Enviropreneur Fellowship Program
Fostering Market Solutions for a Sustainable Future
The Hoover Enviropreneur Fellowship Program is a nonresidential, project-based fellowship tailored for mid-career professionals committed to exploring innovative market approaches to solving environmental challenges. Fellows will collaborate with Hoover Institution scholars and Stanford faculty, drawing on their extensive knowledge in business, finance, law, and environmental strategy.
Fellows will visit the Hoover Institution three times during the program to engage in interactive discussions, peer learning, and workshops. These sessions are designed to highlight economic institutions that make conservation and environmental improvements profitable and to help participants refine and apply entrepreneurial skills and market approaches to their own projects, making them both financially viable and environmentally impactful. Fellows will also participate in virtual sessions to maintain momentum and continue developing their strategies.
The fellowship runs from March 2026 through March 2027 and is open to practitioners with significant hands-on experience. Candidates must come with a business proposal and the drive to convert it into results. Fellows will continue to work full-time in their current professional roles while building their existing proposals to incorporate greater innovation to achieve measurable ends.
Who Should Apply?
In line with the Hoover Institution’s mission, this fellowship seeks innovative people and ideas who will help improve the human condition by advancing market opportunities to enhance measurable environmental results. Ideal candidates are conservation practitioners (not academics or researchers) with at least five years of hands-on experience in a for-profit or nonprofit enterprise with a validated business model. They possess business and economic literacy, are proficient in spoken and written English, and bring an entrepreneurial spirit to solving environmental problems. Applicants must have an existing or planned business proposal that seeks to deliver environmental improvements using market approaches.
Application Requirements:
- Minimum of 5 years of hands-on experience in conservation
- An existing or planned business proposal to serve as a capstone project for development
- Openness to challenge perspectives and offer constructive feedback to peers
- A cover letter and statement of interest outlining your current position and business
- A business prospectus detailing your project, its market approach, and funding mechanisms
- A curriculum vitae or resume
PRELIMINARY DATES
DATE
PROGRAM
December 2025
Applications Open
February 11, 2026
First round of applications reviewed
March 1, 2026
Final application deadline
Applicants are encouraged to apply as early as possible for full consideration.
March 2026
Applicant Notifications sent
March 30, 2026
Business Proposal Due for Accepted Fellows
April 14, 2026
First virtual meeting
Virtual introductions and brief business proposal presentations, setting the stage for the fellowship.
May 10–14, 2026
*Module 1: Markets vs Mandates Conference
Attend Hoover’s Markets vs Mandates Conference, dive into market-driven solutions, and discuss how markets and mandates shape fellows’ business proposals while refining core elements of their plans.
October 11–13, 2026
*Module 2: Innovative Enviropreneurship
Pitch business plan, and engage with scholars and experts to challenge assumptions and push proposals toward greater clarity, rigor, and market viability.
March 10–12, 2027
*Module 3: Final Project Presentations
Showcase refined business plans, solidify next steps, and consider opportunities for continued engagement with future fellows, Hoover scholars, and related Stanford programs.
May 2027
Markets vs. Mandates Conference
*In-person activity at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University campus.
Mission and Expected Outcomes:
What success looks like in the Hoover Enviropreneur Fellowship Program:
Successful Projects are rooted in developing financially viable and scalable market solutions. Throughout the program, these projects evolve as fellows gain deeper insights and the ability to articulate how emerging markets can enhance environmental outcomes, surpassing those achieved by government interventions and at a reduced cost.
Successful Hoover Enviropreneurs demonstrate accountability for their projects’ design, pace, and advancement. They clearly articulate the purpose of their project and ensure their progress aligns with their established plan, while remaining adaptable to incorporate feedback. They communicate their projects’ goals and objectives with clarity, are receptive to feedback, and display resilience in the face of challenges. Embodying a proactive “get-it-done” mentality, they contribute both individually and as team members.
Successful Cohorts offer genuine support and constructive feedback to their peers, embracing mistakes as learning opportunities and openly share insights. They leverage their networks to enhance the success of their cohorts.
FAQ
See FAQs for the Enviropreneur Fellowship Program.
Markets vs. Mandates
Markets vs. Mandates is based on the Hoover Institution’s founding principle of generating ideas that advance healthy and free societies. The research program evaluates when, if, and how institutions and policies can improve environmental quality while also promoting economic prosperity and individual freedom. It does so by conducting research that analyzes the incentives that policies create, rather than hopes that inspired them.
“Challenges to the governance of free peoples suggest to me that we need really good answers to the problems we’re facing. . . I can think of no better place to provide this need in our society than the Hoover Institution, a public policy center based on the notion that free people, free markets, and prosperity and peace are to be sought”
Condoleezza Rice
Tad and Dianne Taube Director | Thomas and Barbara Stephenson Senior Fellow on Public Policy
