The Wild Gift fellowship is a 15 week program designed to drive your environmental start up to the next phase of growth. The first 10 weeks involve virtual programming that focuses on critical business topics, builds connections to your fellow entrepreneurs, and brings you into the Wild Gift community. The fellowship cohort then embarks on a 20 day wilderness trek. The expedition challenges each Fellow physically and emotionally and connects them to the natural world on a very personal level. Fellows are able to unplug, incubate ideas, and envision the true scope of their work and lives while building lifelong bonds. The final 2 weeks of the program are designed to reconnect to the modern world, focus on your next steps, and join the Wild Gift community in a virtual pitch celebration of your project.

In the field of environmental innovation, the road to success is often long and lonely… brutal hours, stress, and personal sacrifice. Research on social entrepreneurs and our own experience of supporting 65 Fellows reveal that the ability to persevere is as important to eventual success as a good business plan.

We know it isn’t easy to change the world, but we have over a decade of success at finding those who want to… and do. We know it takes more than money to get a great idea off the ground. It takes persistence, ingenuity, and courage. Being an entrepreneur means believing in YES, even when you mostly hear NO. It means clearly seeing your goal, while flexibly charting an unknown path to get there. It means consistently having the courage to follow your convictions in the face of many obstacles – expected and unexpected.

Our unique Wild Gift leadership development experience affirms the “wildness” of spirit needed to change the world and instills in each Fellow a lasting belief in the importance of courage, teamwork, integrity, resilience, and audacity. Our experience and track record prove that coupling unique personal growth support with professional technical assistance makes all the difference in lifting these ventures off the ground and successfully retaining these individuals as change agents.