Applications call for Virtual Watson Semester Accelerator Spring 2021.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the virtual Watson Semester Accelerator was launched to accelerate the ventures and careers of college students, recent graduates, and gap-year students with an early-stage social venture.

During the 4-month program, a cohort of next-generation innovators, leaders, and entrepreneurs from across the globe convene virtually to tackle complex problems and forge lives and careers of impact. From climate change to social justice and from poverty to access to quality education, students selected to the Watson Semester Accelerator leverage training, mentorship, and community to accelerate their ventures and unleash lives 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.

Benefits

The courses, mentorship, master courses, and community will be delivered in three distinct ways:

• Synchronous: Entire cohort experiences events together at the same time. There will be approximately 9 hours of synchronous programming per week.
• Localized Synchronous: Small student pods grouped by geography convene at convenient times according to time-zone for various small-group events. There will be approximately 6 hours of localized synchronous programming per week.
• Asynchronous: Students complete work/experience individually at their own pace, given specific due-dates and clarity of outcome and quality expected.

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. Watson workshops typically take place Tuesday-Thursday between 8 am and 10 am MT

Tuition

Courses offer highly discounted tuition cost for the virtual Watson Semester Accelerator. The tuition costs $6,000. Scholarships covering up to 50% of the cost of tuition are available based on merit and financial need.

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