Nominations for the Acumen Fellowship Program 2021 are now open. The Social Changemakers fellowship is an intensive leadership development program designed to provide a pipeline for tomorrow’s social change actors.
The Acumen Fellows program aims to create a community of leaders who challenge the status quo, overcome differences, and inspire their communities to believe in a brighter future.
Most importantly, the Fellows remain in their jobs and come together for five seminars, each lasting 6 days, throughout the year. Attendance at each seminar is mandatory. Between seminars, Fellows are expected to participate in and complete online readings and assignments.
About the Acumen Fellowship 2021
Over the course of a year, the members stay in the workplace, participate in five intensive, multi-day classroom seminars and use online content between the seminars.
The program design focuses on group learning, self-reflection, and practical application. Fellows receive training, hands-on tools, and space to explore their own leadership paths as they communicate with local and global community innovators in Acumen.
The scholarship program is currently offered in Colombia, East Africa, West Africa, India, and Pakistan. The program is aimed at people who are currently leading or part of an initiative to eradicate poverty.
Clever people see opportunities where others see desperation. They are individuals with an entrepreneurial spirit and a passion to drive change in their communities. Does it look like you?
Find your region below.
- Colombia: This is a historic moment in Colombia to develop a new narrative of conflicts. The Columbia Fellows program brings together a number of emerging leaders who bring about change through bottom-up approaches and restore the country’s social fabric.
- East Africa: The East Africa Fellowship Program brings together the best and brightest entrepreneurs, innovators and emerging actors in the region’s transformation. Their candidates represent a variety of cultural, geographical and socio-economic contexts from Uganda to Ethiopia.
- India: Every year, the India Fellows Program brings together dynamic people who are committed to making significant changes in their country. Applicants come from almost every area and have demonstrated their ability to influence their sector.
Pakistan: The Pakistan Fellows Program provides founders, entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, policymakers, innovators and movement builders with the education and support they need to solve Pakistan’s most serious problems and challenge the status quo. - West Africa: West Africa has some of the fastest-growing economies in the world, but it needs a different kind of leadership to ensure everyone benefits from the fruits of that growth. It requires leaders who are based on integrity and relentlessly seeking fairness and justice. The West Africa Fellows program brings together entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, and builders from public and private sector organizations who demonstrate leadership and commitment to do more.
Seminars usually take place in or in big cities. In the past they took place:
Program for East Africa:
Nairobi, Kampala, Kigali, and Darussalam
India program: Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Mysore
Pakistani program: Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Murree, Peshawar, and Bahawalpur
For 2021, individuals will be notified of the exact dates of the seminars if they are selected as Fellows in early 2021.
Insights are invested not only in the growth of each fellow during the program but also in their development as actors in the fight against poverty throughout their lives. After the first year, scholarship holders can benefit from ongoing mentoring and mentoring.
Acumen also has a very active and growing network of social sector organizations, thought leaders and members around the world. We involve all Acumen members in events, newsletters, and subsequent recruitment processes.
More About the Acumen Fellowship 2021
Eligibility for Acumen Fellowship 2021
- The Fellowship Program 2020 is currently offered in Colombia, East Africa, West Africa, India, and Pakistan.
- Scholarship holders are from all age groups, come from different cultural, geographical and socio-economic backgrounds and work in different sectors.
Host Nationality
Acumen Fellowship 2020 is being hosted in Fellow’s Home country.
If you are an international student and you desire to study in the UK, Check out the best scholarships obtainable for study in the UK
Eligible Nationality
Social Changemakers fellowship 2021 is available for Colombia, East Africa, West Africa, India, and Pakistan citizens.
Searched members are:
On average, they select 20 members per year in each region.
Aside from the Social Changemakers fellowship 2020, there are other scholarships available to international students to study abroad. You can check our scholarship by country to access all scholarships available.
Acumen Fellowship Program Worth
How to Apply for Social Changemakers fellowship 2021
The Acumen Fellowship Program selection process comprises a total of three steps.
STEP 1: APPLICATIONS. Sunday, September 9 at 23:59 local time. All requests must be completed and submitted online. After the first submission, successful candidates will be invited to participate in the second stage.
STEP 2: ONLINE COMMITMENT (FOR PK / IN / EA / WA). Instructions for Phase 2 will be sent on Tuesday, September 25th. All tasks must be completed by Wednesday, October 10, and submitted online. Successful applicants will be invited to participate in Phase 3.
STEP 3: TELEPHONE INTERVIEWS (FOR CO). These will take place at the end of September. The Acumen team will contact all applicants to set a mutually beneficial time for the interview. Successful applicants will be invited to participate in the third stage.
STEP 4: SELECTION CONFERENCE. Stage 3 is a mandatory personal session day and will be held in each region in mid-November.
STEP 5: FINAL SELECTION: Candidates selected in the 2021 cohorts will be notified by December 2019.
Your selection team will carefully review the submissions and attendance at each stage of the process and select candidates for the next step. At each stage of the application process, all applicants will receive from their team communication on the progress of their application.
Select your region below to start your application:
COLOMBIA →
EASTER AFRICA →
INDIA →
PAKISTAN →
WEST AFRICA →
Apply online through the given link.
For more information, visit the Acumen Fellowship website.
Social Changemakers Fellowship 2021 Application Deadline
For the Acumen Fellowship Program, 2021 Applications closed on August 11th for the 2021 cohort of Acumen Fellows. Here is the timeline for the application process:
- Select candidates will be invited to Stage 2 (online assignment) and Stage 3 (a selection conference in late November/early December).
- The new cohort will be announced in January 2021.
Acumen Fellowship FAQs
The Fellows Program is designed for individuals who are currently leading or are an integral part of building an initiative whose mission is to eradicate poverty or injustice.
Our Fellows are of all ages, come from diverse cultural, geographic, and socioeconomic backgrounds, and work across multiple sectors. Acumen Fellows understand that poverty extends beyond income levels and that the opposite of poverty is not income: it is dignity. Dignity is freedom. It is having control over decisions that affect our lives.
The program is the start of a journey towards mastering the skills, attributes, and values of moral leadership: a combination of empathy, immersion, understanding, and action. What binds our Fellows is shared values, a common commitment to a world beyond poverty and injustice, a pledge to accompany one another, to help and celebrate one another, and to hold each other to account.
No. Although many of our Fellows do work in social enterprises, Fellows can be working in any sector (including for-profit, nonprofit, corporations, and government).
There are no specific academic prerequisites.
Yes. All seminars and training are conducted in English, with the exception of the Colombia program, which is offered in Spanish. Conversational proficiency in the language that the program will be conducted in is a requirement to ensure Fellows are able to give and get the most from this experience.
Yes. We consider applications from citizens of the country or region. We will, on an exceptional basis, consider applicants who demonstrate a concrete connection to the region (ie. long-term employment, residency, the focus of the social change project).
No. There is neither a minimum age requirement nor a maximum age cut off.
Absolutely! Taking +Acumen courses prior to the fellowship is strongly encouraged.
Acumen covers all program-related expenses during the fellowship year. This includes all costs associated with the seminars including lodging, food, transportation and visas.
No. As this is a part-time program, we do not provide scholarships, stipends, funding or insurance.
They do provide need-based scholarships for travel and accommodation for individuals selected to attend for Stage 3 Selection Conference in end-November/early December. Individuals who pass through Stage 2 and are interested in being considered for a scholarship are asked to apply for it when they are invited to the Conference.