Fellowship Program
Social entrepreneurs lead and innovate wide-scale social action to effectively and efficiently benefit needy populations. The Foundation believes that social entrepreneurs are essential to the social development sector and supports social entrepreneurship as a core activity. As such, the Deshpande Foundation has created the Deshpande Fellowship Program, a unique opportunity for budding social entrepreneurs.

The Fellowship is an interactive, applied learning experience that aims to foster a generation of successful social entrepreneurs. Participants will learn about existing best practices and engage with local innovators to develop a working knowledge of leading social change models. The program will then leverage this theoretical framework to help each participant design their proposed activity. Fellows will be expected to implement their innovations with partner institutions in the Sandbox in a "social innovation lab" environment. Though the Fellowship will be demanding, it will also be a comprehensive education, invaluable to a Fellow's future ventures.

Requirements of the Fellow are that he/she:
–  Has desire to create lasting social change.
–  Is in the age group 23-28 years (preferred)
–  Has a graduate or post graduate education
–  Has at least 6 months work experience in the development sector

Applicants may be from any part of India, but he/she should be prepared to stay in the "Sandbox" for the Fellowship period.

Fellowship Amount: The Fellowship amount is fixed at Rs 10,000 per month.
Selection: Applicants will be short-listed based on their background and relevancy to the Foundation’s activities. Short-listed candidates will be invited to visit the Hubli for group discussion and interviews. Women are encouraged to apply.

Number of Fellowships: Twenty (25) Fellowships will be awarded in each batch.

To apply, download the application in either Word or Excel format using the buttons at the top of the page.  The last date for application is 20 September 2008.  E-mail your completed application to fellowship@dfmail.org or mail a hard copy to Deshpande Foundation, BVB College of Engineering, STEP Building, Hubli, Karnataka, 580 031.  Questions?  E-mail fellowship@dfmail.org or call 0836-2378430.

“Just as energy is the basis of life itself, and ideas the source of innovation, so is innovation the vital spark of all human change, improvement and progress.” - Ted Levitt -