Tribe 12 Fellowship

The program begins with a leadership retreat the weekend of January 15-17, 2021 and concludes at a closing event on May 11th, 2021. The program is designed to run concurrently with school or work obligations and is based in Center City Philadelphia. To view relevant dates, visit our Fact Sheet.

Entering its eleventh year in Philadelphia, the Tribe 12 Fellowship is a leadership and entrepreneurial program which takes place from January through May 2021 and is designed to run concurrently with school or work commitments. Each Fellow is paired with a personal mentor and has access to a pool of subject matter experts and a Fellowship Coordinator to guide them through the program. Through a curriculum built on the themes of self-discovery, emotional intelligence, philanthropy, and entrepreneurship, Fellows will apply the tangible skills they learn to create a capstone project of their own design and launch their idea, small business, or nonprofit to the next level.

Anyone in their 20s and 30s who is in the Greater Philadelphia area and considers themselves part of the Jewish community is invited to apply. We are proud that our 120+ alumni represent a range of ethnicities, sexual identities, gender identities, nationalities, races, and religions.

Applications for the 2021 cohort open Monday, October 19th and will close Sunday, November 29th. Applicants should save the evening of Monday, December 7th for interviews and Fellows will be selected and notified on or around December 14th with our Welcome to the Fellows event scheduled for December 17th.

The Fellowship takes place over the course of five months (January-May 2021) and is designed to run concurrently with work or school obligations. The program takes Fellows through a rich curriculum with a particular emphasis on entrepreneurial skills like prototyping, public speaking, financial management, goal setting, and environmental scanning. Throughout the program, each Fellow will work extensively with a personal coach to design a capstone project to execute and present at a closing event.

In order to make the Fellowship as safe and accessible as possible, we have planned for the interview process to take place virtually. Small group activities, such as our retreat and meetings, are scheduled to take place in person in early 2021, however, we are closely monitoring the situation and will prioritize the safety and comfort of our Fellows. 

The commitment for the Fellowship is about 12 “classroom” hours a month, plus additional hours spent meeting with your personal coach and working towards project milestones. Fellows are expected to attend the January opening retreat and attend at least 10 of 12 scheduled workshops. See all the dates on our Fact Sheet.

From 2011 to 2016, the Tribe 12 Fellowship was primarily for entrepreneurs seeking to start a socially responsible business or non-profit. In 2016, Tribe 12 piloted a separate leadership program built on the best aspects of the Tribe 12 Fellowship. Through extensive surveying and interviewing, we determined that our community would benefit most from a comprehensive leadership program which focuses on the individual, not just their business, and uses entrepreneurship as a tool to learn lifelong skills. The current Fellowship curriculum is the result!

The three main differences (first implemented in 2017) are: (1) a renewed focus on individuals as opposed to business ventures, (2) a condensed schedule (4 months vs 6 months), and (3) the inclusion of a weekend leadership retreat to kick off the program.

Absolutely! Each Fellow executes a capstone project, and Fellows may choose to start a business or non-profit as their project. The Fellowship continues to teach all of the business skills that were taught in previous years — in fact, we’ve added more! Fellows will continue to be paired with a personal coach, many of whom are respected business people and educators, and will have access to a network of subject matter experts with expertise in law, finance, marketing, and beyond.