Grantmakers for Effective Organizations' 2027 Change Leaders in Philanthropy Fellowship Application

Grantmakers for Effective Organizations' 2027 Change Leaders in Philanthropy Fellowship Application
WHO

We invite you to complete this application if you meet all four of these criteria:
1. You work at a grantmaking institution;
  - GEO has other opportunities for academic institutions, consultants or infrastructure organizations that support or resource the philanthropic sector but do not make grants, which you can learn more about here.
2. You report to an Executive Director, President or CEO but are not the ED, President nor CEO yourself;
  - There are some exceptions to this, but all fellows must be in senior leadership positions with org-wide authority. You will have opportunity to share more about your unique organizational structure and your role below.
  - There are no exceptions for EDs, Presidents or CEOs. GEO has dedicated programming for these roles that you can learn more about here.
3. You have been expressly entrusted with leading consequential organizational change by your organization's leadership;
4. You are ready to be part of building a confidential community of peers to actively contribute support, resources and guidance on how to equitably lead change management.
PROCESS & TIMING
- Complete the application below by 11:59 p.m. PST on Tuesday, October 13, 2026.
- You are able to save and resume the application later by choosing that option at the bottom of the form.
- Applicants can expect a response the week of November 9.
- Program fee for accepted fellows is due between December 2026 - January 2027. More details on the program fee are below in that section.
- Cohort activities will begin in January 2027 and run through November 2027.
  More details on the cohort's required time commitment are below in that section.
QUESTIONS?

If you require any accessibility assistance, have questions about your eligibility or more, please contact andrea@geofunders.org
Getting to know you
Please confirm that you are 1) a senior leader with org-wide purview, 2) at a grantmaking institution, 3) who has been explicitly tasked to lead a current or imminent significant organizational change.
Your name

First NameLast Name
Your pronouns
(ex: she/her, they/them, etc)
Best email for us to reach you (typically an org email)
example@example.com
Best phone number to reach you
Please enter a valid phone number.Format: (000) 000-0000.
Where you are located (we will only share your city & state within the cohort should you be selected as 2027 fellow)

Street Address

Street Address Line 2

CityState / Province

Postal / Zip Code
Your job title
Your role type(s)
Please share your role type if you chose other above (optional)
Your bio (a url from your organization's webpage, LinkedIn, or copy and paste a brief bio)

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Your tenure in your current senior leader role
Your total tenure at your organization
How would you describe your identity? How do your identities shape how you move through the world and your work in philanthropy?

0/250
GEO cares about community-driven and equity-centered philanthropy. Please share a little about how you use philanthropy as a tool to respond to historical and current forms of oppression based on marginalized identities?

0/250
Getting to know your organization
Your grantmaking organization
Is your organization a GEO member? Your application review will not be affected by your membership status. If accepted, your organization must be a GEO member throughout the duration of the 2027 fellowship. Membership rates for 2027 are below.
Your organization's webpage
Organization type
If you chose other from the list above, please share your org type including your org's grantmaking. This program is exclusively for grantmaking organizations.
Your organization's annual grantmaking budget
Your organization's grantmaking focus in brief (population, region, purpose)
Your organization's staff size
Your organization's location

Street Address

Street Address Line 2

CityState / Province

Postal / Zip Code
Cohort application questions

This fellowship is designed to build the change management capacity of senior leaders who have direct authority and have been expressly tasked with shepherding organizational practice or culture change at a grantmaking institution. For each question, please submit a written response of about 300 words or an audio or video recording of no more than 2 minutes.
1) Please choose 1-3 top change(s) your organization is undergoing or will undergo in 2027.

Other
2) Elaborate on your choice(s) above with: a) your own analysis of the organizational change, and b) any related opportunities or challenges you're encountering or anticipate.

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(Optional) Upload your video or audio response to Question 2 here.

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3) Describe your authorized role in advancing at least one of those changes, including: a) your organizational reporting or decision-making structure, and b) where you fit within it in relation to your Executive Director, President or CEO.

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(Optional) Upload your video or audio response to Question 3 here.

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4) Cohort members are expected to have self-awareness of their leadership strengths and growth edges. What aspects of your leadership capacity would you intend to focus on developing throughout the fellowship experience?

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(Optional) Upload your video or audio response to Question 4 here.

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5) The fellowship uses a community of practice model, in which cohort members bring their own experiences, stories, advice, resources, learnings and perspectives to the group. Let us know: a) what you would offer the peer learning space, and b) what you would seek from the cohort.

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(Optional) Upload your video or audio response to Question 5 here.

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Time commitment

This fellowship program is an intensive learning community that relies on the active, ongoing engagement of all cohort members. The minimum required time commitment for this cohort includes:
Orientation Webinar. We hold the same webinar twice to accommodate different schedules; you only need to attend one, although you are welcome to join both.
- Wednesday, January 20 from 12:30 - 1:30pm ET
- Monday, January 25 from 3 - 4pm ET
Virtual Launch Party. The cohort convenes online to learn more about GEO, each other and what to expect ahead of the Opening Retreat.
- Thursday, February 18 from 1:00pm - 2:30pm ET
Three Separate Retreats. Each retreat takes the form of a three-day in-person convening.
- Opening Retreat: Monday, March 15 at 9am ET to Wednesday, March 17 at 1pm ET; Washington, DC.
- Midpoint Retreat: Three days the week of July 19 starting at 9am local time on day one to 1pm local time on day three; exact days and location will be announced early 2027.
- Closing Retreat: Monday, November 8 at 9am local time to November 10 at 1pm local time; exact location will be announced early 2027.
Between retreats. At least 90-minutes every other week in the months of April, May, June, August, September and October for:
- Peer exchange and coaching as part of a “Home Team” made up of a subset of fellows in the cohort;
- 1-on-1 check-ins with facilitators and other fellows, including your designated CLIPF buddy;
- Retreat prework and postwork consisting of ongoing change management workshopping inside your organization, reflection, readings and more.
Please indicate confirmation of your capacity to fulfill the cohort time requirements outlined above.
(Optional) Share anything else you'd like us to know about your answer above. Please know your willingness and capacity to fullfil the cohort's time requirements is core to our assessment of your application.

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Program fee

As a reminder, your application review will not be affected by your organization's current GEO membership status. GEO membership is required for all cohort members throughout the duration of the fellowship (January 2027 - November 2027). This GEO program does not offer a reduced fee or scholarship. Fellows are responsible for all costs associated with travel and lodging for the three in-person cohort retreats outlined above.
Select the program fee that aligns with your organization's grantmaking budget. This is the amount you will be invoiced should you be become a 2027 cohort member. This GEO program does not offer a reduced fee or scholarship.
Please share the contact information for the person at your organization who would be responsible for fulfilling the program fee by early January 2027 should you be accepted into the fellowship.

First NameLast Name
Billing contact email
example@example.com
Phone Number
Please enter a valid phone number.Format: (000) 000-0000.
Billing contact address

Street Address

Street Address Line 2

CityState / Province

Postal / Zip Code
Executive Director, President or CEO support

Your Executive Director, President or CEO's active endorsement of your cohort membership is essential to your success. We require that you have a substantive conversation with your ED, President or CEO to discuss the purpose and format of this program, so that you have the needed resources (time, energy, access to staff and/or board, etc) to adequately practice and lead change. If you are invited to join the fellowship, GEO will communicate directly with your ED, President or CEO to inform them that you've been accepted and to underscore the importance of their support.
After discussing the purpose, required resources and time commitment of the Change Leaders in Philanthropy Fellowship with my ED, President or CEO, I have received their support to participate in the program.
(Optional) Share anything else you'd like us to know about your answer above. Please know your leadership's backing is core to our assessment of your application.

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Your ED, President or CEO's name

First NameLast Name
ED, President or CEO email
example@example.com
Email of support staff to the ED, President or CEO
example@example.com
(Optional) Learning from you
Please let us know how you learned about GEO's Change Leaders in Philanthropy Fellowship.
GEO welcomes any feedback you'd like to share regarding this application process.

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Grantmakers for Effective Organizations' 2027 Change Leaders in Philanthropy Fellowship Application

Getting to know you

Getting to know your organization

Cohort application questions

Time commitment

Program fee

Executive Director, President or CEO support

(Optional) Learning from you