First Cohort of Fellowship for Leading Large-Scale Change, Lake Tahoe, CA
Once you’ve completed the Skid Row School, you are eligible to apply to the Billions Institute Fellowship. We are currently accepting applications to the fellowship on a rolling admissions basis.
The Billions Institute Fellowship is a two-year transformational learning experience for social change leaders designed to strengthen your ability to lead large-scale change in your sector. Over a series of six in-person retreats, Fellows are supported in doing to the inner-work that forms a solid foundation for being able to create massive transformation of the planet without burning out. The through-line is developing your capacity to reliably ground your actions in integrity and justice.
Fellows will pursue three shared goals:
- Measurably advance your own large-scale change effort by applying the Model for Unleashing
- Form a “healthy pack” with peers who share your commitment to creating a healthy and just planet
- Identify and overcome any barriers that are holding you back from your potential as a leader of large-scale change
How it works: Fellows will gather for six three-day retreats over a two-year period, eighteen days total. Each of the six retreats will include sessions with experts, personal transformation coaches, experiential site visits when appropriate, and peer facilitation. The intensives will take place at residential retreat centers twice a year in the Los Angeles vicinity and the other retreat will be on the east coast to spread out the travel burden for the cohort.
Between the retreats, fellows will apply what they’ve learned in their own scaling efforts. There is a rolling 24 month curriculum that is offered through a monthly webinar and build upon the work we do in person. Once a month, fellows have the opportunity to receive coaching from their peers. Additionally, fellows will be paired up as accountability buddies to support ongoing integration and application of the material. Additionally, Fellows will have 24/7 access to faculty and one another through a private NING message board.
Warning: This is a radically different kind of group, one that invites the fellows in as co-creators. The Billions Institute will curate and facilitate, but not hand-hold. We envision this group as being a lived experience of the principles that inform the Model for Unleashing.
The ground we will cover will be deeply personal. You will have the opportunity to discover and change unconscious habits that hold you back and sometimes that generates resistance. The fellowship will challenge you to update your core operating system and unconscious assumptions about how you want to show up as a person and as a leader.
The specific content for each retreat will be selected by each cohort, but here are some chosen areas of focus for the first cohort to give you a sense of what to expect:
| Dates | Theme | Location |
| September 25 – 28, 2018 | Advanced integrity, justice, and self-care skills | Palms Resort, City of Industry |
| February 5 – 7, 2019 | Deepening your commitment to centering your life and your work in racial and social justice. Peer coaching on large-scale change projects. | Atlanta, GA with field trip to Peace and Justice Memorial/Museum in Montgomery, AL |
| June 4 – 6, 2019 | Aims & Creativity (Aims, overcoming scarcity, leveraging genius, advanced methods of creating reality, and tackling organizational barriers to transformation) | Los Angeles, CA |
| October 15 – 17, 2019 | TBD by cohort participants | Los Angeles, CA |
Faculty Team: While Becky Margiotta is the primary facilitator, she has formed a unique faculty team to support the fellows. Christine Margiotta, in addition to being Becky’s amazing wife, brings a wealth of experience in public narrative, organizing, philanthropy, social justice, and large-scale systems change. Mike Thompson brings decades of experience in leading national, state and community-level LGBTQ advocacy efforts and organizations. Nicole Taylor, author of A Joyful Pause, blends her expertise in Ayurvedic Medicine, Yoga, and consciousness skills in service of self-care. Leslie Chertok is an entrepreneur and skilled trauma therapist. Together we weave a web of love and support around the fellows and create a context for deep personal transformation along with powerful professional growth. We love working together and it shines through in everything we do.
Current Fellows: There are currently 20 fellows and we will never allow the group to grow larger than 30 so that we can maintain close relationships. They are each and every one extraordinary. Check them out here.
Graduation requirements:
- Actively participate in the in-person meetings, monthly virtual meetings, accountability buddy calls, and the message board.
- Serve as a “table facilitator” for at least one Skid Row School during the two-year period, coaching and mentoring a small group for the duration of the four-day training.
- Briefly mentor one new fellow.
- Receive recommendation from three peers on your graduation committee based on your integration of the Super Friends Checklist.
After graduation, fellows are considered members of the “healthy pack” for life. Our vision is that the healthy pack we create together will become your home base forever, a safe refuge in the uncertain and chaotic experience of leading large-scale change, and the kick in the butt, too, if that’s what’s needed.
Cost: $10,000 per year, with the first year invoiced upon acceptance into the program and the second year invoiced at your one-year anniversary. This does not include travel, lodging, or meals. Scholarships are available based on need. If this speaks to you, please do not let the cost stop you from applying.
To Apply: On a rolling basis, we will admit 4 new fellows at each retreat. Applications are available here.
Fellows will be selected to include leaders working on a diversity of issues and to optimize the representational equity of the cohort. We are committed to ensuring that the cohort is comprised of at least 30% people who identify as People of Color. We encourage leaders working on racial and social justice, climate change, education, anti-violence, and lack of access to essential needs and services to apply.
Minimum requirements to apply:
- Graduate of the Skid Row School
- Actively engaged in funding and/or leading large-scale change
- Willing to actively engage in deeply personal transformation work with a peer group
We will make admissions decisions on a rolling basis, generally within a few days of receiving your application. If you are interested, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Becky to discuss further.