MOB FELLOWS
Modern Operators in the Boardroom

Apply to MOB 1

Twenty fellows, convening in fall 2026. Applications are reviewed in the order they arrive, and the class closes when it is full.

Before you begin

The application takes about ninety minutes. You may save a draft at any point and reload it later. We contact no employer and no reference without your explicit consent at the appropriate stage. A non-refundable $150 fee is due on submission, and payment instructions follow by email.

Eligibility

Four questions, so that neither of us spends ninety minutes finding out this is not the right year.

Years of professional experience
Your domain
Select all in which you hold authority earned by building, securing, or governing at scale.
The program is online, but two convenings are required: three days in San Francisco at month three, and two days in New York at month nine. Can you attend both?
Board Preparation asks four to six hours a week, online, for twelve weeks. Can you commit that?

Profile

The basics. Everything here is confidential, and your contact details are never published.

Which describes you today?
Functional role

Domain and scale

These fields become your directory profile on graduation, and they are the criteria against which a board search will filter. Answer them with specifics.

Your authority was earned by
Sector experience
Select every sector in which you have substantive experience.
Largest enterprise scale at which you have held accountability
Regulatory exposure
Regimes you have operated under directly.
Scale markers
Figures rather than adjectives, wherever you have them. Leave blank anything that does not apply to your role.
In plain terms, what have you built, secured, or governed that qualifies you as an authority? Include verifiable specifics — systems shipped, incidents commanded, models deployed, programs funded. (Up to 300 words.)
0 / 300 words

Board readiness

Answer these accurately rather than optimistically. Every one of them is verified before a profile is published, and none of them disqualifies you on its own.

Do you believe you qualify as an audit committee financial expert under SEC rules?
Most technical executives do not, and that is expected. Those who do are disproportionately placeable, because every audit committee is required to have one.
Committees you would be prepared to serve on
Board experience by type
Leave all unchecked if you have none. Many fellows arrive with none.
Cumulative years of board service
Across all boards, of any type. Many fellows arrive with none, and that is expected.
Board service — current and prior
Add a row for each board, of any type, current or prior. For public companies, give the ticker. Every entry is verified against the proxy statement before a directory profile is published, so a claim that cannot be checked is worse than no claim at all.
Additional board seats you could realistically take in the next 24 months
Willingness to travel

Writing

The essays carry most of the weight in the first review. Write them yourself, in your own voice, and answer the question that was asked.

Written the way a nominating chair would read it: enterprise outcomes first, technology second, and no acronym you would have to explain in a boardroom. (Up to 300 words.)
0 / 300 words
Describe a moment when you influenced a consequential decision above your formal authority — a board, a chief executive, a regulator, an investor group. What was at stake, what did you argue, what did you leave out, and what happened? (Up to 400 words.)
0 / 400 words
The board of a $4B consumer company gives you ten minutes on the risk in your domain they are most underestimating. What do you say — and, just as tellingly, what do you deliberately leave out? (Up to 400 words.)
0 / 400 words
Directors serve shareholders and the enterprise, not their own résumés. Tell us honestly what is pulling you toward this work at this point in your career. (Up to 250 words.)
0 / 250 words

Capacity, conflicts and references

Nothing disclosed here will count against an application. Something discovered later may.

All current board, advisory, investment, and consulting roles, including any ending before fall 2026.
Companies you could not serve for competitive reasons, and any relationship with our partners, faculty, or Advisory Council that the committee should weigh. Held internally; never published.
A brief letter, signed by your chief executive, CHRO, or manager, confirming your employer is aware you are preparing for external board service and does not object. It is not an endorsement and creates no obligation. If you cannot upload it now, email it to [email protected] after you submit.
References
Two. At least one must have watched you operate in a board or board-adjacent setting — a board meeting, an executive session, an audit or risk committee presentation. References are contacted only if you advance to the panel stage, and only with notice to you.

Funding

Tuition for the founding classes is $15,000. Most fellows are funded by their employers.

Intended funding path
Scholarship applications are considered separately and have no bearing on admission. The committees meet separately, and the Admissions Committee does not see funding path.
How did you hear about the fellowship?
0 / 150 words

Review and submit

Check everything below. You can go back to any step to correct it.

The fee

A non-refundable $150 application fee is due on submission. Payment instructions are emailed to you immediately, and your application enters review once the fee is received. Written applications are typically reviewed within two to three weeks.

Later Classes

MOB 2 convenes in spring 2027.

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