The Activate Fellowship Team is Charged Up
Once small and always mighty, our fellowship team has grown more than threefold in the past year. It’s energized and ready to welcome Cohort 2022 this summer.
In early March, we convened our 80 Cohort 2022 finalists along with more than 200 expert reviewers from the Activate community to help conduct the exciting but difficult job of selecting the next cohort of fellows, which we’ll announce in June.
Narrowing our always-impressive applicant pool down to a relatively small group of finalists never gets easier for our team—not only because of the difficult decisions but also because it requires highly complex logistical and project management. But behind the week-long series of virtual presentations and the many exciting reviewer deliberations stood an incredible, and recently expanded, team of fellowship directors, managers, and associates. Of course, supporting fellow selections is just part of their dynamic roles.
Running fellowship operations and setting the tone for the full experience, from the applicant to the alumni stage, the fellowship team is the backbone of the Activate Fellowship. “I am so grateful to have a team that approaches this complex task with collaboration, organization, and thoughtfulness across needs spanning inclusive facilitation to detailed data entry,” says chief fellowship officer Brenna Teigler.
Meet the folks who provide crucial support to Activate’s managing directors and fellows across our four communities:
Teigler says fellowship manager Katie Sharp who joined in 2020, in the midst of great uncertainty—globally and for our fellows—has proven herself a tremendous asset to the team and resource for fellows. “Katie joined the team when we were starting our first wave of scaling the fellowship and adapting the fellowship to a virtual format in response to the pandemic. We could not have kept the fellowship running smoothly without her willingness to jump in and help in any way needed,” she said. Teigler added that Sharp is always focused on what’s best for the fellows, infusing that orientation into the team’s operations, and setting the fellowship up for success as we continue to scale.
“I spent the first phase of my career doing fundamental research in cell biology with the goal of being a professor, but I very slowly and then all at once decided I wanted to shift to something that would impact climate,” said Sharp. “I feel like all I do at Activate is learn, and that has been the main highlight. The topic range is vast: carbon nanotubes, cement, VC fundraising, batteries, recruiting a team, scaling technology, contract manufacturing, nitrogen fertilizer, sources of non-dilutive financing—and that is just scratching the surface. I just try to soak it all up!”
Charged up and ready to support a new cohort this summer, the fellowship team continues to grow. This week, we’re welcoming Eva Koehler as inaugural fellowship manager of our burgeoning Activate New York team. She previously led growth operations for One Acre Fund. We’re hoping to add another key member soon: the fellow recruitment and inclusion manager will play a vital role in helping us reach and connect with Cohort 2023 applicants. And as we head into summer, the fellowship team is hiring interns to support fellow recruitment and selection, data analysis, and education. Please share these jobs with folks who might be interested in joining this incredible team.
