Welcoming Our Largest Fellowship Yet: Meet Cohort 15

A Milestone of 200 Fellows and Nearly $9M Invested in Bold Ideas

In a world that demands big solutions, we continue to bet big on the visionary founders who are building them. This summer, we’re proud to welcome Cohort 15—our largest Fellowship yet, made up of 20 dynamic founders tackling urgent challenges across education, health, finance, and the future of work. With their addition, Camelback Ventures has now supported 200 entrepreneurs through our programs—marking a major milestone in our first decade of investing in genius that’s too often overlooked.

These 20 Fellows represent what’s possible when capital, coaching, and community come together. From Los Angeles to Baltimore, New Orleans to New York, they are reimagining everything from early childhood development to financial literacy, new school models to equitable healthcare. They’re not just launching ventures; they’re reshaping the systems we move through every day.

As our second Fellowship of 2025, this cohort brings our total investment to nearly $9 million across a powerful network of entrepreneurs who have been traditionally underinvested. And we’re just getting started.

“This moment demands bold, values-driven investment—and we’re meeting it by continuing to pour capital, coaching, and community into founders who have long been overlooked,” said Shawna Young, CEO of Camelback Ventures. “These Fellows are visionaries solving real problems. Our job is to ensure they have the capital, content, and community they need to be successful.”

A Fellowship Like No Other

Over the next 16 weeks, Cohort 15 will take part in Camelback’s immersive Fellowship experience, receiving a $40,000 investment, customized coaching, and access to our growing alumni network of changemakers. What sets Camelback apart isn’t just the funding—it’s the long-game approach to shifting power and possibility alongside founders.

“We’re not just backing founders financially—we’re building power alongside them to shift what’s possible in their communities,” said Elaine Atherton, VP of Programs at Camelback.

Key Data: Cohort 15 

The Geography of Innovation

Social innovation isn’t just a coastal phenomenon anymore. While New York (23%) and California (18%) remain significant hubs, the Southeast has emerged as a powerful center of entrepreneurial activity. Georgia (9%) and Louisiana (7%) are proving that impactful ventures can flourish anywhere talent meets opportunity. This geographic diversity isn’t just about location – it represents different approaches to solving local challenges with potential for national impact.

Focus Areas: Where Change is Happening

Education represents the largest focus area at 50% of ventures. The remaining areas show diverse approaches to community impact:

• Education (50%): Representing the largest share of venture activity
• Workforce Development (25%): Building pathways to economic opportunity and skills development
• Community Development (10%): Tackling systemic issues in economic development and social justice
• Health & Wellness (10%): Addressing both physical and mental health disparities
• Policy & Advocacy (5%): Working on systemic change through policy initiatives

The data shows a strong emphasis on education and workforce development, which together account for 75% of all ventures, while community-focused and advocacy efforts make up the remaining quarter.

Commons Threads: The Challenges Being Addressed

Several key themes emerge across these social innovation initiatives:

• Educational transformation, with ventures reimagining K-12 and higher education through culturally responsive content, hands-on learning, and technology-enabled platforms that serve underrepresented students
• Workforce development and economic mobility, particularly focusing on alternative pathways into high-demand sectors like healthcare, technology, and financial services for justice-impacted individuals and underserved communities
• Healthcare access and navigation, addressing systemic barriers through community health workers, clinical training placement solutions, and early childhood development support
• Financial inclusion and stability, creating tools and services that help immigrants, low-income workers, and justice-impacted individuals access banking, retirement planning, and government benefits
• Cultural responsiveness and identity-centered learning, integrating storytelling, history, and community values into educational and skill-building programs that affirm students’ backgrounds while building academic and professional competencies

This cohort demonstrate a comprehensive approach to addressing systemic inequities, with many focusing on populations that have been historically excluded from traditional pathways to opportunity.