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
WG26 APPLICATION TIMELINE & ONBOARDING LOGISTICS
Wednesday, February 19 – Information Session | Slide Deck | Recording
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm | Location: JMHH G50
Thursday, February 20 – Applications Open – APPLY HERE
Monday, February 24 – Tuesday, February 25 – Coffee Chats Wave 1 –
Monday, March 3 – Tuesday, March 4 – Coffee Chats Wave 2
Tuesday, March 18 & Wednesday, March 19 – Office Hours | MBA Cafe
Drop-in hours: Tuesday, 3/18, 12 – 1:30 p.m. & Wednesday, 3/19, 12 – 3 p.m.
Thursday, March 20 – Applications Close – APPLY HERE
Saturday, March 29 – Notification of Yes/No for Interview
Sunday, March 30 – Wednesday, April 2 – Interviews Conducted
Monday, April 7 – Fellowship Offers Extended
Thursday, April 10 – New Venture Fellow Onboarding
Sunday, April 13 – Transition Activity
Saturday, August 16 – Saturday August 23, 2025 – MANDATORY Venture Fellow Training and Onboarding (overnight, entire week)
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.
WG26 Info Session
Wednesday, 2/19/2025, 12 pm – 1 pm | Location JMHH G50
Info Session: Video Recording 2/19/25
Slide Deck: VF Recruitment Info Session February 2025
Venture Fellows
Congratulations to the WG25 Venture Fellows!
Meet our Venture Fellow Alumni:
Are you a Venture Fellow alumni?
We want to connect with you!
“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