Is MOB Fellows a nonprofit?

Yes. MOB Fellows is a program of 786 Endowment Fund, Inc., a nonprofit corporation exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Its Form 990 is public. It is funded by tuition, charitable contributions from corporate partners, and scholarship gifts, and it operates no commercial placement business.

Does the fellowship guarantee a board seat?

No. Board appointments turn on turnover, timing, and fit. MOB Fellows undertakes preparation, visibility, and a year of active support, and publishes outcomes annually.

Can I do the fellowship while working full time?

Yes. Board Preparation is delivered online at four to six hours a week, plus five days in person.

What does the MOB Fellowship cost?

Tuition for the founding classes is $15,000, and most fellows are employer-funded. The application fee is $150. Tuition is a fee for educational services and is not a charitable contribution.

Does MOB Fellows take placement fees?

No. MOB Fellows accepts no fee for a placement from any party, and provides slates at no cost. As a 501(c)(3) educational organization, operating a commercial placement business would be inconsistent with its exempt purpose.

A founding partnership in the credential boards will look for.

Six category-exclusive partnerships in the fellowship preparing AI and cybersecurity leaders for public company board service.

The Case

Public companies must now disclose how their boards oversee cybersecurity risk, and accountability for artificial intelligence is arriving through the EU AI Act, through insurers, and through proxy scrutiny. Demand for directors able to govern these domains has outrun supply, and the firms best placed to see it are those already advising boards on governance, risk, and technology.

Founding partners are named on the credential while it is being established, and help shape the program that produces the directors their clients will one day seat.

The Tiers

Three levels. Six founding seats.

Founding Partner

Three-year term
Category-exclusive · Six only

Named founding recognition across program materials for the life of the program. Co-branded annual AI & Cyber in the Boardroom research report. Host and keynote seat at the Directors Summit. Two faculty masterclass slots a year. Names up to five scholarship seats a year. Opt-in introductions to fellows and alumni.

Strategic Partner

Annual term

Directors Summit panel participation. One faculty masterclass slot a year. Names two scholarship seats a year. Opt-in introductions to fellows and alumni. Recognition across program materials and the annual report.

Program Partner

Annual term

Directors Summit attendance with a guest panel seat. Names one scholarship seat a year. Recognition in program materials.

Commitment levels and category availability are set out in the prospectus. Seven categories are open: audit and advisory, governance law, D&O insurance, cyber platform, cloud and AI platform, executive search, and private capital.

Tax
treatment

786 Endowment Fund, Inc. is exempt under section 501(c)(3). EIN 88-0562494. Partner support is a charitable contribution and may be deductible to the extent allowed by law, reduced by the value of any substantial return benefit. Consult your own tax advisor. A written acknowledgment is provided for every contribution.

What
recognition
means

Recognition means a name, a mark, and a value-neutral description of what a firm does. It does not mean advertising, endorsement, comparative claims, or a recommendation to buy anything, and the Fellowship does not undertake to use a partner’s products or to steer fellows toward them.

Public
accounts

The Fellowship’s Form 990 is public. Every partner can see precisely what the institution they are funding does with the money.

Founding categories, one seat each: audit and advisory · governance law · D&O insurance · cybersecurity platform · cloud and AI platform · executive search (knowledge partner) · private capital.

Independence

What the charter preserves.

Admission and assessment are determined without reference to partners. Faculty drawn from partner firms teach governance practice, and partner products are not presented in the curriculum. A fellow's contact information reaches a partner only with that fellow's consent. The Fellowship accepts no fee for a placement, from any party.

These are not merely house rules. MOB Fellows is a program of 786 Endowment Fund, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. Partner support is a charitable contribution in furtherance of an educational purpose, not the purchase of access to a candidate pool, and the Fellowship's finances are a matter of public record on its annual Form 990. A firm that wants to buy a bench should retain a search firm. A firm that wants to build one should talk to us.

Request the partnership prospectus

The founding window closes when the sixth category commits.