What We Do

The Mycelium School helps participants create actionable solutions to real life problems. By disrupting the status quo of higher education, The Mycelium School provides a necessary alternative for people who are changing the story – young, emerging leaders seeking to contribute their best to the world. The Mycelium School is a nine-month educational program in Asheville, NC for 18-35 year old emerging leaders. It is designed to build agency and self-awareness within the participants by offering them the skills, connections and hands-on entrepreneurial experiences needed to realize their potential as change agents. This is done through intense study in 7 core disciplines where participants develop a social venture with the support of over 50 visiting instructors who are leading thinkers and doers from diverse fields and organizations. The ultimate impact of the program is to empower change agents with the tools, connections, experiences and framework needed to create businesses that are responsible, resilient and profitable.

7 Core Disciplines

We talked to and worked with social innovators and entrepreneurs, alternative education leaders, curriculum designers, biologists, impact investors and business journalists to learn what tomorrow’s leaders will need to know to thrive in the 21st Century. Learn More

A Day in the Life

At Mycelium, there is no such thing as a typical “Day in the Life” since so much of what we’re doing is based on what kind of learning needs to happen. With that said, click through here to learn more about what a day could look like in both the 2-Month Foundations Intensive and during the 7-month Social Venture Phase. Learn More

Life After Mycelium

After your nine months at Mycelium, you will become part of a community of tenacious innovators that will continue to offer the connections, ideas and inspiration you need to step into your potential out in the world. Learn More

Is Mycelium for You?

Mycelium participants are 18-35 year olds, acting boldly on the injustice and ineffective processes in the current systems. They are tired of the business-as-usual complacency and see clear pathways for a different, more efficient and effective future that will make the world a more just and habitable place for all. Learn More

The Curriculum

We spent 3 years working with curriculum designers, systems thinkers, educators, entrepreneurs, biologists and futurists to understand what change agents need to make a deep and positive impact in the world. We distilled the core list of disciplines down to seven. We focused in on the type of learning environment that will nourish growth and reflection. And we designed a Learning Journey that helps leaders develop the skills and characteristics that make outstanding entrepreneurs and social catalysts.

During the first two months of the program, the Foundations Intensive, participants engage in a deep dive of self-discovery and learning while developing a strong base understanding and practice in 7 core disciplines. Participants experience frameworks for each of these disciplines and dive into hands-on practices that make the learning real. These disciplines serve as guides throughout the 9-month program and beyond.

Participants are supported by trained facilitators who foster skill development in group dynamics, leadership and effective communication. Programming is also led by visiting instructors that are leading thinkers and educators out in the field, from designers at Google’s Innovation Lab, to best selling authors, to serial entrepreneurs. These instructors and facilitators continue to support participants throughout the following 7-month Social Venture Phase.

The learning happens through:

  • Teaches – where theory and frameworks and foundational knowledge are learned
  • Happenings – where participants work with our visiting instructors in creating action-based projects & experiments around the core disciplines
  • Reflections – where we, together, develop techniques and processes to integrate new knowledge, awareness and understandings

 

During the 2-month Foundations Intensive, participants spend an average of 50-60 hours a week together. In addition to the deep learning, they are growing their relationships, developing shared practices and protocols for working together, discovering self-practices that support their unique learning style, and creating a foundation that will support them learning what they are at Mycelium to learn. Among other things, they will frequently share meals, tell stories over fires, raft down the river and possibly take a road trip!

With this foundational framework in place, participants spend the next 7 months developing an individual or team-based social venture with the active hands-on support of personal and entrepreneurial coaches, advisors and visiting instructors. A social venture is defined as an entrepreneurial initiative that is responsible, adds value to its stakeholders and maintains financial profitability. Participants leave the 9-month program with the start of a business plan ready to launch or in process or the direct experience of having created a venture such as a conference, documentary, or public service initiative.

During this phase, participants self-design their learning experiences. They are given a collective learning budget of $45,000 (generated from tuition costs and donations) and access to our diverse network of visiting instructors. They negotiate with our visiting instructors directly in drafting contracts and deploying their learning budget as they see fit.

Once participants leave the 9-month residential program they are supported as they return to the “world at large” and continue the process of applying their skills and talents towards influencing positive social impact. Having seeded a strong social network of peers, mentors and practitioners out in the field, participants use these relationships to integrate their knowledge and practices into professional and personal life choices.

Results We Deliver

      • A deeper understanding of yourself and your calling
      • Leadership experience, specific awareness of personal leadership strengths and shadows, and the ability to work efficiently with diverse teams
      • Entrepreneurial skills and experience such as business plan development, brand and identity creation, capital procurement and marketing competency
      • A clear framework on how to design, prototype, and launch a social enterprise that is responsible, resilient & profitable
      • The confidence and skill to tell your story and to sell your vision
      • Connections to a supportive network of change agents, mentors and advisers
      • A refined pitch deck for your vision
      • Corporate consulting experience

What People are Saying

I think the Mycelium School has a unique offering; a non traditional education coupled with a goal of creating a viable social enterprise when you’re done. It meets a clear niche for a growing number of young people who want to learn and make a difference and don’t want to be stuck in an old way of thinking and acting.
Kevin Jones, Co-Founder of SoCap, HUB San Fransisco & HUB Berkley
As an emerging leader, I have an insatiable appetite for learning. I constantly seek to expand my network of do-gooders. At Mycelium, I have had the opportunity to engage in inspirational exchange which has led to meaningful connections with like minded young leaders. I look forward to using the Mycelium program as a valuable tool for my ethical fashion startup that offers resources and skills that transfer into my daily global education practice.
Ibada Wadud, Prospective Participant
When I heard about The Mycelium School for the first time, II realized this was the program I have been looking for. An amazing learning experience that provides the right framework for individuals to grow and become leaders of the 21st century.
Ines Silva, Founder of Startup Pirates, Sandbox Network Community Manager
The time spent at Mycelium will not only help young people from different parts of the globe to be equipped with the skills required to develop their personal and social visions but also help them embark on an intensive journey of inner transformation which will lead to a larger social impact.
Nibedita Kamal Parajuli, Prospective Participant
More than ever, our society faces an urgent need to develop leaders that dare to dream the impossible and tackle the world’s biggest problems. This requires nurturing and supporting leaders in all aspects of their development. The Mycelium School understands this need and is courageously creating a holistic learning program designed to support tomorrow’s leaders.
Spud Marshall, Co-Founder of New Leaf Initiative
I feel that traditional business schools lack necessary evaluative tools that account fully and holistically for long-term human and environmental consequences. The Mycelium school will fill that gap by breeding a new generation of entrepreneurs equipped with a systemic approach to determining actual human and market value. As a future graduate of the Mycelium School, I see myself coming away with the ability to spot short-sighted business initiatives before they reach the marketplace – and take center stage with bold solutions to some of the world’s most complex issues.
Jenny, Prospective Participant