creativity & Leadership Fellowships

These Fellowships award innovative, motivated, and prepared Oberlin students the unparalleled opportunity to move their entrepreneurial ideas from concept to reality. The Creativity & Leadership Project seeks dedicated students who have a model for addressing a demonstrated need or demand. These ventures may be driven by profit or social motives (or both), but should have a feasible strategy for financial sustainability.

The Creativity & Leadership Project provides grants of up to $30,000 to graduating seniors. Fellows will benefit from funding, from mentoring by leading entrepreneurs in their field, and from peer support by other Fellows.

The Fellowship committee looks for applicants with demonstrated leadership potential, strong passion and commitment to their idea, and intelligence and problem solving skills. While the Fellowship is intended to be a learning process, applicants should have the basic foundation of experience and knowledge to inform their venture.

Successful applicants will have carefully considered and detailed the following items in their application materials:

• Description of the proposed venture;
• Explanation of the need or demand for the venture (this should be quantified wherever possible);
• Plan of action and basic timeline describing what will need to be done in order to achieve stated goals and objectives;
• Assessment of risk factors that could include: competition from other firms; product or service development issues; or personal challenges within the leadership team.
• Basic plan for financial sustainability and growth.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to take advantage of the resources made available to them by the Creativity & Leadership Project. Workshops, advisors, grants for research and preparation, research tools, and other resources are available through the Creativity & Leadership Project. Applicants are encouraged to contact the Creativity & Leadership Project to discuss their idea.

Eligibility
The Creativity & Leadership Fellowship Competition is open to individual students or groups of students in their final year at Oberlin College. Applicants must have successfully completed or be registered for ENTR 100: Introduction to Entrepreneurship at the time of application. This course is offered during the first module of each semester. Winners must be prepared to have launching their venture be their primary occupation from June 2009-May 2010, though they may hold part time employment.

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1. Fellowship funds may only be used for the awarded project, as described in the attached proposal and budget submitted to the Creativity & Leadership Fellowship competition, and the funds may not be used for any other purpose without prior written approval from Oberlin College (the "Accepted Purpose"). The College must be notified in writing within fourteen days of any changes to the membership of your project team.

2. Fellows may not pay themselves a salary through the grant, although the award may be used to support housing and food costs for the project team during the grant period, as well as payment to organizations or other individuals for services (i.e., website development, transportation, printing, legal services, etc.). In addition, the award may not be used to buy alcohol. Fellows must keep receipts
for all expenses through the grant in order to provide thorough accounting for use of the funds, and these shall be provided to Oberlin College upon request in order to substantiate all expenses incurred and paid with award funds.

3. Recipients of Creativity & Leadership Fellowships may not be enrolled at an educational institution during the fellowship period (June 1, 2009 through May 31, 2010).

4. Fellows are required to file two written reports during their fellowship year. An interim report is due to the Office of Sponsored Programs (address above) by January 1, 2010. This report should update the Creativity & Leadership Committee on the progress of the project, as well as provide an interim financial report following the format of a template to be provided. Fellows are required to submit a final written report by June 1, 2010 describing: progress towards the goals outlined in the proposal; challenges encountered and strategies used to address them; mentoring experience; next steps and future plans for the venture; an overall assessment of the experience; and detailed financial
accounting for the grant following the format of the template to be provided.

5. Fellows are required during the 2009-10 academic year to give a public, on-campus presentation about the progress of their venture and their experience as a fellowship recipient. Following this presentation, Fellows will meet with the Creativity & Leadership Committee to receive feedback on their projects, reports, and post-grant plans for the venture, and to share their recommendations on the program overall. The Creativity & Leadership Program will make arrangements to cover
reasonable travel, lodging, and meal expenses for the visit to Oberlin.

6. Fellowship recipients agree to serve as a mentor, speaker, intern host, or Advisory Committee member for the Creativity & Leadership program to aid successive generations of aspiring entrepreneurs. This may include without limitation, meeting with grant recipients from Oberlin and other educational institutions and those seeking future grants.

7. Fellowships will be awarded in two equal installments. The first will be paid June 1, 2009 (pending execution of this agreement and successful completion of Oberlin degree); the second will be paid January 15, 2010, contingent upon compliance with the terms and conditions of this agreement, including without limitation, the submission of the interim report and its approval by the Creativity & Leadership Committee.

8. Fellows are responsible for all tax obligations associated with the fellowship income. Fellows are encouraged to maintain detailed records (including receipts) of all financial transactions associated with their project. Tax reporting obligations are solely the obligation of the Fellow.

9. Fellows agree to adhere to the Oberlin College Honor Code and Oberlin College’s policies governing professional conduct.

10. Fellows are required to provide the Creativity & Leadership Committee a 100-word project description, 100-word biography for each team member, publicity photo, and curriculum vitae by March 31, 2008. Fellows release Oberlin College and NEOCEP to edit and publish these materials and information about the project. The Fellow will be asked to sign a waiver permitting the College to publish the above biographical information.

11. Fellows agree to acknowledge the support of both Oberlin College’s Creativity & Leadership project and the Northeast Ohio Collegiate Entrepreneurship Program in all publicity and must include the following acknowledgment: This work was supported by Creativity & Leadership:
Entrepreneurship at Oberlin, part of the Northeast Ohio Collegiate Entrepreneurship Program (NEOCEP), a Kauffman CampusesSM Initiative funded by the Burton D. Morgan Foundation and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The contents of this publication are solely the responsibility of the Grantee. The Fellow agrees to cooperate with Oberlin College and the Burton D. Morgan Foundation and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in publicizing the project and in furthering entrepreneurship on college campuses.

12. Fellows are prohibited from using grant funds to lobby or otherwise attempt to influence legislation, to attempt to influence the outcome of any specific public election, or participate or intervene in any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for public office.

13. You acknowledge and agree that as a condition of receipt of the award, the funds may only be used for the Accepted Purpose. Failure to utilize the funds for the Accepted Purpose or to materially comply with the terms and conditions of this agreement, including without limitation, to maintain proper receipts and to file the required written reports, shall constitute a breach of the agreement. In the event of a breach of this agreement for which such breach is not cured within thirty (30) days of
receipt of written notice of such breach, then the entire award shall be null and void and any and all funds received by you shall be payable to Oberlin College as liquidated damages. In the event of breach, Oberlin College shall have the right to collect attorneys fees and costs associated with any legal action taken to collect such funds from the Fellow.

14. This agreement shall be construed under the laws of the State of Ohio. The sole venue for any controversy or claim arising under the terms of this agreement shall be Lorain County, Ohio.

15. Creativity & Leadership Fellows are eligible to receive twelve (12) hours of consultation services valued at $4,500 through the Oberlin Venture Mentor Program (OMVP). This supplement to the fellowship award is contingent upon signed acceptance of the terms of the OVMP Agreement and participation in mentorship preparation sessions provided by the Office of Career Services.

Intent to Apply

All materials are due by November 3, 2008.

This pre-proposal stage is designed to allow students the opportunity to think through their venture and benefit from the resources that the C&L Project has to offer. Applicants who submit the Intent to Apply form will be set up with application advisors and be invited to participate in small group intensive workshops to assist them in fully developing their venture. Participation in the Intent to Apply round is not required and does not bind you to apply for Round I.

Applicants should email responses to the following to creativity@oberlin.edu by November 3, 2008 (supplemental items such as research, recordings, and other media may be included):

Full name and T# of all students principally involved in the project.

1. What is your idea?
2. What drew you to this issue? When and how did you come up with your idea?
3. What is new about what you are proposing? Why is there a need for your idea?
4. How much work have you already done on this idea?
5. How will you make your proposed venture financially sustainable?
6. What do you intend to achieve with your Fellowship year? Describe your approximate timeline, expected location(s), and the projected outcome(s) of your activities.
7. If you are applying as a team, give an example of how you have worked together successfully in the past that highlights how you relate to each other. If you have not worked together previously, explain why you feel that your team will be effective in carrying out this project.

Round I - Proposal

All materials are due by February 16, 2008.

• Cover sheet (Forthcoming)
• Proposal - Describe your venture in 3,000 words You can include up to 10 pages of appendices or supporting material such as research, graphs, fun charts, recordings, etc.
• Budget
• Two signed confidential letter of support for each student principally involved in the project, one of which should be from an Oberlin College faculty or staff member who can comment on your ability to implement the proposed project. These may be submitted directly to the Office of Career Services, or the applicant may attach the letter in sealed envelope signed by the referee.
• Resumes for each student principally involved in the project, one page each.

Round II - Oral Presentation

Those selected to participate in Round III will be asked to make a 15 minute oral presentation to the Fellowship Review Committee.

Deadlines

All materials must be submitted to creativity@oberlin.edu