Program recruiting students enrolled in US, Canadian or Mexican Universities
Toronto, Ontario, Leon, Guanajuato Mexico and Birmingham, Alabama, – 04 March 2020 – The Kirchner Impact Foundation is pleased to announce that the Kirchner Food Fellowship, the world’s first impact investing fellowship, is now accepting applications until April 30th. The program, now in its 7th year, is recognized as one of the world’s most innovative venture capital markets initiatives by seeking to take well-networked angel capital to places where there is none.
Candidates must be enrolled in university (undergraduate or graduate graduate student) in North America (Canada, U.S. or Mexico) and be self-motivated, hard-working and possess a passion for investing in socially-responsible for-profit companies that will be key players in creating a zero hunger world.
The program, which is built around the fall and spring academic calendars, will select two teams (cohorts) of students. The teams work virtually and gather in person periodically for more intensive interactions with the directors, advisors and sector thought leaders. The program is intense and applicants should expect to devote 10-15 hours per week to the fellowship. Those interested in applying can visit the website here.
“The Kirchner Food Fellowship is a demanding but highly rewarding experience where I have gained incomparable insight towards achieving smart capital investment in entities that will help us feed the world. During my tenure, not only the highly experienced mentors improve you as a professional, but also the Kirchner philosophy truly becomes part for your DNA and transforms your lifestyle,” commented Eduardo Samuel Garay, 2019-20 Fellow. “I couldn’t be more grateful to form part of this family and to share the great responsibility that the Kirchner Impact Foundation trusted on us as a generation striving to take a step forward towards food security.”
Previous Fellows that have participated in the program come from some of the leading agriculture institutions: UC Davis, Texas A&M, Cornell, Guelph, Zamorano, Auburn, NC State, CINVESTAV Irapuato and Rutgers; as well as leading business and policy institutions such as Wharton, Harvard, MIT, Emory, University of Chicago, Johns Hopkins and UNC Chapel Hill.
“We are looking for passionate, values-driven students who have a relentless drive make a difference and solve the problem,” stated Blair Kirchner, Director. “Each year our remarkable fellows work incredibly hard during their tenue and we are looking forward to our seventh year.”
The Kirchner Food Fellowship is made possible through the support of country partners like the Innovation Direction of the municipality of Leon, the Secretariat of Agrifood and Rural Development of the state of Guanajuato, individual donors and Kirchner Group, a boutique firm that provides advisory, operational and M&A support to small and medium sized businesses and their investors as well as asset management services. Kirchner has a three decade history working with agriculture and food companies from start up to exit and is considered one of the leading boutique groups in the sector. The Fellowship is sponsored as part of its ‘returning’ initiatives and capitalizes on Kirchner’s unprecedented track record and network in the sector.
Kirchner Food Fellowship
The Kirchner Food Fellowship is a pioneer in the lean investment movement, harnessing the power of highly-committed millennial talent to find, fund and assist promising socially-responsible, for-profit agricultural businesses. Through the use of a “real-world, real-time, real money” model the program has proven that it is possible for newly formed investment teams to become effective venture capital allocators in a matter of months. The combination of compressed learning time frames and low operating costs makes it possible to more cost effectively deploy smart and impactful capital in parts of the world were angel capital is needed most, leading some to describe the program as “Peace Corps meets VC”. For more on the program or to apply please visit www.fundthefood.com and our recent AgFunder article.
The Kirchner Food Fellowship is an initiative of The Kirchner Impact Foundation (501 (c) (3)) one of the “returning arms” of Kirchner Group, that focuses on harnessing the positive power of enterprise to make a difference in addressing some of the most important issues of today. www.kirchnerimpact.com
Steve Dauphin | Director | +1 205.602.9845 | sdauphin@kirchnerimpact.com
Kirchner Group
Kirchner Group was founded in 1985 as a boutique firm and today operates various subsidiaries, providing advisory services (M&A, assessments, diligence) and operational support (interim management, workouts, turnarounds) as well as asset management (dedicated, portfolio optimization) – all leveraging a proprietary approach that dovetails domain and process expertise.
Throughout the decades Kirchner Group has been internationally recognized for its unique business model centered around creating value while promoting values: “earning while returning”. The firm has also established a reputation for building and rebuilding important business and social paradigms based on its deep entrepreneurial orientation.
Kirchner Group’s clients and partners include early stage to mid-market companies, venture capital and private equity firms as well as family offices and some of the world’s largest insurance companies, commercial banks and institutional investors. www.kirchnergroup.com
Blair Kirchner | Managing Director & Co-Head of Impact Activities | Kirchner Group | 902.817.2405 | bgkirchner@kirchnergroup.com