Venture Fellows

Wharton Leadership Ventures invites you to apply to become a Venture Fellow

Serving as a Venture Fellow is an incredibly rewarding experience with the opportunity to further develop as a leader and facilitate the leadership development of venture participants. 

Meet the WG25 Venture Fellows   |  2024-25 Venture Portfolio 

THE ROLE OF A VF

Venture Fellows serve as coaches and facilitators during leadership ventures, conduct pre-trip information sessions and activities, and collect information after the ventures to ensure continuous improvement of the program. 2 – 4 VFs will be assigned to each venture and will work with partner organizations to guide venture participants through various experiential leadership challenges. As part of the program, you will undergo wilderness skills and leadership training to ensure you are prepared to be a VF. The program is known for fostering a tight-knit community among fellows.

VFs are carefully selected and trained 2nd-year leaders who possess the following competencies: Leadership Character, Diplomacy, Emotional Intelligence, Adaptability and Resilience, and Effective Communication. This year, approximately 30 rising second year students will be selected to serve as Venture Fellows.

Note: McNulty has a one-fellowship-per student policy. A student who is an LF, NPBF, or Lipman Fellow cannot be a VF. You may be an SLF and/or enroll in Semester in SF and HKS and still serve as a VF concurrently.

Become a Venture Fellow

Applications for the WG26 cohort will open in February, 2025.

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WG25 APPLICATION TIMELINE & ONBOARDING LOGISTICS 

Wednesday, February 14 – Information Session | Slide Deck
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm | Location: JMHH 250

Thursday, February 15 – Applications Open – APPLY HERE

Thursday, February 15 – Friday, February 16 : Coffee Chats Wave 1 –

SIGN UP HERE

Thursday, February 22 – Friday, February 23 : Coffee Chats Wave 2

SIGN UP HERE

Thursday, March 14 – Applications Close – APPLY HERE

Friday, March 22 – Notification of Yes/No for Interview

Sunday, March 24Thursday, March 28 – Interviews Conducted

Wednesday, April 4 – Fellowship Offers Extended

Tuesday, April 9 – New Venture Fellow Onboarding

Saturday, August 17 – Saturday August 24, 2024 – MANDATORY Venture Fellow Training and Onboarding (overnight)

Questions? We’re here to help! We encourage you to speak with Director Jules Roy or you may also direct questions to venturefellows@wharton.upenn.edu.

WG25 Info Session

2/14/2024

Link to the Recording

Slide Deck

Venture Fellows

Congratulations to the WG24 Venture Fellows!

Meet our Venture Fellow Alumni:

Are you a Venture Fellow alumni?

We want to connect with you!

Fill out this form

Staff

Jules Roy, Director

Kellie Vetter, Program Coordinator

“Serving the Wharton community as a VF was the highlight of my MBA experience – the program provided an environment where I could grow personally, facilitate growth in others, and steward an organizational culture. It regularly pushed me outside of my comfort zone and challenged me with constant improvement. I highly recommend any student interested in personal growth apply to serve as a Venture Fellow.”
– Curtis Garner, VF ’23

“My Venture Fellow experience was the highlight of my entire time at Wharton. It epitomized genuine friendship, a desire to give without expectation of receiving, and high levels of commitment and willingness to learn and grow. I believe that I have become more introspective, more adept to lead, and better equipped to learn from and lead my peers. The program truly practices what it preaches, if you go all in alongside your classmates! ”
– Philip Morgan, VF ’24

“I decided to become a Venture Fellow in the hopes that others who join ventures come away with a sense of belonging, a feeling of community, and stronger foundations of leadership. And yet the Venture Fellow program continued on my learnings as a venture participant and gave me an even greater sense of belonging, an unbelievably supportive community, and stronger foundations of leadership in execution and in observational leadership.”

– David Kielsmeier, VF ’23

“The VF community has been my favorite community at Wharton by far. It is made up of some of the most authentic and hardworking people I’ve met at Wharton. We all come from such different backgrounds, but have come together to create something really special. Jules and Kellie have consistently been our north star as we all continue to develop as leaders. The additional faculty that supports from the 4 corners of the world have been amazing at at challenging us to think about the sort of leaders we want to be and how what we learn in the program translates to the real world. I wouldn’t change my experience with the Venture Fellow program for anything.”

– Romel Singleton, VF ’24, Recruiting Chair