Camelback’s Program Team is Set to Grow and Shift in 2021
By: Riyaz Gayasaddin, Vice President of Program + Talent at Camelback Ventures
In 2021, we are looking forward to brighter days, growth, and innovation. We launched a new Capital Collaborative cohort; we are reconfiguring the Camelback Fellowship, and we are investing in our network of past Fellows by building a team to support them.
Since 2015, the Camelback Fellowship has supported a total of six cohorts focused on Education and Conscious Tech and two cohorts centered on empowering Local Economies Fellows. During the latter part of 2020, we examined the current offerings of our Fellowship and listened to our Fellows, Alumni, and stakeholders. Based on these conversations, Camelback will offer the Fellowship not once per year, but twice per year in 2021 and then up to six times annually starting in 2022. We also are improving the content, which will include leadership development focused on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color founders and a virtual learning platform.
We will start to accept applications this spring. We are excited about these changes because 1) it will mean serving more BIPOC and women entrepreneurs and 2) we will remain focused on our 5 Cs - Coaching, Capital, Connections, Community, and Curriculum - while at the same time, doubling down on curated content that is unique to BIPOC entrepreneurs.
To help support these changes, we have created two new roles for which we are currently recruiting - the Senior Lead of Education and Senior Lead of Conscious Tech. These two senior leads will be the face of our new and improved Fellowship model and will work collaboratively with the entire Camelback Team to ensure we are delivering a high caliber program (p.s. Check in periodically to our Careers at Camelback hub for MORE roles that will be opening soon).
These new leaders will join a reconfigured team. We have created a new role concentrating on deepening partnerships with community organizations, recruiting a more diverse pool of founders, and creating a tool to help customers discover Fellowships and learning opportunities are the best matches. This new work will be led by Caroline Lutkewitte, our former Program Manager.
The Network team will focus on helping our past Fellows. When the pandemic began last year, we decided to double down on capital, connections, community, and coaching for our fellows (past, future, and present). This led us to build stronger partnerships with organizations like NationSwell, bring on a suite of experts to guide our alumni, provide over $450k in capital directly to past Fellows, and create individualized support for over 30 fellows. This work solidified the need for an alumni network team. Dr. Charles Corprew, our former Director of the Education & Conscious Tech Camelback Fellowship, will now be the Senior Lead of the Network team. He will be working with Nadiyah Morris, a Senior Lead on our team, who will help us develop some new offerings for our Fellows Network.
Since moving into my new role as Vice President of Program and Talent this past summer, I continue to be humbled and honored to work with a dedicated and hard-working team committed to being #RuthlessForGood. As we grow our team in 2021, I am excited about three main commitments:
Be More Entrepreneur Focused: Offering the Fellowship multiple times per year is a start, but there is more we can do to prioritize founders’ needs rather than us as funders, anchored by the Camelback Ventures’ overall organizational mission.
Thinking Outside the Box: Instead of our Fellows always coming to us, we want to go to them. We will be introducing “Hometown Visits” where our staff will go to the Fellows and work with them and their team.
Grow Our Team to Better Support Fellows: We will be growing our team in the coming months so that we are able to better support Fellows on a more individual level with more personalized support plans.
So, here’s to a new year, a growing team, and new adventures. Can’t wait to continue the journey with our team and the #CamelbackFam made up of these incredible visionaries.
Find out more about all of the Camelback Ventures crew by clicking below: