executive mentorship and a structured curriculum to help develop robust business plans for investment and growth. 100% of program participants leave with a more robust, integrated, and credible plan for scaling. Applicants are the senior leaders (e.g., CEO, Executive Director, Managing Director) who have the availability to participate in the program’s 6-month duration, requiring an average of 4-6 hours/week.

Henry Crown Fellowship

The Henry Crown Fellowship Program, established in 1997, seeks to develop the next generation of community-spirited leaders, providing them with the tools necessary to meet the challenges of business and civic leadership in the 21st century. Each class of Fellows is chosen from a wide pool of accomplished entrepreneurial leaders (between the ages of 30 and 45). The two-year program is comprised of a structured series of four seminars (approximately 24 days in total) under the guidance of skilled senior moderators of the Aspen Institute along with a required leadership Venture of each Fellow’s own design and choosing. Individuals cannot apply for the Henry Crown Fellowship Program; they must be nominated by recognized leaders.

Impact Entrepreneurship Graduate Fellowship

The Impact Entrepreneurship Fellowship is a two-year cohort experience for high-potential leaders from diverse backgrounds who are committed to creating social impact through entrepreneurship while pursuing a master’s degree at The New School. Fellows benefit from courses, mentorship, peer support, workshops, networking opportunities, and the opportunity to complete a Graduate Minor in Impact Entrepreneurship. They may receive an award of up to $10,000 over two years for participation in the Fellowship.

India Fellow Program

The India Fellow Program seeks to train and empower the next generation of leaders in India. The fellowship is for 13 months and includes training, working and mentoring components. The fellow will participate in several workshops that build leadership and problem solving skills. Fellows work with a grassroots organization brainstorming ideas and helping the organization grow. A stipend is included to cover costs while working and fellows will have access to mentors and networking opportunities throughout the fellowship. Fellows must be Indian citizens, 21-28 years of age and have a university degree.

LGT Impact Fellowship

As a strategic initiative of LGT Impact Ventures, the LGT Impact Fellowship aims to provide additional know-how and capacity to social enterprises and offers professionals the opportunity to apply their skills in a meaningful way. Eligible candidates have an undergraduate degree and at least two years of full-time work experience in diverse business areas such as consulting, finance, operations, data analytics, IT, M&E, sales, product development or marketing. Fellows work full-time for one year based on a monthly living stipend with our portfolio companies or regional investment teams in Africa, Brazil, China, India, the Philippines or the UK.

Rainer Arnhold Fellows Program

Rainer Arnhold Fellows are social entrepreneurs with particularly promising solutions to the big problems in health, poverty, and conservation in the Third World. Fellows are recruited through our network of leaders, thinkers, and doers in the social and private sectors. The Fellows course brings Fellows and faculty together for a week to work on design for maximum impact and scalability. Held in a mountain nature preserve, the course gives Fellows the rare opportunity to focus completely on their ideas and a systematic way to apply them. Fellowships are for two years and include a discretionary stipend of $10k/year.

Resolution Fellows

Resolution Fellowships recognize young leaders for their initiative and innovation in addressing social challenges through social entrepreneurship. Resolution provides Fellows with access to a full ecosystem for a new social entrepreneur. This includes seed funding of up to $3,000 per team to launch the venture proposed for a Social Venture Challenge, along with ongoing mentorship, pro bono services, robust support and access to the Resolution network. You must be a current undergraduate student in college or university and a Founder of the Social Venture you are proposing. Please check the websites for upcoming Challenges.

Rolex Awards for Enterprise

If you are between 18 and 30 years old with vision and a ground-breaking proposal that will help to expand knowledge of our world and improve the quality of life on the planet, apply for a Rolex Award. Five inspiring Young Leaders will receive 100,000 francs each, double the previous amount offered to winners in this age group. They will also benefit from worldwide publicity and receive a Rolex chronometer. Applications must be broadly in the areas of the environment, applied science and technology, or exploration. In addition to demonstrating a spirit of enterprise and leadership, candidates must put forward projects or work plans that have a clear purpose, are original and have the potential for significant impact.

Stanford Biodesign Innovation Fellowship

Each year, the Biodesign Program has two U.S.-based fellowship teams of four graduate and/or postgraduate engineers, business professionals, bioscientists and physicians who collaborate to invent new technologies that address major clinical and surgical needs. All of the fellows complete a 10-month program, stipend supported. In addition to Stanford clinical and engineering faculty, the teams are mentored by over 100 “real world” experts in design, prototyping, regulatory, reimbursement, finance and technology. Applicants with a background in engineering, medicine, biosciences or relevant business /technology are encouraged to apply.

TechWomen

TechWomen brings emerging women leaders in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) from Africa, Central and South Asia, and the Middle East together with their professional counterparts in the United States for a mentorship and exchange program. TechWomen provides participants access to networks, resources, and knowledge to empower them to reach their full potential. During the five-week program, participants engage in project-based mentorships at leading companies in the San Francisco Bay Area and Silicon Valley and participate in professional development workshops. Applicants must be women with, at minimum, two years full-time professional experience in the STEM fields and eligible to obtain a U.S. J-1 exchange visitor visa.

Thiel Fellowship

The Thiel Fellowship is unlike anything you’ve ever experienced. The Fellowship brings together some of the world’s most creative and motivated young people (under age 22), and helps them bring their most ambitious ideas and projects to life. Thiel Fellows are given a no-strings-attached grant of $100,000 to skip college and focus on their work, their research, and their self-education. They are mentored by our network of visionary thinkers, investors, scientists, and entrepreneurs, who provide guidance and business connections that can’t be replicated in any classroom. Rather than just studying, you’re doing.

Vital Voices Global Fellowship

The Vital Voices Global Fellowship brings together women leaders from across the world and across sectors to build skills and capacity, foster a collaborative network, and exchange ideas. In the inaugural year, Vital Voices offers programming across two pillars – social entrepreneurship and political leadership. Fellows will engage in focused learning on sector-specific skills and knowledge and with changemakers relevant to their industries. Through the fellowship, Vital Voices also aims to create opportunities for cross-issue collaboration and harness the collective creative potential of women leaders working on critical challenges disproportionately affecting women and girls.

Voqal Fellowship

The Voqal Fellowship is an investment in a new generation of social entrepreneurs working for social justice, progressive politics or transformative media and technology. Voqal Fellows will receive a $30,000 stipend and will be expected to complete a project in six months. Candidates must have 3-5 years of work experience and may not be currently enrolled in a graduate program. The fellowship is intended to provide an opportunity to build out an idea or concept that would not be possible to accomplish with a full-time job. Qualifying fellows may also be eligible to receive an additional stipend to help offset the cost of personal health insurance. Ideal candidates for the fellowship are social change agents who thrive under self-direction.

Watson Institute Ford Fund Fellowship

The Ford Fund Fellowship is an intensive venture and leadership development program designed to empower entrepreneurs and community leaders to elevate the impactful ventures they are building. This fully-funded virtual program aims to equip these next-generation entrepreneurs with the essential skills and hands-on experience necessary to enhance their ventures, access invaluable networks and resources, and drive transformative change in their communities. $40,000 in venture development stipends distributed among chosen Ford Fund Fellows based on their progress and impact throughout the Fellowship. The Ford Fund Fellowship offers award-winning training, dedicated mentorship, and a dynamic peer community. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis after the deadline.

Young African Leaders Initiative Regional Leadership Center Fellowships

Launched by U.S. President Barack Obama, the YALI Regional Leadership Centers in Africa provide high-quality training, mentoring, and networking support to exceptional young African leaders between the ages 18 and 35. Four Regional Leadership Centers in Ghana, Kenya, Senegal, and South Africa. Selected cohorts of participants engage in innovative leadership training across three tracks of study: (1) Business and Entrepreneurship, (2) Civic Leadership, and (3) Public Management. The program covers the cost of travel, housing and meals and the customized academic and leadership course. Deadlines vary by Center, check website.

© ProFellow LLC 2019-2025, all rights reserved.