Identity Review

Community Development and Curriculum Design

Timeline: October 2020 - May 2022

Role: Fellowship Community Director

A special thanks to: Shannon Wu, Chris Gonzalez, and the entire Identity Review team for believing in my entrepreneurship potential.

Identity Review is a leading Web3 think tank dedicated to helping governments, financial institutions, and technology leaders address digital transformation with advanced technologies, including blockchain, security, and privacy. Through advisory work and thought leadership, Identity Review enables technology and global digital transformation to improve the world.

I joined as Identity Review’s first-ever intern where I worked on editorial, marketing, and content. Near the end of my first summer with them, Shannon Wu, founder of Identity Review, approached me with a radical idea: What if we launched a technology fellowship for young, bold leaders to take part in?

Here, I’ll be writing about the framework I built to launch the fellowship concept and grow a nationwide educational community for ambitious changemakers.

Mission and Values

Designing core values lays the foundation of how programs are delivered and experienced. After two years of leading the fellowship, I drafted a core mission statement that encompasses these values:

The Identity Review fellowship builds a strong community of future technology innovators and leaders. Each fellow is expected to fully show up and be part of a community of exceptional students, technologists, writers, designers, and entrepreneurs. We take risks, are open-minded to new ideas, and we strive to foster a culture of community and support.

The mission rings clear: This fellowship is a lifelong endeavor backed by incredible individuals across many disciplines. It’s a place where you can challenge your beliefs to better understand the world around you.

Content Contribution

Writing and consistent research is one of the best ways to learn new concepts. To help push continuous growth and learning, fellows are expected to contribute insightful content, research, and reporting on cutting-edge technology ecosystems. Fellows will also receive special editing reviews from in-house tech editors who help to polish and suggest improvements. This continuous cycle of feedback and editing helps to ensure consistent growth and allows fellows to build a portfolio of published work on the Identity Review platform. Some exceptional past articles fellows have contributed include:

• Virginia Passes Landmark Consumer Privacy Act by Lydia You

• Metaverse and the Future of the Creator Economy by Freya Savla

• Big Green: A DAO’s Mission to Disrupt Philanthropy by Ivy Tsang

Watching the fellows research and interact with key influential figures and organizations in the space is one of the most rewarding aspects of contributing content—it puts them in the center of the industry.

Career & Personal Development Workshops

Facilitating workshops allows us to hone in on a specific aspect of our lives, whether that be reflections on how we want to approach our professional career or deep dives into specific industries. Some of my personal favorites that I’ve hosted include personal branding, an overview of networking through digital mediums, and the Zone of Genius, a reflective think-out-loud that explores your most optimal state of being (ask me about it)!

The power of a strong community also allows fellows to do their own show-and-tell workshops, where they get to present and demonstrate their own day-to-day findings.

Speakers Series

Ambitious young individuals are always looking for mentors and influential people who have done something fantastic with their lives. This is why the speaker series component of the Identity Review experience is so engaging.

We bring in incredible entrepreneurs, investors, creators, and operators doing out-of-the-ordinary work to speak about their backgrounds and life journey. These guest speaker events are structured like a fireside chat—casual, off-the-grid, and transparent. Some of our past speakers have included actor and film director Uche Uba, serial entrepreneur Trevor Peterson, and tech journalist Karen Hao.

Retreats

Now to my favorite part: retreats. The Identity Review retreats are 3-4 day all-expense paid retreats focused on community, leadership development, and exposure to entrepreneurship and technology. It’s the first (and grandest) event to kick off programming for the fellowship, and it’s a ceremonial way to end it as well. I structured our retreats to have three goals in mind: Allow fellows to meet the team, meet their cohort, and gain exclusive exposure to the overarching technology ecosystem.

Of course, the retreats had many different excursions and outings to facilitate bonding and team building, which included…

...and off-roading over the Austin terrain!

We stopped at iconic Austin murals, rode a boat across Lake Travis, and took a party bus where we jammed out to classic pop tunes.

Leadership & Additional Community Principles

Designing a fellowship experience is a huge responsibility to carry, and proactive leadership is critical for ensuring that ideas turn into reality. Emotional intelligence comes into play, and I’ve had to be constantly aware, honest, genuine, and organized in order to create positive group morale. Some of my overarching values and principles for leading communities include:

• Making expectations clear. Set expectations from the very beginning and make sure everyone knows what is expected of them.

• Leading by example. Fellows will be watching YOU to see how seriously they should treat the program. Show professionalism in calls, workshops, and speaker events.

• Empathy and kindness. Chances are, fellows might encounter really difficult situations during their school year. It’s a transitionary period, and we want to support them, so reach out and ask how they are doing.

• Being transparent and honest. If you say you are going to do something, or that you’ll provide them with something, be sure to actually carry out what you said.

• Taking joy in feedback. Have occasional check-ins with the fellows. Really ask what they want to further get out of the fellowship program. Find ways to cater to this and iterate on what is already in place.

• HAVING FUN! This is supposed to be a life-changing experience for everyone. Enjoy it while you are here!

I’m so proud of what the fellowship has transformed into, as it has taught me the value of cultivating experiences that allow young people to think beyond the norm. It’s not every day that you get to surround yourself with inspiring individuals, and this fellowship does a fantastic job of bringing these minds together. I can’t wait to see where this program evolves, from now and far into the future.