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The Legatum Center administers a competitive fellowship program for incoming and current MIT graduate students, across all academic and professional disciplines, who demonstrate the potential to create innovative, sustainable, for-profit enterprises that promote prosperity in low-income countries and who are committed to implementing their business plans upon graduation.
The application for the Legatum Fellowship is now closed. The next application round will begin in November 2012. Please check our website periodically for new announcements.
Current Fellows | Alumni Fellows | Application Instructions
THE LEGATUM FELLOWSHIP AT MIT
The Legatum Center seeks entrepreneurs who aspire to have a lasting and positive economic impact on low-income countries by developing their own entrepreneurial ideas and building their own local enterprises. The Center’s approach is intensely practical. Recognizing that even the best innovations can be rendered useless if not distributed effectively, we work closely with our Fellows to design not just innovative products and services, but also workable, affordable, and sustainable business distribution methods.
The Fellowship is open to all MIT graduate students, and select undergraduate students. It consists of:
• Business plan coaching
• A business “needs assessment”
• In-house scholars, domain experts, and mentors to provide general guidance, encouragement, or specialized advice on an as-needed basis
• Enrollment in 15.S15: Entrepreneurship and Prosperity in Low-income Countries at the MIT Sloan School of Management
• Regular seminars on topics such as networking, cross-cultural communications, and pitching to investors
• A monthly Lecture Series by entrepreneurs, innovators, investors, and industry experts
• Opportunities to present and network at the Legatum Convergence, the global forum on entrepreneurship in emerging markets
• Special case studies and other curriculum material being developed by the Legatum Center that highlight aspiring and successful entrepreneurs in low-income countries
• Exposure to an extensive entrepreneurial ecosystem of investors, entrepreneurs, potential partners, and new technologies
• Financial assistance toward the MIT tuition
Legatum Fellows are accepted in the Spring prior to the academic year of their fellowship and begin working on their business proposals in the months before the academic year begins in September. Fellowships may be awarded for one or two years. Legatum Fellowship alumni join a growing network of international entrepreneurs committed to bringing their business plans to fruition.
The MasterCard Foundation Fellowships within the Legatum Center
A generous gift from The MasterCard Foundation has established The MasterCard Foundation Fellowships within the Legatum Center to support MIT graduate students who wish to establish businesses in low-income countries. This grant will provide up to 200 fellowships over a period of ten years, an average of 20 fellowships per year, with a preference for students working on projects in Africa. The application process is the same for all Legatum Fellowship applicants.
HRH Princess Moudi bint Khalid Fellowships within the Legatum Center
In 2011, the Legatum Center received a gift from the family of HRH Princess Moudi bint Khalid to support as Legatum Fellows those MIT graduate students who are citizens or long-term residents of Saudi Arabia, and who wish to establish businesses that contribute to Saudi Arabia's economic and social progress. The application process is the same for all Legatum Fellowship applicants.
Browse current Legatum Fellows >>
Browse Legatum Fellow alumni >>
Learn more about the application process to become a Legatum Fellow >>
