Introducing the Theresa Collective

The Ron Brown Venture Lab is launching the Theresa Collective, a cohort-based fellowship and microgrant program supporting Ron Brown Scholars and Captains who are using technology to solve important problems.

But first, a little about why we’re building it.

Finding where the Venture Lab can make a difference

Since we started in 2025, we’ve been exploring a fundamental question: Where does the Ron Brown Venture Lab have the right to win, and where is there the greatest demand for support within our community?

Initially, inspired by Y Combinator, we focused on the journey from 0 to 1: helping active founders turn promising ideas into new companies, products, and organizations. That remains an important part of our mission, but it also meant limiting our reach to the relatively small number of Scholars and Captains already pursuing ventures.

We began to look further upstream.

What if, like South Park Commons, we could also support the journey from -1 to 0: helping alumni identify problems worth solving, explore opportunities, test their assumptions, and develop the conviction to build something? That expanded our potential reach by an order of magnitude, bringing in alumni who had the skills and curiosity to build but hadn’t yet committed to a particular project or venture.

Then we looked further upstream still.

What if we could help Scholars and Captains move from -2 to -1: expanding their sense of what’s possible in the first place? Through events, conversations with exceptional builders, and media inspired by How I Built This by Guy Raz and Founders by David Senra that shares how people discover opportunities and bring ideas to life, we can reach an even broader segment of our community—potentially an order of magnitude beyond those already exploring what to build.

Together, these three stages form our vision for the Venture Lab:

• ▸Inspire: Help alumni imagine what’s possible (-2 to -1)
• ▸Think: Help alumni discover what to build (-1 to 0)
• ▸Build: Help alumni turn promising ideas into reality (0 to 1)

We don’t believe everyone needs to start a company. Building might mean developing an open-source tool, conducting research, creating a new product, solving a problem in one’s community, or joining forces with other alumni to bring an idea to life.

Our job is to help alumni take the next step, wherever they are starting from.

Introducing the Theresa Collective

We’re naming this initiative the Theresa Collective, inspired by the historic Hotel Theresa in Harlem, where the late Secretary Ronald H. Brown grew up. Once known as the “Waldorf of Harlem,” the hotel became a gathering place for entrepreneurs, artists, political leaders, and people from all walks of life. It was a place where people encountered new ideas, formed relationships, and discovered what they could accomplish together.

We want to build on that spirit: a community where Ron Brown Scholars and Captains can learn from one another, find collaborators, explore opportunities, and turn their ideas into something tangible.

The Theresa Collective is one way we’ll bring that vision to life.

What is the Theresa Collective?

Each quarter, a small cohort of Ron Brown Scholars and Captains will be selected to receive:

• ▸A $1,000 microgrant to advance a defined technical milestone.
• ▸Three monthly peer-learning sessions to present their work, share challenges, and receive feedback from fellow builders.
• ▸One-on-one mentorship from a member of the Ron Brown network.
• ▸A cohort showcase to share what they’ve built, what they’ve learned, and what’s next.

At the conclusion of the fellowship, participants will prepare a short project summary documenting their progress and lessons learned. Fellows will also be recognized at annual Ron Brown conferences alongside other fellowship cohorts.

The goal isn’t simply to distribute grants. It’s to cultivate a community of builders who learn from one another, strengthen their ideas through collaboration, and accelerate meaningful innovation.

What kinds of projects are we looking to support?

We’re interested in projects that leverage technology to solve important problems. They can be driven by a personal passion, research interest, business opportunity, community service, or anything else that inspires someone to build.

Projects don’t need to be incorporated, commercialized, or destined to become startups. We care about what you’re trying to build, why it matters, what you’ll learn, and what you can accomplish with the right support.

For example, we’re excited by the possibility of supporting:

• ▸A computer science student building an app for a local nonprofit they volunteer with.
• ▸A software engineer developing an open-source tool.
• ▸A mechanical engineer prototyping a new device or machine.
• ▸A researcher piloting a new intervention.
• ▸A product manager conducting market research and customer discovery before starting a company.
• ▸A current or aspiring founder building a minimum viable product or developing a new product feature.

For inspiration, check out projects funded by Solo Grants, a program that helped inform our approach to the Theresa Collective.

What does participation look like?

The fellowship follows a roughly 90-day cycle, with three opportunities to share work and learn from the cohort.

Around Day 1 — Kickoff

Fellows introduce their projects to one another and a broader audience of builders in the Ron Brown network. They’ll explain the problem they’re solving, what they’ve built so far, their next technical milestone, where they’re stuck, and what help they need.

Around Day 45 — Progress Update

Fellows share what’s changed, what they’ve accomplished, what has succeeded or failed, and what challenges have emerged. The group helps participants think through obstacles and identify their next steps.

Around Day 90 — Showcase

Fellows present what they set out to accomplish, what they actually built, what they learned, and what’s next for them and their projects.

Throughout the process, we want fellows to be candid about their progress. An experiment that disproves an assumption or a prototype that reveals a problem can be just as valuable a learning experience as a successful launch.

Who should apply?

Teams must be led by at least one Ron Brown Scholar or Captain. We welcome complementary skills, experiences, and backgrounds across team members, and we’re especially eager to support teams of Ron Brown alumni working together on the same project.

Strong applicants will be able to articulate:

• ▸The problem: What important problem are you trying to solve, and for whom?
• ▸The technology: How will your project use technology in an innovative way?
• ▸The impact: How could the project have a positive impact on the world?
• ▸The growth: What will building this project teach you as a leader?
• ▸The community: Why do you want to build alongside, support, and thoughtfully engage with other builders through the Theresa Collective, Venture Lab, and broader Ron Brown network?
• ▸The milestone: What specifically will you build, test, validate, or improve during the fellowship?
• ▸The budget: How will you use the $1,000 grant to accomplish something that would otherwise be difficult to achieve in your current circumstances?

We’re particularly interested in teams that are already pushing the bounds of what’s possible with free tools and lower-cost resources, and can explain how this grant will help them reach the next level.

We also recognize that $1,000 means different things to different teams. We’ll assess the grant’s potential impact in light of applicants’ circumstances and existing resources.

How will grant funds be used?

The microgrant is intended to help fellows make tangible progress on the technology itself. Eligible activities may include prototyping, software or hardware development, technical materials, experimentation, user testing, data collection, and engineering support.

Funds generally should not be used for expenses that primarily support the surrounding venture rather than the technical work, such as team compensation, marketing, branding, website development, conference travel, general business operations, incorporation fees, or fundraising. Exceptions may be considered when an applicant makes a compelling case that an expense is essential to achieving a specific technical milestone.

We want the funding to be catalytic: it should help you build, test, validate, or improve something that moves your project from concept toward implementation.

If you’re a Ron Brown Scholar or Captain interested in applying, visit RBS Connect to learn more.