Comparing Mountaintop in a Competitive Manner to Peer Organizations

What Happened: From fall 2022 through summer 2023, Mountaintop had a graphic on its website and certain other materials called "Peer Models" that listed other fellowship programs and described how Mountaintop was distinct. This graphic had been created to show how Mountaintop was filling gaps in the leadership space and was recommended by several advisors. However, a partner from one of these fellowship organizations reached out to share that some of the information was inaccurate, and that in general the graphic seemed to imply a competitive tone in a space that requires collaboration to solve complex problems.

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How Mountaintop Responded: Mountaintop immediately apologized for the unintended errors and competitive tone, and took down the graphic on the website and all materials.

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Mountaintop's Learning and Commitment: Since the graphic was initially created, Mountaintop's thinking of how systems change happens has evolved. There is no way that complex issues can be solved by a single organization working competitively, and our world needs fewer "lone wolves" and more collaborative individuals and organizations who build up and support mission-aligned friends and partners, even if their exact approach is slightly different. Going forward, Mountaintop commits to:

1. Never compare ourselves to other organizations in a competitive manner;

2. Adjust our theory of change to prioritize partnership and ecosystem building with complementary organizations.