What Happened: After Mountaintop's first application cycle ended in September 2023, only 45.4% of applicants were female, compared to 53.8% male (the rest were gender non-conforming).

 

How Mountaintop Responded: Given the severe underrepresentation of women in leadership positions worldwide, Mountaintop aims for a majority of applicants in its second cycle to be women. To accomplish this, going forward Mountaintop will

1. ensure that 60%+ of candidates sent personalized recruitment messages on LinkedIn are women;

2. Mountaintop will explicitly encourage women to apply on its website and application form;

3. Mountaintop will ensure prominent representation of female Fellows on its website, materials, and social media.

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Mountaintop's Learning and Commitment: Going forward, Mountaintop commits to ensuring that its selection criteria remains as inclusive as possible, opening up the possibility of non-traditional candidates to demonstrate their qualifications through the selection process. Further, Mountaintop commits to expanding its outreach strategies to older demographics of emerging leaders and social entrepreneurs. Finally, Mountaintop commits to constantly seeking input and advice from candidates, Fellows, hosts, and others who directly are experiencing the fellowship to continue to improve the program design.