Kyle
The Tribe 12 fellowship, a business accelerator focusing on ideas that relate to the Jewish community, is looking for it’s next class.
The fellowship is part of the Tribe 12 network which is a network of projects “that, as a whole, offer a holistic approach to engaging individuals in choosing a personally inspiring Jewish community, network, or life-style, with a particular focus on 20s and 30s. ”
The Tribe 12 Fellowship functions as a startup and business accelerator giving startups, and entrepreneurs access to mentors, seminars, grants and funding opportunities. While there is no seed fund in place for the startups selected for the class, the six month program ends with a pitch fest.
Many members of the Philly Startup Leaders, list serv were up in arms today when Danielle Selber, the Tribe 12 Fellowship coordinator, posted an application link. Many folks felt like an accelerator put on by a Jewish organization to strengthen the Jewish community was segmenting. Of course, I did not. Eventually many more seasoned members of the PSL spoke out in defense of the Tribe 12 Fellowship. The best comment being from Jerry Levine who said: Perhaps this is being a dead horse, but PSL is, by definition, a limited group – focused on Philadelphia (and Philadelphia-area). If it weren’t, perhaps it would just be called “Startup Leaders?”
Regardless of the PSL’s feelings about Tribe 12 it’s a great program and resource to entrepreneurs with a Jewish element in their startup or business. Most of the graduates from the 2010 and 2011 program have socially driven startups that are out to help the community at large.
Selber took a break between high horse ego beatings, on the PSL, to respond to a couple questions from nibletz, you know the info you’re dying to know.
The idea for the Tribe 12 Fellowship was not mine. The Tribe 12 Fellowship has been run for three years in Philadelphia in partnership withPresenTense Group, a worldwide network which engages and inspires young professionals, investing in their ideas and energy to revitalize the Jewish community. They support 13 similar Fellowships worldwide. Shelby Zitelman, CEO of PresenTense Group, also lives in Philadelphia..
The Tribe 12 Fellowship is a project of Tribe 12, a non-profit network of projects for Jewish 20s and 30s. To learn more visit http://www.tribe12.org/.
Many startup support organizations focus on a specific community – Girls In Tech and StartOut come to mind – so I don’t see our focus as very unique. Many of our Fellows’ ventures have a Jewish element while still having a community-wide impact. One example is a venture from our 2011 class, Uniting Through Literacy. Sara Landman took an overlooked resource — retired Jewish grandmothers — and leveraged them as tutors in literacy programs around Philadelphia. Sara is now entering the 3rd year of her venture.
Are the founders all Jewish or do the products/startups need to have a Jewish tie in?
Though all of our founders so far have been Jewish, being Jewish is not a prerequisite for participation. The startups do need to have a Jewish element, but that element is subject to interpretation. For example, the American Israel Business Lab (AIBL) acts as a representative for and incubator of American affiliates of Israeli clean-tech companies. There is nothing Jewish about this business, but it is part of the greater Jewish community.
The Tribe 12 Fellowship is a Philadelphia-based accelerator for social start-ups with a Jewish element. The goal is to equip Jewish young professionals and students (ages 22-40) in the Greater Philadelphia area with the tools, networks and resources they need to build and sustain successful ventures that provide meaningful avenues for engagement and impact.
There is no seed funding. The Fellowship provides a much stronger chance of securing funding by teaching fundraising skills and making introductions to ensure fundraising sustainability over time. The Fellows will become eligible for certain grants after completion in the program, and we are the first city in the PresenTense network to pilot a microgrant program to support our alumni.
One example– The brainchild of Laurel Klein (class of 2011), Cafe Olam will be a world cafe integrating arts, music, a locavore menu of ethically kosher food and drink, and community fostered social and social action programming. Laurel’s capital campaign has included a successful campaign on the crowdfunding website Jewcer.com, raising $18,000 through 141 unique donors and a matching gift; and a successful fundraising event in October, BrewHaHa.
See above!
