Purpose of the Fellowship

Rhode Island is at a crossroads. We possess tremendous assets and unrivaled quality of place, and we also face enormous challenges that threaten our economic and community well-being. To address these challenges, fresh and creative thinking is essential.

The Rhode Island Innovation Fellowship is designed to stimulate solutions by Rhode Islanders to Rhode Island challenges. The program provides seed funding for ideas to reap community benefit. Rhode Island Innovation Fellows will receive up to $300,000 over up to three years to develop, test, and implement innovative ideas that have the potential to dramatically improve any area of life in Rhode Island. Two Fellows will be selected annually.

The Fellowship will focus on the “greatest good for the greatest number” of Rhode Islanders, a small idea that has big potential to be built to scale, or new approaches to longstanding, intractable challenges. Pioneering work, exceptional leadership, bold vision, risk-taking, potential to scale up, and statewide impact will be favorably regarded in the review process. Areas of interest will encompass but not be limited to the Foundation’s six funding sectors: arts and culture, community and economic development, education, environment, health, and human services.

This Fellowship is built around the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation; therefore, risk-taking is essential. We expect failures, or at least non-conclusive results after three years, for some Fellows.