Announcing the Priya Haji Fellowship

Many of the best ideas at True come from listening to our Founders. Founder Camp, True Forums, True University and the True Entrepreneur Corps all exist today because our Founders suggested to us that there might be something we could do to help them better connect with one another, better support their employees, and better source talented college students for summer employment. Today, we are excited to launch another program that we’ve created in response to demand—not just from our Founders, but from a broader audience as well.

When we envisioned the True Entrepreneur Corps (TEC) in 2009, we did so shortly after the first Obama inauguration, in which the President called upon all Americans to think about how they could do their part to encourage economic recovery. Since then, this program has helped more than 80 students over seven years get their foot in the door in a startup and build the foundations for fulfilling careers. Although there has been no such clearly articulated call to arms recently, we consistently hear from our Founders that access to talent remains one of the most significant challenges they face. And, on a broader level, we recognize that there is more that we can and should do to help young people—young women especially—experience the magic of the startup experience.

All this being the case, we are proud to launch a new initiative as a complement to TEC that will match recent college graduates with companies in the True portfolio. This nine-month fellowship begins September 1 and will give young entrepreneurs exposure to all aspects of the startup experience. While this program will be open to all recent graduates, we are acutely aware of the challenges faced by women interested in breaking into the startup world and we hope and expect that at least half of the group will be women. We want this program to give the most talented graduates in the country the support they need to kickstart their careers.

A final note about a third inspiration for this fellowship: as these young people begin their professional journeys and seek to make a positive impact in the world through technology, we can think of no better model than the program’s namesake, Priya Haji. A four time entrepreneur, Priya was committed to building companies that made the world a better place, including SaveUp, in which True was an investor from 2011 until its 2014 acquisition. We celebrate Priya’s legacy and share her commitment to mentorship and positive impact, and we hope that the Priya Haji Fellows will follow in her footsteps and use this program as a springboard to similarly fulfilling and purposeful careers.

Founders in the True portfolio have responded enthusiastically to this fellowship and we are excited to place graduates in these companies immediately to prepare for the program kickoff this September. So, to members of the Class of 2015: congratulations on completing your college experiences, and we hope to have the pleasure of supporting you in the first phase of your professional lives beginning this fall.

For more information about the Fellowship, including application materials, please visit the program website.