The Founder's Fellowship

“Every participant joins on the same terms. The Founder's Fellowship is the one place Sumit sets aside himself, in every cohort, for someone whose work and perspective make the whole room richer.”

It exists for one kind of person: someone whose work does real good, whose work deserves time to think, and for whom the fee is out of reach. The Founder's Fellowship is part of every Self Clarity programme and every cohort, except the Self Clarity Retreat and Clarity Weekends.

Why We Do This

The People Who Give the Most Rarely Get Time to Think

Some of the most important work in the world is carried by people whose own growth nobody funds. They run organisations that serve others, give their time, energy and often their own money to the work, and have little room left to step back and think about direction, or about how they themselves are doing.

Self Clarity is built on one belief: clarity is not a luxury for people who can afford it. It is what makes good work last. A leader who has time to think makes better decisions for everyone they serve. The Founder's Fellowship is Sumit's way of acting on that belief, by keeping a place in every cohort for someone the fee would otherwise keep out.

Clarity should not depend on a fee

The fee is the same for everyone. The Fellowship exists so that being unable to pay it never decides who gets the time to think.

Good work needs good thinking

People who lead mission-led work make decisions that reach many others. Time to think well is part of how that work lasts.

A richer room for everyone

Every participant learns from someone whose work and perspective differ from their own. The Fellow gives the cohort as much as they receive.

A small group in conversation on a veranda

“A room is richer when the people in it come from different kinds of work, and different ideas of what success means.”

You can apply if all of these are true

Who Can Apply

You have a confirmed place in the programme.

You applied, had your conversation with Sumit, and were accepted through admissions, like every other participant. The Fellowship is never a way in; it is only for people who are already in.

Your work is mission-led.

You work with a nonprofit, NGO, social enterprise or another organisation that works mainly for public benefit, and your role is part of that work. You do not need to be its founder or CEO. Consultancies and agencies are not eligible.

The fee is genuinely out of reach.

Neither you nor your organisation can reasonably pay it without taking money from the work.

The Details

What the Fellowship Covers, and What It Does Not

Covered

The full programme fee
Every group session in the programme
The one-to-one sessions with Sumit that the programme includes
The retreat, where the programme has one: accommodation, meals and all sessions
All programme materials
A visa invitation letter, if you need one

Not covered

Travel to and from the programme and retreat locations
Visa fees
Travel and health insurance
Personal expenses

Travel is always the Fellow's own. If you need help with it, many funders will consider a request for travel support from their capacity-building or unrestricted budgets.

The Process

How to Apply

Apply to the programme

Same application, same conversation with Sumit, same bar as everyone.

Receive your final admission letter

Once your place in the programme or cohort is confirmed, let Amanda Berg know at amanda@selfclarity.org that you would like to apply for the Fellowship.

We send you the Fellowship application

It is shared only with confirmed participants who ask for it. It asks three things: your work and the organisation you do it with (what it does, and for whom); why the fee is out of reach; and a written answer, in no more than 300 words, to "What decision are you circling that you have not yet made?"

How the Fellow is chosen

A small committee reads every application and recommends; Sumit makes the decision and tells the Fellow himself.