About

Kauffman Fellows: A Two-Year Mastery Program

Established in 1995 and based in Silicon Valley, the Kauffman Fellows Program is a 2-year transformative opportunity designed to radically accelerate innovator success through self-reflection, peer learning, mentoring, and a structured curriculum taught by venture capitalists and global thought leaders.

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A Flourishing Global Community

The Kauffman Fellows Program is made possible through the steady support of the global venture community. Firms become members of the Kauffman Fellows Network by sponsoring someone at their firm for a Kauffman Fellowship.

Innovation is a life force, catalyzing the economy and accelerating humanity.

While successful founders accelerate product-market fit, they must also manage to build a great board, acquire customers, hire talent, raise capital, grow their network, and align their strategy with their vision. A world-class investor plays a key role in marrying these factors.

Be Different. Question Everything.

Ewing Marion Kauffman believed every person has the opportunity to be uncommon and take risks to achieve success. Mr. Kauffman energized people around him; he rallied his hometown and challenged everyone he knew to do more. He wanted to help young people, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, get a quality education that would enable them to reach their full potential. He saw building enterprise as one of the most effective ways to realize individual promise and spur the economy.

Brilliance Has No Color, Age, or Gender.

Kauffman Fellows has a strong commitment to diversity and actively recruits women and minorities. We believe our community is stronger—and allows us to better serve entrepreneurs and society—with a multiplicity of viewpoints and backgrounds.

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Entrepreneurs Best Express the Human Spirit.

From the very beginning, our mission has been to advance entrepreneurship globally. We do this by accelerating the development of talented innovation leaders and venture capital investors and deepening their impact on the science of capital formation. In the 26 years since inception, we’ve grown to 822 Fellows spread across 57+ countries and 6 continents, all working hard to support entrepreneurs in their mission to change the world. Today the Kauffman Fellows Fund further supports Kauffman Fellows in their efforts to serve entrepreneurs.

Never-ending pursuit to champion innovation globally.

The venture capital industry can no longer ignore the ethical and moral issues that arise alongside its investment activities.

There is an ethical and moral imperative for a proactive and affirmative approach from the investor community. This Stewardship Pledge, incubated within the Kauffman Fellows community, is our response to this need.

Stewardship Pledge for the Innovation Investor

As an investor in innovation, I recognize:

Our industry of innovation capital has the power to drive both private value creation and sustainable, positive societal transformation.
My purpose is to direct capital and expertise to create shared value by accelerating the pace of innovation through company formation and growth.
My investment decisions affect the well-being of individuals inside and outside my own organization, the companies in which we invest, my capital partners, the industries in which we work, and beyond, both today and in the future.

Therefore, in the spirit of stewardship toward all my stakeholders, I acknowledge and pledge the following:

01. I will not advance my own interests at the expense of my organization, my investee companies, my capital partners, or society.
02. I will manage my investments with loyalty and care and I will report the performance and risks of my organization and my investee companies accurately and honestly to my capital partners.
03. I will understand and uphold, in letter and in spirit, the laws and contracts governing my conduct and that of my enterprise and my investee companies, and refrain from corruption, unfair competition, or other business practices harmful to society.
04. I will recognize the power imbalance inherent in the relationship between investor and entrepreneur, and will not abuse my position, engage in sexual harassment or discrimination, or condone it in the organizations and communities around me.
05. I will protect the human rights and dignity of all people impacted by my organization and my investee companies, and oppose discrimination both within my investee companies and in the process of selecting investments.
06. I will promote a culture of inclusion, seek out diversity of all types, and foster a sense of belonging among all the organizations and communities in which I work. To further continuing awareness and action, I will participate to the extent of my abilities in open discussion and reporting across our industry as well as encourage others to do the same.
07. I will develop myself, and coach, mentor, and apprentice the next generation of investors.
08. I will work with my stakeholders to support sustainable inclusive prosperity and to minimize the negative consequences of our actions to the environment and society.

In exercising my professional commitments according to these principles, I recognize that my behavior must set an example of integrity and mutual respect, eliciting trust and esteem from the multiple stakeholders I serve. I will remain accountable to my peers and to society for my actions and for upholding these standards.

Kauffman Fellows

Kauffman Fellows Team