2026 Cohort · Launches September 2026

The Impact Ops Fellowship.

A small-group fellowship for COOs and Heads of Operations at impact organizations. Make workflows explicit. Get quick wins from AI. Build internal capacity that doesn’t depend on external consultants.

Book an intro call See if it’s a fit ↓

3 months Duration

6 orgs Cohort cap

2 operators Per org

$3,000 Per org

Who it’s for

Operators at social impact organizations.

Designed for COOs and Heads of Operations at social impact organizations, nonprofits, and foundations. Participants typically:

Own operational effectiveness across teams and functions — the buck stops with them on how the org runs.

Have a mandate to do more with less, without burning out staff or adding overhead.

Are already experimenting with AI, but want clearer judgment about what’s worth adopting and where to invest time.

Are expected to lead AI adoption internally, even without formal training in systems thinking or automation.

The focus

Applied operational work, not theory.

This is not generalized AI coaching. The emphasis is on building things that work in your actual organization.

Make workflows explicit.

Surface the operational processes that live in people’s heads and turn them into something improvable.

Quick wins from AI.

Use AI and automation to reduce friction. Ship small things that compound, not moonshots that stall.

Build internal capacity.

Progress shouldn’t depend on external consultants. Your team learns to ship and iterate themselves.

Structure

A small, intentional cohort.

This is a pilot program — intentionally small, hands-on, and iterative.

Format

Small-group

Duration

3 months

Cohort size

6 orgs

Per org

Up to 2 operators

~10 hours per organization, per month.

What’s included

Three pillars of support.

☼

Expert Facilitation

Dedicated facilitation by Nick Barr
2x founder (nonprofit and VC-backed)
Former product leader at Khan Academy
Ongoing guidance on real, in-flight challenges

◯

Peer Exchange

A trusted group of peers facing similar constraints
Space to compare approaches and share workflows
Pressure-test ideas with other operators
Practical learning, not presentation or posturing

⚙

Applied Programming

Two 60-minute 1:1 deep dives per org
Monthly office hours for live troubleshooting
Templates focused on real workflow mapping
Examples drawn from nonprofit ops contexts

Nick Barr

Facilitator

Two-time founder (nonprofit and VC-backed), former product leader at Khan Academy, and coach to mission-driven organizations. Nick has spent his career at the intersection of operations, technology, and public good.

Outcomes

What you’ll leave with.

By the end of the fellowship, participants should expect:

A fully implemented workflow automation that solves a concrete operational problem at your organization.

A clear V1 → V2 → V3 roadmap showing what you’ve built, what comes next, and how to scale it.

Fluency to spread AI capability within your team and across the organization.

Vetted tool recommendations — so you don’t waste time evaluating every option.

A peer network of fellow operators facing similar constraints who can be thought partners beyond the fellowship.

Investment

Focused work over deliverables alone.

$3,000

Per organization · up to 2 team members

Positioned as a focused alternative to one-off consulting or generic trainings — favoring sustained, applied work over deliverables alone.

Is it a fit?

Who this is — and isn’t — for.

A good fit if…

You’re coming with a real operational problem. There’s no fixed curriculum — the fellowship is shaped around participant use cases.
You can dedicate ~10 hours per month. Including learning new tools and experimenting with new approaches.
Your organization has already prioritized AI adoption. Questions of impact and ethics matter, but aren’t the primary focus.

Not a fit if…

You’re not a decision-maker. The fellowship is designed for leaders making function- and org-wide calls on AI investment and workflow design.
You’re completely new to AI. The program assumes baseline familiarity and moves quickly into workflow automation (including agents).
You can’t prioritize time for learning and experimentation. Without that investment, adoption and impact will be limited.