The Saltire Foundation

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The Saltire Foundation is a charitable organisation, created in 2006 in conjunction with Scottish Enterprise, with the aim of promoting and developing Scotland's rich pool of up-and-coming business talent.[1]

The Foundation operates two distinct schemes: The Undergraduate Internship programme and the Saltire Fellowship. The Foundation's Chairman is Peter Lederer, who is the current chairman of the Gleneagles Hotel group and VisitScotland.[2] The Foundation's motto is: Invest. Inspire.Succeed. And the aim is to "Find, Fuel and Spark" the next generation of Scottish business leaders.

Contents

[edit] Inception

The Saltire Foundation was a positive reaction to Scottish Enterprise's International Advisory Board (IAB)[3] identifying a shortage of aspirational and entrepreneurial leaders as a problem for the Scottish Economy. Crawford Gillies, a member of the IAB and now Chairman of Scottish Enterprise, championed the creation of the foundation, to expose upcoming Scottish business leaders to companies of scale, particularly in North America. In conjunction with this, world-class education would be on offer as an alternative to other business education options, to equip potential leaders and entrepreneurs with the tools required to build high growth, scale concerns in the Scottish Economy. The foundation was created through seed funding provided by the Scottish Government, however, within the last year has become an entirely self-funding entity.

[edit] The Undergraduate Internship Programme

The Undergraduate Internship Programme allows penultimate year students to embark on a 8-12 week placement with a large international company with the goal of promoting a culture of enterprise amongst undergraduates within Scottish Universities. The programme tries to identify Scotland's most talented and ambitious students to work with world-class organisations to expand their horizons. This was the first scheme operated by the Saltire Foundation and has been in effect since 2007. Most placements are sourced via Scottish Enterprise's GlobalScot network and have in the past been in locations such as Boston, New York, Tokyo, Sydney, Dubai, Poland, Germany, Florida, Chicago, Singapore, Schenzen, China, and the Cayman Islands.[4] This year's host companies included The Trump Organisation,[5] Liberty Mutual, IBM, Google, Tesco and many more. Applications for 2012 intake of Scholars closed in October and saw record breaking numbers of candidates apply to be a part of the programme.

[edit] The Saltire Fellowship

The Saltire Fellowship is aimed at more experienced, ambitious and business-minded individuals who want to progress and lead organisations of scale for Scotland. The programme is a mix of formal business education, taught by the prestigious Babson College and experiential learning through placements with large and small firms in Scotland and around the world. The course has been described as a "experiental MBA, focused on the creation of entrepreneurial leaders".[6] Whilst not a formal MBA by qualification, it is a credible alternative for individuals interested in business growth, development and leadership,while offering a springboard for business talent.[7] Up to 80% bursaries are offered by the Foundation for the cost of the education, food and accommodation. Fellow's generally will leave their previous careers and use the opportunity provided by the Fellowship program as a point of inflection along their career paths.

[edit] Fellowship Programme Structure

The structure of the 2009 Fellowship programme consisted of:

  • Four months of intensive business education at Babson College
  • A three month placement with a large (>$1Billion Revenue) North American Company
  • Two weeks of review and further education, provided by Babson in Scotland
  • A three month placement within a small, potential high growth Scottish company
  • A final week of education and the graduation in Scotland

The structure of the Fellowship Programme is constantly under review to ensure that it offers the participants, and the Foundation, the greatest amount of value.

[edit] 2009: The Charter Class

2009 was the first year of the Fellowship programme, with 14 students embarking on 7 months in the USA and 5 months in Scotland. The 14 Charter Class Fellows are:

[edit] 2010 Cohort

Blog

To document their experiences the fellows keep a blog during their time on the course this can be accessed *here

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.saltirefoundation.com
  2. ^ http://www.diageo.com/en-row/NewsAndMedia/PressReleases/2007/Gleneagles+strengthens+leadership+structure.htm
  3. ^ http://www.scottish-enterprise.com/international-advisory-board
  4. ^ http://www.saltirefoundation.com/UndergraduateInternshipProgramme/Undergraduate-Programme.aspx
  5. ^ http://www.scotsman.com/news/farmer_s_daughter_from_highlands_becomes_donald_trump_s_latest_apprentice_1_1795413
  6. ^ Prof. Les Charm, Babson College
  7. ^ http://www.heraldscotland.com/x/business/fellowship-offers-a-springboard-for-scots-business-talent.2011127262

[edit] External links

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