By A. Lauren Abele (COO, Pipeline Fellowship)
The Pipeline Fellowship announces a call for applications in New York, NY and — for the first time -— Boston, MA.
The Pipeline Fellowship seeks to increase the number of women angel investors (only 13% of U.S. angels are women1) through its six-month angel investing bootcamp, which is specifically designed for women who are first-time angel investors. While Fellows come from a variety of backgrounds (law, finance, healthcare, the arts, small business, and more), they all share a common interest in learning to invest for good.
The program trains women philanthropists to become angel investors — through education (modules on due diligence, term sheets, valuations, board governance, etc.), mentoring (matching each participant with an experienced angel investor to serve as a role model), and practice (participants commit to invest in a woman-led for-profit social venture at the end of the training).
The cohorts are intentionally small (10 women) and designed to encourage teamwork, co-mentoring, peer-to-peer learning, as well as group decision-making in the investing process. Each participant commits to invest US$5K for a collective US$50K investment in exchange for an equity stake in the woman-led social enterprise of the group’s choosing. The inaugural Pipeline Fellowship class (NYC 2011) will be announcing their investment in late October. Stay tuned!
Applications for the 2011-2012 Boston and 2012 NYC-based Pipeline Fellowship programs are being accepted on a rolling basis until Monday, August 29, 2011. For more info and to apply, click here.
In addition to an all-day conference, the program’s educational components include a series of workshops on topics such as portfolio strategies, due diligence, and valuation. Each Fellow is also paired with an experienced angel investor who serves as a role model and a sounding board, sharing feedback and advice. Lastly, the Fellows put their education to work by selecting and investing in a woman-led, for-profit social venture.
Photo credit: Young Women Social Entrepreneurs
Editor’s note: Got a question for our guest blogger? Leave a message in the comments below.
About the guest blogger: A. Lauren Abele is COO of Pipeline Fellowship, a program aiming to diversify the investor pool and connect women social entrepreneurs with investors who get them. Lauren holds a BA in English Literature and Environmental Studies from Washington University in St. Louis and an MPA in Economic Development and Comparative and International Affairs from Indiana University’s School for Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA). Follow her on Twitter at @laurenabele.
