Program Associate, Fellowship

About this role

About Activate Activate is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to turning scientific discoveries into real-world impact. Through partnerships with government, philanthropy, universities, and industry, Activate builds the cross-sector ecosystem that drives hard tech innovation—equipping scientists and engineers with world-class resources, training, and community to bring their work from discovery to deployment. Since 2015, Activate's flagship fellowship has supported nearly 350 fellows across the United States, who have launched more than 275 companies and secured over $5.5 billion in follow-on funding.

Now expanding beyond its flagship program, Activate is reaching scientists and engineers at more stages of their entrepreneurial journey across the world—multiplying the pathways from innovation to commercialization. Learn more at Activate.org . Position Summary The Program Associate is a generalist role that contributes across the fellowship department, including education, operations, events, alumni engagement, and other team priorities.

A core focus of the role is supporting our education programs: including Elements of Entrepreneurship, our core curriculum helping fellows build and scale their companies; and Founder Learning in Pods (FLiPs), focused learning experiences on topics like fundraising, building teams, customer discovery, sales, and founder leadership. They will turn plans into action, coordinate logistics, manage systems and data, and jump in wherever additional capacity is needed to deliver an exceptional experience for Activate fellows and alumni.

Activate is seeking an ambitious, highly organized Program Associate to join our Fellowship team. This role offers an early-career professional the chance to learn the ins and outs of the strategy and operations behind a best-in-class fellowship that supports scientist-entrepreneurs building breakthrough technologies. This role reports to the Chief of Staff, Fellowship and is a member of the Program Operations team within the broader Fellowship team.

Primary Responsibilities Coordinate Fellowship education programming for fellows across all five U.S. communities, including logistics, materials, communications, attendance, and learning platforms. Support the planning and execution of Activate’s annual Fellowship Retreat, coordinating logistics, materials, communications, and other needs for this cornerstone Fellowship experience. Build and maintain Fellowship resources, including guides, templates, and learning materials that help fellows and alumni access the information they need.