“The Blue Ridge Lab Fellowship was an incredibly valuable experience for me. The program opened my eyes to the many different aspects of poverty reduction and allowed me to make a real impact in my community.”
Jake Smalls – Design Fellow
Cat Xu, Co-Founder, Starlight, Catalyst 2023
“One of the most helpful parts of the program is the Robin Hood network and getting plugged into other organizations that Robin Hood funds - from nonprofits to charter schools to public institutions across the city. This instantly jumpstarted our research and ecosystem understanding in our early days.”
Wenimo Okoya – Expert Fellow
"The BRL Fellowship changed the trajectory of my career. I went from an individual contributor to a founder in 14 weeks. I know that the core of making change in my community is responding to their needs and creating a solution that solves the problem as they describe it. With my community and the support of BRL, Healing Schools Project was transformed from a seedling of dream to a reality."
Thomas Officer – Design Fellow
"What is it like to spend 5 months with talented strangers, surrounded by whiteboards, bashing your head against a problem? That deserves its own blog post. For now, let me say that it was chaos. Beautiful, exciting, frustrating, and ultimately productive chaos."
Join the fight against poverty - Apply Now
Who we're looking for
Startups (nonprofit and for-profit) that are using technology solutions and artificial intelligence (#AI) to access challenges related to economic inequality.
We focus on startups that canhave a positive impact on low-income New Yorkers - but your startup does not have to be headquartered or started in NYC.
We will be accepting 10-12 startups (nonprofit and for-profit)
Is the program only open to New York City residents?
No, the program is open to early-stage organizations from anywhere. The startup does not have the be headquartered or have started in NYC, but a founder of the program needs to be present in NYC during the program from February to June
How much funding is provided?
The program provides the 10-12 startups that are selected up to $40,000 each. At the end of the program, 3-5 ventures that show the most progress will receive up to $50,000 in additional investment
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