2021 Sustainable Finance Initiative (SFI) Summer Fellowship Program
The Sustainable Finance Initiative (SFI) is happy to announce its inaugural summer fellowship program. As the only summer fellowship on campus dedicated to enhancing the understanding and the practice of sustainable finance, the SFI program provides financial support to continuing Stanford graduate students who have secured summer internships with organizations whose missions are aligned with SFI’s focus areas.
Program Dates
Late June – Early September, 2021
Student Eligibility
- Students must be pursuing a graduate degree (co-term, master’s, or PhD) at Stanford University. Priority will be given to master's and PhD students during the selection process.
- Students must be in good academic standing.
- Undergraduate and graduating students are not eligible.
Internships Eligibility
-
The host organization should:
- Be mission-aligned with SFI and provide internship opportunities on one or more of the following topics:
- Sustainable/green/climate finance
- Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG)
- Transition finance
- Green taxonomy
- Blended finance
- Carbon markets
- Scope I, II, III emissions
- Climate risk metrics, models & scenarios
- Other related topics
- Have one of the following structures:
- Non-profit (501c3 or equivalent)
- Public or government entity
- For-profit (B-Corp, C-Corp, LLC, or others) that meets at least one of the following criteria
- Pre-Series B and has fewer than 50 employees
- Investors have provided patient or philanthropic capital without expectation of a market-rate return in the most recent fundraising round.
- Be mission-aligned with SFI and provide internship opportunities on one or more of the following topics:
- Provide a full-time opportunity with a term minimum of 8 consecutive weeks.
- Provide a mentor committed to meeting on a weekly basis.
Application Process and Requirements
There are two tracks for graduate students to secure the SFI fellowship:
- Non-MBA graduate students who have secured summer internships with an organization with missions aligned with SFI’s should complete this application by May 27.
- MBA students should apply through the Social Management Immersion Fund (SMIF) application process by May 13 (note: SMIF has two-step process/deadlines). SFI will provide support in partnership with SMIF.
A complete application includes all of the following:
- Evidence of formal arrangements with an organization, which includes the dates and responsibilities of your internship and how much the organization is able to contribute to your salary, and if applicable, disclose any sources of additional funding.
- Information about the mentor, who can provide guidance on a weekly basis.
- 1-page cover letter, including applicant’s interest in sustainable finance and a proposal outlining the internship to be undertaken.
- CV/resume.
- An unofficial Stanford transcript.
Funding
SFI will provide funding to supplement organization contributions so that students can earn $1K per week (master's, PhD). Please see SFI website for more details, including funding scale for co-term students. MBA students who have successfully applied through SMIF will receive funding at the SMIF rate.
Students must have direct deposit activated in Axess by the first week of June so that the payment can be deposited directly into the account on file.
Expected Deliverables
- Submit a short summary report to SFI.
- Submit a blog post for the SFI website.
Student Experiences
In 2020, SFI provided support in partnership with SMIF for three fellows:
- Morrison Mast, MS-MBA ‘21, Blue Forest Conservation, San Francisco, CA;
- Fabiola Quinzaños, MBA ‘20, Renewable Resources Group, Los Angeles, CA; and
- Sachi Twine, MBA ‘21, Ecosystem Integrity Fund, Bay Area, CA.
- Read more about their experiences here.
