OVERVIEW

The Innovation Mission: Fighting Poverty With Big Ideas

The Innovation Mission fellows have been selected and are hard at work on projects aimed at breaking the cycle of poverty in Cleveland. The application process is currently closed.

Do you have an innovative idea to fight poverty?

Want to research and implement it over 18 months in a professionally supported idea incubator?

Are you an accomplished professional in the for-profit, nonprofit or public sector?

Need to keep your day job and live in Northeast Ohio?

The Innovation Mission fellowship program is your opportunity because …

This fellowship uses your new ideas to fight poverty.

The Innovation Mission: Fighting Poverty With Big Ideas is a ground-breaking initiative of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland in collaboration with Cleveland Leadership Center.

We seek individuals who are big thinkers with an innovative idea they wish to build out so it can help people in need. Through this 18-month fellowship, you can turn that idea into a real-life solution, becoming innovators in breaking the cycle of poverty.

The enterprising fellowship seeks to:

• Incubate unique solutions to problems faced by Cleveland residents living in poverty
• Provide professionals from diverse sectors with the time and resources to explore their new ideas to address long-standing challenges in breaking the cycle of poverty
• Foster a community of thought leaders committed to addressing the complexity of poverty-related issues in creative ways
• Cultivate tangible solutions and use different approaches to tackle diverse problems contributing to poverty

The fellowship is designed for the seasoned professional. You keep your job, committing at least 12 weeks over the 18 months to research, develop, and launch your idea. Your employer can apply for up to $15,000 to help compensate for your time away from the office.

You can receive up to $15,000 to help in the research and development of your project, and at the end of 12 months, apply for up $20,000 in seed funding to launch the now-well-developed idea into an operating initiative.

You work independently on your project but benefit from participation in a peer-learning environment with the three other fellows selected to participate in the initiative and a support team from the foundation. Together, you will engage in professional development workshops with leaders in innovation and develop a cross-sector professional network.