The Watson Institute BMO Fellowship 2025

Application Deadline: February 2nd, 2025

Applications are now open for the 2025 Watson Institute BMO Fellowship. The BMO Fellowship is a fully-funded venture and leadership program designed to provide comprehensive support to highly promising, diverse environmental sustainability entrepreneurs and leaders. It offers award-winning training in entrepreneurship, sustainability, and leadership to help advance their environmental sustainability-focused ventures and actively contribute to solving their communities’ most pressing challenges. This Fellowship is specifically intended for individuals from historically underserved communities who possess lived experience with the challenges they are determined to address.

Requirements

Who you are:

You are a BIPOC, woman, or Indigenous entrepreneur or a community leader deeply committed to creating sustainable, scalable impact. Ideally, your venture is in the space of environmental sustainability. You have an entrepreneurial spirit, a growth mindset, and are driven to grow as an effective leader.

Venture Stage:

You are an impact-driven entrepreneur with proven products, traction, and revenue. This Fellowship targets those in the ‘missing middle’ stage—entrepreneurs who have moved beyond prototyping but need support to grow. You lead a sustainability-focused social impact venture or community endeavor in its initial stages, showcasing a history of making a difference. Ideal candidates have demonstrated impact in their communities and are in the Problem-Solution Fit or Product-Market Fit stages, with engaged customers and measurable outcomes in both impact and revenue.

Commitment:

You are able to commit to the 16-week program including a 2-week virtual immersive. We prioritize individuals who are fully committed to actively participating in the entire program. At the heart of the program is a strong sense of community, and its success hinges on the active engagement and enthusiasm of all participants, who are eager to both learn and share.

Program Details

• Dates: March 3rd to June 26th, 2025 (16 weeks of programming).
• Format: Weekly virtual workshops, with localized gatherings and events when possible. The workshops are held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm Mountain Time Zone, requiring a 6-8 hours per week time commitment.
• Immersive: A 2-week virtual immersive starts on March 3rd, 2025, requiring a time commitment of approximately 10-15 hours each week. This immersive serves as a foundational experience, setting the stage for the Fellowship’s community-oriented and cohort-driven journey.
• Venture Development Stipend: Select Fellows have the potential to receive a venture development stipend of up to $6,000, contingent on their active participation in the program, leading a Basecamp, and successfully completing the workshop-related checkpoint assignments (eligibility requirements may vary depending on the Fellowship).

More Info: Watson Institute BMO Fellowship