Our Mission
While the amount of impact investment capital is increasing rapidly, uniform access to that capital is not. For that to improve, new low-cost, high-efficiency investment models are needed to push money and business resources out to entrepreneurial teams in remote regions and underserved communities. Assembling, training, and empowering diverse investment teams for this purpose is the core mission of the Kirchner Fellowship.
Sustainability
The Kirchner Fellowship is an opportunity for students to have discretion over investment decisions, with a focus on companies in the agriculture and food sector with ground-breaking technologies that can provide sustainable solutions.
Food Security
The Kirchner Fellowship Program is designed specifically for identifying and training the next generation of impact capital allocators capable of understanding and investing effectively in the early-stage companies and innovations.
Leadership
At the university level, excellent progress has been made in identifying promising technologies; training teams of entrepreneurial thinkers and doers who understand the important role of for-profit, sustainable enterprises that make a difference.
The Program
The Kirchner Fellowship is a pioneer in the lean impact investment movement, harnessing the power of highly committed next generation talent to find, fund and assist promising socially responsible, for-profit agricultural businesses.
the challenge
Awareness is growing for the need of entrepreneurial business solutions in attaining global food security.
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the opportunity
The Kirchner Fellowship is an opportunity for student leaders to be engaged in impact investment decisions.
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The Requirements
Fellows must be enrolled in university and are expected to approach their home institution for academic credit for any work completed.
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Our Fellows
We believe the next generation is uniquely qualified to find, fund and assist promising conscious agriculture businesses. They have a native understanding of the coming possibilities of a networked, customized and distributed world.
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Shivani DesaiShivani is a graduate student at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, where she is focusing on Environmental Policy and International Business. She has over seven years of experience in the international development space – consulting with nonprofits and social businesses on their organizational strategies and programs, advising private funders on their philanthropic investments, and managing multi-year implementation projects in South Asia.
Shisbeth TáboraShisbeth, originally from Honduras, is a doctoral student in the Department of Environmental Toxicology, The Institute of Environmental and Human Health at Texas Tech University. She earned her M.Sc. in Wildlife, Fisheries, and Wildlands Science and Management with a Certificate in Geographic Information Science and Technology at Texas Tech University.
Brian EzeonuBrian is a Ph.D. Candidate at Auburn University; where his research focuses on international development, global finance, and governance. He earned an MA. in Economics from Georgia State University (GSU) and a BSc. in Economics from University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN).
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Benjamín Trujillo BarreraBenjamin is pursuing an economics degree at UNAM and has a BS in biotechnology from Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM) with a minor in molecular biology. Seeking to be a bridge between biotechnology and business, he worked as a junior in innovation at Distrito Emprendedor, conducting business analysis of SMEs among other events in conjunction with the National Institute of Entrepreneurs.
Mildred Gissel Jiménez RodriguezMildred is currently pursuing a Master of Science degree in Nanotechnology at Tecnologico de Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico. Throughout her studies, she has led and participated in several initiatives to promote youth involvement in the development of the Latin American bioeconomy through science communication, evidence-based policymaking, and entrepreneurship.
Marion Ximena Ochoa HidalgoMarion is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Digital Humanities and has a Bachelor’s in International Business from the Tecnológico de Monterrey in León, Mexico. She is passionate about achieving sustainability through socially-driven undertakings and disruptive innovation concentrated on impactful businesses.
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Taylor WeekesTaylor is pursuing a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance at Howard University in Washington, D.C. She recently served as an Investment Banking Summer Analyst at Goldman Sachs in the Financial Institutions Group.
Ayodeji AkandeAyodeji is pursuing a Bachelor of Business Administration in Computer Information Systems at Howard University. He previously worked at PJT Partners as an Investment Banking Summer Analyst in the Strategic Advisory Group.
Devotha MwazembeDevotha is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Integrative Biosciences at Tuskegee University. Her research focuses on crop production, soil science, crop modeling decision tools, climate change, and sustainability. She earned an MS. Environmental Sciences from Tuskegee University and a BSc. Agronomy from the Sokoine University of Agriculture.
