Applications are now open for the Acumen Pakistan Fellowship.

Practical skills meet moral imagination in this intensive year-long leadership development program designed to equip extraordinary individuals with the tools, mindset, and community to tackle poverty and injustice in their communities.

Their Pakistan Fellows Program brings together diverse individuals to drive systemic change and form a community bound by the ethos of a just and poverty-free society. Fellows understand what it takes to create change in their complex, interconnected world. Pakistan now has a community of over a hundred Fellows pushing to create sustainable impact across the country.

What makes a fellow?

Their fellows are extraordinary leaders who dare to embrace the difficult journey of social change. Here’s what they want from you—and what you can expect from your cohort.

• Entrepreneurs: Leaders of both for-profit and nonprofit organizations providing critical goods or services to the underserved.
• Intrapreneurs: Builders from any sector tackling poverty and injustice from within by shifting the institutional culture—and building new collaborations.
• Organizational Builders: Leaders (other than the Founder or CEO) supporting the growth of institutions combating poverty and injustice.
• Public Sector Leader: Leveraging the government to create policy changes, partnerships or adoption of new models to tackle poverty.

What will you learn?

The Fellowship curriculum is centered around the principles of moral leadership:

• Adaptive Leadership: Based on Ron Heifetz’s work, Adaptive Leadership is a practical leadership framework that supports Fellows’ ability to catalyse and embrace the gradual and meaningful process of creating change
• Authentic Voice: Grounded in Marshall Ganz’s life's work, the Authentic Voice curriculum allows the Fellows to develop the capacity to articulate a hopeful vision, speak across lines of difference, and move others into action.
• Good Society Readings: Modeled off The Aspen Institute, the Good Society Readings explore the meaning of a just society, and the moral and historical foundation of social change through text based dialogue.
• Managing Polarities: Based on Barry Johnson’s work, Polarities aims to cultivate an individual’s ability to lead effectively when opposing but interdependent and equally important values are in tension.
• Systems Thinking: Fellows explore the concept of Systems Thinking by working collaboratively on live challenges—enabling them to better understand larger, systemic problems and design more effective interventions.
• The programme is designed to give Fellows the tools and practices to:
  • Lead diverse stakeholders through recurring and complex challenges
  • Articulate a vision that speaks across lines of difference & moves others into action
  • Understand larger, systemic problems and design more effective interventions
  • Navigate uncertainty and embrace the meaningful process of creating change
  • Cultivate a deeper understanding of yourself and your work in a broader context

Eligibility Criteria

Although many of the Fellows do work in social enterprises, Fellows can be working in any sector (including for-profit, nonprofit, corporations, and government).

Fellows go on various career paths and personal journeys over their lives, but many of the Fellows they have seen over the years include:

• Entrepreneurs who have founded or are leading a for-profit or nonprofit organization that provides critical goods and services to the underserved;
• Intrapreneurs who are creating innovative solutions to tackle poverty or injustice from within existing institutions by shifting institutional culture and building new collaborations;
• Organizational builders who are supporting the growth of poverty or injustice-focused institution from within, but not as the founder or CEO;
• They are looking for an entrepreneurial attitude, mindset, and approach - people who don't accept the status quo;
• There are no specific academic prerequisites;
• There is neither a minimum age requirement nor a maximum age cut off.

Pakistan Fellowship Eligibility

• Each cohort of Acumen Fellows must be comprised of individuals who have not previously taken part in an Acumen Fellowship. This is specific to Acumen’s programs; candidates who have participated in other fellowships or leadership programs, or who have taken +Acumen courses, are welcome to apply.
• All seminars and training are conducted in English. Conversational proficiency in English is a requirement to ensure Fellows are able to give and get the most from this experience.

For more information, visit Pakistan Fellowship.