Introducing the X Fellowship. The fellowship for professional baddies… | by Ayushi Sinha | X Fellowship | Jul, 2022

In response to current events, we stand in solidarity with women. It is clear there is much work to be done in lifting up, learning from, and celebrating women trailblazers in male-dominated fields. Together, as leading women in tech and venture capital, we have the ability to change the playing field for many sectors. That’s why we’re starting the fellowship for professional baddies in tech and venture capital: introducing X Fellowship for the womxn of Stanford and Harvard Business School.

On behalf of the X Fellowship, we invite you to apply to our inaugural cohort. We are seeking passionate changemakers across technology and venture capital from fem-tech, healthtech, impact investing, to AI/ML. This program is open to applicants who are (1) currently leading a venture or organization within technology or venture capital, (2) have previously led an initiative in these fields, (3) or have a tech background and are highly interested in further engaging with this community. We are looking for women making disruptive innovation through leveraging tech and venture capital for maximum impact in their fields. Our first cohort will be those who self identify as womxn and are in the Harvard Business School or Stanford Graduate School of Business class of 2024. While the “X” in our fellowship refers to the powerful XX chromosome, we are open to any candidates who identify as a womxn and have the “x-factor” and drive to create meaningful global impact.

This two-year fellowship will start with an in-person leadership retreat and offer in-person and virtual community, networking, and educational events. We hope to foster connections across schools and coasts.

Our program will empower our members with first-hand engagement with other passionate, visionary, female leaders, and the resources to unlock their potential to take their ventures, organizations, and ideas to the next level. Join us in our journey to reach, grow, and lead together.

First round applications are accepted on a rolling basis and close on 7/25 at 11:59 PM PST. We can’t wait to read your application and welcome our inaugural cohort of the X fellowship.

Any questions? Please email asinha@mba2024.hbs.edu and cbluo@stanford.edu. For more information on the X Fellowship, please refer to https://medium.com/x-fellowship. Apply @ https://forms.gle/SVjvoXsSrLZtsoN29. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

Know someone who would be a good fit? Refer them @ https://forms.gle/ktk9McoAfRU9fR1B6

The X Fellowship Co-leads Ayushi Sinha & Cherie Luo bring a diverse range of experiences within using tech for change. Their backgrounds focus primarily on venture capital, creator economy, AI/ML, and healthtech. Both leaders have founded and led their own ventures and completed technical degrees in engineering and computer science from Princeton and Columbia and will be attending HBS and GSB in the fall. Their backgrounds include building an audience of 100K+ followers and 8M+ views, founding Princeton’s first student led VC fund, working as product managers at LinkedIn and Microsoft, and more. Their commitment to building a strong community and experience in technology and venture capital will make the X fellowship cohort visionary, engaging, and impactful.

Cherie is a content creator, investor, and product builder. Over the last year she developed an audience of 100K+ followers on TikTok where she shares her entrepreneurial expertise and experiences as a woman in technology. Cherie actively uses her platform to empower others to break into product management especially those from underrepresented backgrounds. Cherie worked at LinkedIn for 5 years and as a senior product manager led teams of 80+ engineers, UX designers, and data scientists to build growth and retention features for millions of users. Currently, Cherie is an investor at Bain Capital Ventures, where she focuses on creator economy investing. She’s attending Stanford Graduate School of Business for her MBA with the dream of being a founder of her own startup to empower anyone to become a creator.

Ayushi graduated Cum Laude from the Princeton University Department of Computer Science, received a certificate in Cognitive Science, and invests in early-stage startups at Bain Capital Ventures. Previously, she built ML for radiology as a Product Manager at Nines. As an undergraduate at Princeton, she co-founded her own startup, WellPower, a vertically integrated Uber for water filtration and distribution in East Africa, worked at the intersection of ML, geospatial, IoT, and cloud as a Software Engineer & PM at Microsoft, studied facial recognition for her senior thesis and completed independent work at the intersection of accessibility and VR, creating an immersive music education experience, was co-president of of E-Club, Princeton’s largest student organization, and co-founded Princeton’s first student-led VC, Prospect Student Ventures, to invest in student founders and teach core concepts of venture capital. In her free time, she makes one friend at a week @ friendaweek.substack.com and designs south asian-inspired athleisure @ yustha.yoga. She will be attending Harvard Business School in the fall.