2024 Fellowship Application

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Applications for the 2024 Fellowship are now closed. Applicants will be notified in September.
Application Guidance

Thank you for your interest in the 2024 Promising Ventures Fellowship Program!

While completing this application does involve an investment of time, we consistently receive feedback from ventures that the process is valuable because it can provide internal clarity or an opportunity for refining your thinking on your work. Additionally, for both ventures new to the Promise Venture Studio community or existing members, it’s an opportunity to share more information about how your venture is doing, which enables the Promise team to support you, regardless of whether you are selected for the Fellowship Program.

Based on past experience, we know it can take anywhere from 2 - 5 hours to complete the application. These estimates are NOT suggested times but purely estimates in case it's helpful to plan accordingly. Please take as much (or as little) time as you need to answer the questions to your satisfaction. We are not looking for perfection :)


Here are key dates to keep in mind:
  • Application due date: Aug 9, 2024
  • Final notification: September 27, 2024
Note: Finalists may be invited to interview with our team between September 9 - 14, 2024.

If you’d like more information before you complete your application, you have access to our Fellowship Application Hub and can sign up for a 1:1 coffee chat with a Promise team member through our website. We also encourage you to reach out to us at any point during the process if you feel stuck at emma@promisestudio.org. 


Application Instructions
This application includes two required parts: a short eligibility check and an application with a long response and a video question. 

Long Responses:
While we don’t have word count requirements for each long response question, we do encourage you to be as brief as possible while still answering the questions. Generally, we find that most questions can be answered in under 200 words (often even 100 words) - but don’t feel pressured to get to any specific number of words.

Video Question:
There is one video question in the fellowship application where you will be asked to record your response via video. If possible, if you are applying as a team of two, please have both applicants participate in the video so the selection committee has a chance to get to know both of you! We strongly encourage keeping the videos under 4 minutes. 

Let's get started...


Search for your organization name and enter in the name if it is not in the list.



Your venture may be headquartered outside of the US and operate in other countries in addition to the US.

Venture Overview

In this section, you'll answer a few questions about your venture -- the problem your venture is addressing, who you support, and more. 

Please check all outcomes that best describe your venture’s impact.


Format: YYYY



Please do not include institutional buyers (e.g. school districts, schools, centers, etc.) in your response. Your response should indicate the number of individuals served via your venture's product or service.


Please do not include institutional buyers (e.g. school districts, schools, centers, etc.) in your response. Your response should indicate the number of individuals served via your venture's product or service.


A strong response will detail the opportunity your work tackles, the immediate challenges (symptoms), and the deeper issues that cause them (root causes) and supporting evidence.

A strong response will describe in detail who your venture supports (children, families, caregivers, educators, etc.), their needs and aspirations, and how your venture incorporates their input.

A strong response will clearly describe your venture's solution and demonstrate its effectiveness (community voice, research, or case studies) and unique advantage in addressing the identified need or opportunity.
At Promise, we recognize that many children and families are disproportionately impacted by systemic racism and other systemic inequities. 

A strong response will highlight how your venture addresses the unique needs of those most impacted by systemic inequities. 

Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (JEDI)

Promise’s mission is about driving outcomes for children and families facing the greatest adversities.  We believe that structural racism and systemic inequality are the root causes for the obstacles the field of early childhood is seeking to overcome.  Acknowledging that centering equity in how we work, in how we build programs, products, and services is a journey, we’d love to learn a bit more about your venture in this regard.

A strong response will outline your venture's progress towards JEDI, describe how your approach has evolved over time, and highlight any learning or development needs if any. 

Your Venture's Impact

In this section, you'll share a perspective on your venture's impact. 

A strong response will describe how your work sustainably improves your community’s lives and supports their ability to overcome. Quantify your impact using evidence, data, or examples, and outline your plan to measure progress.

A strong response will showcase your venture’s thinking around growth and impact.  In this spirit, we encourage you to share potential barriers you anticipate.

Your Venture's Funding

In this section, you'll answer several questions about your venture's sustainability. 

A strong response will describe the percentage breakdown of revenue sources (e.g. philanthropy, government grants, individual donors, etc.) 

This should be expressed as a number with no punctuation or special characters (For example, 100000)

This should be expressed as a number with no punctuation or special characters. (For example, 100000)

This should be expressed as a number with no punctuation or special characters. (For example, 100000)

Your Fellowship Goals

In this section, you'll record a short video (no more than 4 minutes) to tell us a little about your dreams and hopes for your venture and how the Promising Ventures Fellowship can help you get there.  

Video Question: Thinking into the future, what are your big-picture aspirations for your venture? What do you need to make that happen? How would participating in the fellowship contribute to this success? 

Specifically:
  • Paint a picture of where you hope for your venture to be 5-10 years in the future. 
  • Describe a meaningful improvement you expect to see as a result of your fellowship experience that would help you work towards this dream state. 
  • Explain how you would track your progress towards achieving this improvement both in the short and long term. 

Approach this video as if you were talking to us via video conference. It's not necessary to prepare a script in advance or edit the recording. You can record on your phone or laptop while sitting at your desk (or anywhere). Please don’t include screenshots, slides, product demos, background music, or anything else.

Upload your video to Google Drive, Dropbox, Youtube, or Vimeo, and share the link here. Please make sure that the share settings allow the video to be publicly accessible. You may need to adjust the privacy/sharing settings for your video to ensure we're able to view it. If you're having issues with this step, please reach out to emma@promisestudio.org.  
Our fellowship offers customized coaching to accelerate your venture's growth and impact.

In past fellowships, our coaches successfully worked with ventures in a number of areas including infrastructure, business development, marketing, expansion strategy, etc. We are also open to hearing about other areas where you see our coaching and connections being valuable.

We encourage candid and open responses. 

Your Team

In this section, you'll tell us a bit about your venture's team and the members of your team who are applying for the fellowship. We are seeking fellowship teams consisting of two individuals: the CEO/Executive Director/President (or executive team member) and another member of the venture’s leadership team. 

Where is your venture headquartered (HQ)?





Please share some information about the team applying for the fellowship:
Applicant 1







Note: If the team member has been with the team for less than one year, please input '0'.

If no, please share what percentage of their time is spent on your venture and any additional context on why.

Select all that apply.


Select all that apply.



Applicant 2







Note: If the team member has been with the team for less than one year, please input '0'.

If no, please share what percentage of their time is spent on your venture and any additional context on why.

Select all that apply.


Select all that apply.




A strong response will showcase the unique expertise, knowledge, and wisdom each applicant brings to the table, while also outlining what the team hopes to learn from their fellow participants.

Promise will cover the cost of air travel to the convening location, hotel accommodations, and meals during the convening.






Thank you for your interest in the Promise Ventures Fellowship.

Unfortunately, the fellowship is only available to ventures that support children and families in the early childhood stage (prenatal to age 5) and operate within the United States. We appreciate your understanding.
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