The enFocus Fellowship Program
Location
Elkhart, IN | United States
Job description
Who We Are
enFocus, a non-profit organization, brings an entrepreneurial focus to communities in the South Bend - Elkhart, Indiana region by recruiting top talent, providing mentorship and cohort-based programming, and executing innovation projects for community partners, called sponsors, in the Civic (education, government, healthcare, nonprofit, etc.) and Industry (manufacturing, technology, private business, etc.) sectors. Since its founding in 2012, enFocus has also incubated 108 startups and social impact initiatives through Research, Development, & Entrepreneurship.
What You’ll Do
Throughout this salaried, two-year Fellowship, enFocus will provide you with meaningful work responsibilities, continuous professional development, and access to a network of mentors to assist you as you progress in your career.
As a Fellow, you'll work with enFocus Project Managers to discover, design, and implement innovative solutions for project sponsors. Due to variation in project size and scope, you'll execute between one and three consulting-like innovation projects at any given time. Simultaneously, you'll also conduct applied research and/or pursue entrepreneurial endeavors by supporting team members of existing enFocus incubations or by spearheading your own founder project to launch a startup, technology, or social impact initiative in the region. In the second year, you may have the possibility to take on further management and leadership responsibilities.
Each project will require different work activities, though all Fellows will be expected to:
- Develop and execute a project management plan for all projects
- Share opportunities and coordinate with various stakeholders, community leaders, and business executives
- Conduct discover activities, such as customer/stakeholder interviews, strategic research, and data collection and analysis
- Conduct design activities, such as program design, business model and/or marketing campaign development, process mapping, technology/software requirements definition, grant-writing, and strategic planning
- Conduct implement activities, such as technology/software implementation, employee training, project/stakeholder management, marketing strategy execution, and data collection/evaluation
- Contribute to at least one self-directed or existing enFocus Research, Development, & Entrepreneurship project
- Communicate regular project updates to enFocus staff and sponsors via meetings, email, and well-organized presentations
- Positively represent enFocus through all project engagements and any other enFocus events
Though some Fellows may work across our Civic and Industry portfolios, most Fellows are assigned to either Civic Innovation or Industry Innovation projects.
On Civic Innovation projects, you might:
- Partner with government officials to design a city-wide sustainable food system
- Develop and deploy a community needs assessment for a non-profit hospital
- Build strategic and financial plans for a grant-funded, community ride-sharing initiative
- Create and implement a Google Ads campaign and a marketing strategy for a local workforce development agency
On Industry Innovation projects, you might:
- Use business problem-solving methodologies to examine processes, data, and financial flows to identify efficiency gains and optimize value streams for a manufacturer
- Design and pilot research studies regarding products, markets, and supply chain dynamics for an existing business or emerging startup
- Analyze and visualize data for a private business using tools such as PowerBI and Tableau, as well as programming languages such as Python, R, and SQL
Regardless of their primary project portfolio, all Fellows will contribute to Research, Development, & Entrepreneurship initiatives. On these types of projects, you might:
- Advance your own novel social or business venture
- Collaborate with company representatives on federal research grant proposals (SBIR/STTR)
- Develop social programs to address disparities in the community
- Work with a promising startup to achieve an important business milestone
Requirements & Expectations
- Bachelor’s degree (all majors are considered)
- Minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA
- Ability to work full-time in the South Bend - Elkhart region for the duration of the Fellowship
- Must be able to use personal or public transportation for frequent travel to the enFocus and/or sponsor offices across the South Bend - Elkhart Region and Southwest Michigan
What we look for in a candidate:
- Passion for building better communities through innovation and entrepreneurship in a fast-paced environment
- Comfortability in taking initiative and ownership over project activities, priorities, and recommendations amidst ambiguous situations
- Excellent presentation and written and verbal communication skills
- Clear demonstration of leadership experience and/or project management capabilities in work or academic settings
- Ability to provide strategic insights through problem-solving and research
- Adaptability to learn new skills and industries quickly
- Familiarity and/or interest in one or more of the following: business/data analytics, community development, manufacturing, market or production strategy, product development, social impact, supply chain, and/or technology/software implementation
Job TypeFull-Time, Two-Year Fellowship Program (~40 hours per week)
LocationenFocus Fellows are expected to move to the South Bend - Elkhart, Indiana Region to work in-person at enFocus offices in South Bend, IN, Elkhart, IN, and Niles, MI, and on-site at community sponsors; however, Fellows will also have the flexibility to work remotely on occasion.
Benefits
- Year 1 Starting Salary Range: $47,500 - $50,000 with Performance-Based Increases
- $1,500 Technology Stipend
- Two Weeks Paid Time Off, 14 Paid Holidays + 4 Paid Floating Holidays, & 5 Paid Sick Days Annually
- Health, Vision, & Dental Insurance with Health Savings Account Option
- Retirement & 401k Matching After Year 1
- Workmans Compensation Coverage
- Research, Development, & Entrepreneurship Time (approx. 30% of your work hours)
- Dedicated Mentor Aligned with Career Interests
- Continuous Professional Development
Application Deadlines & Interview Timelines
enFocus is now accepting applications on a rolling basis for immediate hires and the August 2024 Cohort.
Contact Information
Applicants should receive an automated email immediately after submitting this application. If you do not find this email in your inbox, please check your junk and spam folders to ensure that you will be notified of any application status updates. Any questions can be directed to [email protected].
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