Villgro Fellowship 2015

Villgro Fellowship started as Rural Innovation network, a nonprofit organisation which intends to identify and ameliorate the innovations that possess the potential to bring out changes in the life of rural India.

• Villgro Fellowship started in 2008 and offers a unique opportunity to function in collaboration with social entrepreneurs, who are building businesses for the poor.
• The fellowship provides with an awesome opportunity to explore and be a part of the leadership development programme in the field of Social Enterprise and entrepreneurship.
• It is a year-long intensive programme will start in mid-June with multidisciplinary induction and training of four weeks in Chennai Headquarters. After which fellows will be placed with Villgro’s Incubatee companies as field placement for 11 months.
• On completion of the field assignment, fellows will share their experiences and lessons learned in an off-boarding program at Chennai.
• The Fellows will be reporting directly to CXO level employee of the Incubatee Company on day to day basis.

About Villgro

• Started in year 2001 as Rural Innovation network, a nonprofit organisation which intends to identify and ameliorate the innovations that possess the potential to bring out changes in the life of rural India.
• Villgro works dedicatedly to for the upliftment of rural India, their problems and providing innovative solutions to the existing problems through their developing network.
• Villgro offers funds and incubates innovation based social enterprises at their early stage as they can leave a major impact in the lives of rural India. Scholowiz, Aindra Systems and Healthypariwar are some of the names of the incubated organizations.

From all the applications received 4-7 fellows will be selected for the 2015-16 cohort and will receive the following stipend & benefits during the term of their fellowship.

• Stipend: Along with a stipend of Rs. 25000, Villgro makes you the part of leadership development of one year which helps in honing the leadership skills.
• Mentorship: A Mentor from within Villgro’s network, who will support the professional growth of the fellow.
• Alumni Network: Virgo acts as a path opened to the world of social entrepreneurs and like-minded fellows, which include 43 alumni functioning all over the world as a part of Villgro Fellows network.
• Attend Social confrence: An opportunity to attend some premier social enterprise conference in India.
• Insurance: A health insurance covering the expenses of hospitalization.

• Interested candidates can apply only online for Villgro Fellowship 2015. Online applications will be made on the official website using their online application portal.
• The application form can be saved in the process and can be resumed the same point where it was left.
• The details which will be asked during the online application process are as follows:
  • Personal Information along with Applicant Summary.
  • Details about Interests and Work experience.
  • Detailed essay questions regarding the fellowship.
  • Resume along with references.

Villgro Fellowship Important Dates

To make the application process quick Villgro has started an Early Bird programme as per which the early bird applicants will get interviewed before the other applicants and will also get the offers before the other applicants.

To be applicable for the early bird round of selection the candidates should apply on or before March 25, 2015 

Villgro Fellowship Selection Process

Villgro follows a rigorous process to ensure that only committed and passionate leaders for tomorrow those will be placed in incubating companies of Villgro as per their skillset and interest. The selection process is a three step process:

Step 1: Submission of the online application

To understand the applicant better along with personal information, background details and references, they are supposed to answer some essay questions which will help in showcasing strength, commitment, weakness and passion.

Step 2: Telephonic Interview

After the careful reviewing of the applications, only one-fourth of the applicants will receive telephonic interview call, which helps in matching to a role suitable as per your passion, skill and interest.

Step 3: Personal Interview

The candidate will be interviewed on Skype or in person and the focus will be on the role for which the candidates are being considered and details regarding the role and social enterprise will be shared while assessing the ability and skill to fit that role.

After these three rounds, the references shared will be contacted to get a better understanding of your previous experiences and achievements and at the end of above assessment the final list of the fellows will be made.

Fellows of Villgro

• Villgro fellows come from various, diverse background and reputed institutes globally. Every year four to seven fellows are given this opportunity.
• A few details about fellows from 2014 are as follow:
  • Raghavendra Rao, India: Mechanical Engineer from NIT, Hamirpur. Will work for OneBreath as a Business and Supply Chain Manager.
  • Ngoc Huynh, Vietnam: Holder of Bachelor’s degree in International Business and will be associated with Villgro’s Scale initiative.
  • Hang Vo, Vietnam:Bachelor Degree in International Business from Foreign Trade University and will work with Villgro’s Scale initiative.
  • Sonia Oprean, Romania: Economics Graduate from Romania and will be working as Business Development Manager in Skillveri.
  • Michael Sizemore, USA: Master's in Mechanical Engineering from Santa Clara University and will serve Ecozen Solutions as a Product Design Associate.
  • Yamini Srivastava, India: Got her BA, LL.B (Hons) Degree from the National Law School of India and LL.M from the Georgetown University Law Center. She will shoulder the responsibility of a Legal and Business Associate for Villgro’s Scale initiative.
  • Krithika Natarajan: Have MBA in International Business from IIFT, Delhi and is a part of enterprise named as Under the Mango Tree.

3rd Floor, IIT Madras Research Park, Kanagam Road,Taramani,
(Behind Tidel Park, on Old Mahabalipuram Road),
Chennai - 600113.

Phone: +91-44- 66630400
E-mail: info@villgro.org