PITON FELLOWSHIP
Early Career Cohort
Call Metro Denver civic leaders with 2-5 years of experience
Sections:
The Piton Fellowship is designed to help leaders in business, policy and philanthropy leverage dedicated financial and strategic support from Gary Community Ventures to expand their knowledge, network and potential to drive positive change for themselves and their communities. An emphasis is being placed on leaders of color as part of an ongoing effort to bridge the historic gap between diverse talent and access to leadership opportunities.
Early Career Cohort
Learn, connect & develop with a network of peers and experts
The Early-Career Cohort is 10-month fellowship predominantly for leaders of color that creates a path-changing experience for those who are 2-5 years into their careers and work.
Fellows will deeply engage in individual and collective work that centers personal and professional development, racial equity, expanded social capital, knowledge and understanding of key issues faced by communities throughout metro Denver.
Don’t have 2-5 years experience? The Piton Fellowship has two other cohorts that may be for you. The Youth Cohort is comprised of Metro Denver leaders age 14-20, and the Mid-Career Cohort is recruiting leaders from the same area with 10+ years of experience.
Featured Fellow: Perla Bustillos
Perla Bustillos is currently the Chief Operating Office & Programs Director for the Colorado Equitable Economic Mobility Initiative. Prior to joining CEEMI, Perla Co-Founded Ednium: The Alumni Collective, a non-profit organization with a focus on mobilizing public school alumni as a powerful force to change the way cities educate and reinvest in its homegrown talent.
Cohort Experiences & Dates
The Piton Fellowship is designed to fit into the busy lives of working professionals
This 10-month program typically runs from late summer through spring. Fellows can expect to commit 1 full work day per month to the program, in addition to the program kick-off and 1 overnight venture experience.
Overall, the cohort is designed to allow fellows to:
- Continue working while building their leadership skills, networks and potential to create community impact.
- Participate in a kickoff, various cohort meetings and two overnight venture experiences out of town to learn from and connect with other changemakers.
- Receive a $1,000 stipend to use towards professional development and career-building upon completion of the program.
The 2023-2024 fellowship is planned for these dates:
- Kick-Off: 8/16-8/18
- Session 1: 9/8
- Session 2: 10/20
- Session 3: 12/8
- Session 4: 1/19
- Session 5: 2/16
- Session 6: 4/12
- Session 7: 5/10
- Venture: 3-day, overnight venture to Washington D.C. scheduled for Spring 2024 — dates to be confirmed
Universal Piton Fellowship Applicant Requirements
Certain attributes are required across cohorts
We’re looking for leaders who are:
- Committed to leading changes that impact their local communities.
- Enthusiastic about expanding their knowledge and advocacy of justice, racial equity, diversity and inclusion.
- Innovators, creative thinkers and change agents who are constantly thinking about how to build breakthrough solutions that will support their communities.
- Empathetic leaders with a strong willingness to learn and collaborate with those who have diverse perspectives.
- Living in Metro Denver (specifically Adams, Arapahoe, Denver and Jefferson counties), as this is a place-based fellowship
Why Join the Early Career Cohort?
The Early Career Cohort is uniquely designed for aspiring leaders that are 2-5 years in their career journey. Early Career Fellows will:
- Experience opportunities to explore and expand their personal and professional skills and talents to advance current and future career aspirations
- Interrogate how the intersection of their identities, and especially racial identities, impact their leadership journeys
- Participate in consultancies alongside fellow fellows, where you will have the opportunity to bring your own problem of practice and also lend expertise to issues others are facing
- Explore to understand key issues faced by communities in Metro Denver
- Ignite and expand their own personal networks while leveraging and supporting the Piton Fellow and Gary Community Venture networks
How to Apply & Nominate Fellows
The Early Career Cohort application window is currently closed, but nominations are open
To apply, please check back on this page when the application window for the Early Career Cohort opens, which is typically in May or June each year.
Nominations, however, remain open year-round. Click the button below to nominate a fellow.
Meet Previous Early Career Cohorts
Below is our 2021-2022 Cohort
Previous fellows in this cohort have included a TechStars alum, leaders from food and climate justice nonprofits, LGBTQ+ mental health advocates, a hip hop artist who doubles as a Rocky Mountain PBS radio host, a representative from one of our state’s most-awarded healthcare centers, a policy analyst focused on economic mobility for Coloradans, and a slew of up-and-coming leaders from our public education system.
Monica Amador
Luis Antezana
Perla Bustillos
Gabriella Carrethers
Ca’la Connors
Anya Dickson-Arguello
Bre Donnelly
Maleman Dotson
Abril Fuentes Guevara
Doen Lee
Sterling Loza
Carolina Luna Casas
Brenda Ortiz Torres
Demetrius Parker
Saaj Patel
Evelin Preciado
Xochitl Ramirez
Gabriela Rodriguez
Morgan Schmehl
Laura Valle-Gutierrez
Amanda West
Learn More About the Piton Fellowship
Although our initiatives now live under the Gary Community Ventures name, we intentionally chose to honor our history as The Piton Foundation in selecting The Piton Fellowship as the title for this program. We did so because we believe this name tells a perfect story about the idea of ascendency in leadership that Piton has long represented.
There are three cohorts of the fellowship for Youth, Early Career and Mid-Career Professionals. Designed to accessibly fit into the busy lives of fellows, this free experience allows fellows to continue working and learning while building their leadership skills, networks and potential to create community impact. Upon completion of the program, Gary provide continuing professional development and career-building support for all fellows
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I would like to see business people try to solve social problems with the same imagination and energy they use to finance a factory or make a deal. Don’t call it philanthropy; call it corporate social investment. Make it integral to business.