Watson Semester Accelerator 2020
About
The Watson Semester Accelerator is a program for college students, recent graduates, and gap-year students with an early-stage social venture/project and a passion for social impact.
During the 4-month program, a cohort of young social innovators convene in Boulder, Colorado to tackle the greatest challenges facing the world. From climate change to income inequality and from political oppression to access to water, students enrolled in the program leverage training, mentorship, and community to unleash a lifetime of impact.
Training
Intensive courses and workshops focused on the hard and soft skills of entrepreneurship and transformative leadership.
Mentorship
Every student is paired with mentors in their field to challenge their assumptions, enhance their perspective, and expand their impact.
Community
Students join a diverse cohort with members from every corner of the globe, a variety of experiences, and a common goal to impact the world.
Courses
The Watson Semester Accelerator curriculum was developed by examining best practices in supporting social entrepreneurs worldwide and consolidated into a curriculum that provides students with the hard and soft skills, methodologies, and frameworks required to successfully grow a social venture and lead an impactful career. Each course is led by one of Watson Institute’s Preceptors, who themselves are accomplished entrepreneurs, leaders, and expert facilitators.
Transformative Entrepreneurship
This course is designed to equip students with the hard skills, tools, and knowledge to develop as entrepreneurs and accelerate a social venture.
Watson has licensed the curriculum of Uncharted, which is a leading training program for social entrepreneurs globally, having worked with 545 ventures who are creating impact in 96 countries.
Transformative Entrepreneurship is divided into three sections: Business Model Validation, Funder Readiness, and Team Building.
Transformative Action
The highly experiential Transformative Action course focuses on the soft skills and leadership development at the core of Watson Institute’s curriculum including: courage, resilience, creativity, grit, leadership, and transformative communication.
Transformative Action guides students through the process of overcoming key challenges faced during the process of building a social venture and becoming transformative leaders.
The course is based on the principles of the Transformative Action Institute and is highly interactive, experiential, and dynamic.
Watson Lab
This course is designed for students to put to practice the hard skills necessary to better understand the market they are looking to enter; design, test, and implement aspects of their venture model; practice pitching and communicating their venture with investors and partners; and graduate from Watson Institute with tangible assets to accelerate their venture and launch an impactful career.
Students learn, practice, and apply skills to their ventures through weekly, guided experiments, challenges, and hands-on assignments. Lab is split up into three sections: Clarity: focused on the strategic clarity required to scale a venture, Money: Focused on the fundraising process including the ability to compete for real seed funding, and People: Designed to greatly expand your network of partners and funders. Each Lab is designed for students to apply new skills and refine existing skills to develop and strengthen their ventures.
Master Courses
Watson Master Course teachers are the world’s foremost leaders, entrepreneurs, and practitioners who serve as short-term entrepreneurs in residence. Each week a Master Course Teacher will share their entrepreneurial journey and experience followed by one on one mentorship sessions with the Watson students.
Master Courses may range from a fireside chat to an interactive workshop, and revolve around sharing best practices, as well as learnings and failures. This pillar of the Watson experience exposes students to our world’s foremost leaders and entrepreneurs.
Tuition
Below is the total cost of the Watson Semester Accelerator in Boulder, Colorado:
Tuition: $12,000
Housing: $3,000
Total: $15,000
Selection Criteria
We’re on the search for young people who are motivated to work towards a future that is better, more sustainable, and more equitable than the present. We’re looking for people who are gritty, creative, and driven to not only listen and learn, but also act.
We’re on a quest to find innovators, change-makers, and entrepreneurs like you.
Application Deadlines
Watson Semester Accelerator in Colorado
Fall 2020
August 3, 2020
Spring 2021
October 15, 2020
Start Date
Fall 2020 | August 22, 2020
Spring 2021 | January 15, 2021
Bachelor’s from Lynn University
Boca Raton, Florida
This program is for students that have a strong passion and commitment to make a difference in the world. The right candidate has agency in their own development, a growth mindset with a healthy dose of curiosity, and a passion for social impact and systemic change.
Ideal candidates have a passion for a particular issue or set of challenges but is not sure on how to tackle them. This program is built for students looking to launch a multi-layered career with social impact at its core and provides training in business and entrepreneurship.
Mission-oriented innovator
- Exploring paths for a successful career in social impact and systemic change
- Identifies entrepreneurship skills as tools for a meaningful career
- Ready for a unique university experience
Application Deadlines
Bachelor of Science in Social Entrepreneurship in South Florida
Early Decision
November 15, 2019
Regular Decision
March 1, 2020
Rolling Admissions
March 1+, 2020
Start Date
August 24, 2020
Find More Details About this Scholarship on the Watson Website Via https://watson.is/watson-accelerator-spring/
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