SIF’s purpose is to accelerate the impact of graduating Stanford social and environmental leaders who demonstrate exceptional potential to build high-impact ventures in the year after graduation by providing catalytic programming and financial support.
Since 2009, SIF has supported graduating students working around the world on issues ranging from education to climate change. Past Fellows have applied their degree from Stanford to build innovative solutions to our most pressing social and environmental challenges, addressing the needs of marginalized populations, mitigating climate change and creating sustainable enterprises.
In the program’s first 15 years, 30 SIF ventures have had positive impacts on 7.3 million people worldwide. To achieve this, fellows built on the initial $2.6 million in SIF fellowship funding, raising six times the initial amount in the first year of their ventures and a cumulative $164.6 million in combined non-dilutive and equity funding as of January 2024. Read more about SIF’s first 15 years of impact.
Beginning in 2023, as part of the Ecopreneurship collaboration between GSB and the Doerr School of Sustainability, a newly established environmental sustainability track of the SIF Fellowship, EcoSIF, expanded eligibility beyond Stanford GSB to support graduating students from across Stanford University.
The SIF Fellowship provides financial and in-kind resources to support graduating students in advancing a new nonprofit or high-impact for-profit venture. This non-dilutive, catalytic capital enables each fellow to work full-time for one year to de-risk and develop their venture idea, fundraise, further develop their leadership capacity and advance a solution that is well-positioned to create a positive impact in the world.
Fellowship Benefits
- A stipend of $110,000 awarded upon graduation and disbursed throughout the following year.
- Support throughout the Fellowship year based on the fellow’s needs; past support has included regular coaching calls and strategic introductions.
- Periodic entrepreneurial and leadership programming provided by Stanford’s Center for Social Innovation and Stanford Ecopreneurship.
Eligibility
Social Entrepreneurship Track (SIF-Social): Graduating MBA and MSx students in good academic standing are eligible to apply.
Ecopreneurship Track (EcoSIF): Graduating graduate students from any Stanford school in good academic standing are eligible to apply.
Selection Process
The fellowship is designed to support emerging impact entrepreneurs as they implement and iterate on their venture ideas. We look for aspiring leaders who understand their position in the broader system, are deeply committed to making the world a better place, and can inspire others to serve their mission. Each year, we convene an esteemed slate of social and environmental leaders from around the world to select the most promising graduating students to receive the fellowship.
