About Activate
Activate is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to turning scientific discoveries into real-world impact. Through partnerships with government, philanthropy, universities, and industry, Activate builds the cross-sector ecosystem that drives hard tech innovation—equipping scientists and engineers with world-class resources, training, and community to bring their work from discovery to deployment.
Since 2015, Activate's flagship fellowship has supported nearly 350 fellows across the United States, who have launched more than 275 companies and secured over $5.5 billion in follow-on funding. Now expanding beyond its flagship program, Activate is reaching scientists and engineers at more stages of their entrepreneurial journey across the world—multiplying the pathways from innovation to commercialization. Learn more at Activate.org.
Position Summary
The Fellowship Manager, Anywhere serves as the program lead for the hybrid Activate Anywhere community, which supports fellows located across the United States. In this role, you will work closely with deep-tech science entrepreneurs throughout their two-year Activate fellowship journey, as they build world-changing technologies in fields like climate tech, biomanufacturing, and aerospace.
The Fellowship Manager, Anywhere, is responsible for the Anywhere community’s fellowship experience—designing virtual programming and directing quarterly in-person gatherings—while overseeing operational excellence, including fellow recruitment & selection, benefits management, and program evaluation.
Each Activate community supports about 20 fellows and is run by a three-person team.
- The Fellowship Manager (this role) leads the local community, and reports to the Fellowship Director, who oversees all five US communities.
- The Fellowship Associate reports to the Fellowship Manager and is responsible for the community’s daily operations.
- The Managing Director is an experienced entrepreneur who mentors the community’s fellows and leads external ecosystem efforts.
All three roles sit within the Fellowship team, and benefit from being on a team of peers performing similar work in other communities. This role is one of 5 Fellowship Managers at Activate, each responsible for one of our US communities.
Primary Responsibilities
- Direct Anywhere community programming, including bi-weekly virtual programming and quarterly in-person trips.
- Manage local program operations, including fellow selection, fellow onboarding, fellow data, and fellow benefits.
- Cultivate a supportive, tight-knit community experience for Anywhere fellows, building strong individual relationships to coordinate necessary support and resources.
- Manage the Fellowship Associate to ensure high-performance execution of local community operations and support their professional development.
- Oversee community budgeting, strategy, team meetings, and team-wide coordination.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to translate fellowship insights and stories into strategies that amplify organizational impact.
- Contribute to broader Fellowship team-wide initiatives, operations, and cross-functional working groups.
- Represent Activate at virtual recruitment events and engage Anywhere alumni to strengthen community connections.
- Champion a positive, welcoming environment while contributing to the wider Activate culture.
The Ideal Candidate...
- Has 3-5 years of experience in fellowship management, program management or related experience.
- Has a passion for and experience with community building in a virtual environment.
- Is experienced with facilitating personal connections, collaborations, and mutual support within a community.
- Gets the details right and takes pride in being organized and prepared.
- Can smoothly manage a complex program through changing external circumstances.
- Proactively collects and analyzes the data needed to drive continuous improvement and be two steps ahead of any problem.
- Is eager and capable of gathering the shared challenges of entrepreneurs and translating that into programming.
- Communicates nuanced information clearly in any context including on a stage, in a heartfelt conversation, or with a graph-filled presentation.
- Is excited to grow their skill as a manager and help others reach their full potential.
- Switches smoothly between collaboration and individual work, between words and numbers, and between strategic and nitty-gritty tasks.
- Can commit to supporting our fellows relentlessly because the technologies needed to solve global challenges depend on them.
- Loves science and is ready to learn a lot of it!
About the Role
This is a full-time position with a competitive annual salary of $100,000 and a generous benefits package that includes professional development, $2,000 in annual wellness funds, flexible paid time off, healthcare coverage for employees and dependents, with 90–100% of premiums covered, and the opportunity to join a retirement plan with a 3% match beginning after 3 months at Activate.
This role is open to US-based candidates. While we welcome applicants from all locations, we are particularly excited about candidates near any of our hubs; Bay Area (CA), Boston (MA), New York (NY), or Houston (TX).
This role requires up to 20% travel for team gatherings and program events.
Encouraging Applications from All Backgrounds
We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating a welcoming workplace for all employees. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to age, race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status. We will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics. Activate Global, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Skills Required
- 3-5 years of experience in fellowship management, program management, or related experience.
- Experience with community building in a virtual environment.
- Experience facilitating personal connections, collaborations, and mutual support within a community.
- Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
- Ability to manage a complex program through changing external circumstances.
- Proactive data collection and analysis skills to drive continuous improvement.
- Ability to gather entrepreneurs' shared challenges and translate them into programming.
- Clear and effective communication skills across contexts (stage, conversations, presentations).
- Experience or capability to manage and develop a direct report (Fellowship Associate).
- Ability to switch smoothly between collaboration and individual work, strategic and operational tasks.
- Commitment to supporting fellows relentlessly and willingness to learn scientific subject matter.
- US-based location (open to applicants across the US; preference for proximity to hubs).
- Willingness to travel up to 20% for team gatherings and program events.
What We Do
We empower scientists to reinvent the world by bringing their research to market. Founded in 2015, Activate is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that empowers scientists to reinvent the world by bringing their research to market to address climate change and other global challenges. Activate works between government and the private sector, transforming scientists into high-impact entrepreneurs through a fellowship that guides them along every step of the journey. The Activate Fellowship provides two years of funding and connects fellows with the resources, knowledge, and networks they need to succeed. The fellowship does not take equity in fellows' startups. Activate's entrepreneurial fellowship model originated at Cyclotron Road, a division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and founding Activate partner. Today, Activate supports 20-30 new Activate Fellows each year in with plans to expand to 100 new fellows, across the United States, each year. For more information, go to Activate.org.
.jpeg)
