Introducing the Elara 2025 Slate: Fellowship, Summit, and Fireside Series Launching This Year
May 15, 2025
As Elara Institute enters its first full year of public programming, the organization is proud to announce the launch of its 2025 slate — a series of initiatives designed to cultivate leadership, mobilize talent, and build systems of support for students and alumni of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs).
Informed by months of stakeholder conversations, partner engagement, and student feedback, the Elara 2025 programming agenda reflects the organization’s founding belief: that equity must be built through infrastructure, not intention alone.
“2025 is not just about programming. It’s about proof of concept,” said Jamaal Burton, Elara’s Founder and CEO. “These initiatives reflect our commitment to building legacy-level systems — with students, alumni, and institutions at the center.”
The Elara Ascend Fellowship
Elara’s flagship leadership initiative, the Ascend Fellowship, will launch this fall with its inaugural cohort of high-potential HBCU students and recent alumni. The 20-week experience includes leadership training, mentorship, executive dialogue, and cultural enrichment. Fellows will engage in national programming and be paired with senior mentors across sectors.
Applications will open in late summer.
HBCU Futures Summit
Planned for October 2025 in Washington, D.C., the Elara Futures Summit will bring together a cross-sector coalition of students, alumni, creatives, philanthropists, and policy influencers. Designed as a convening rather than a conference, the summit will center dialogue around generational wealth, civic power, and the future of Black institutional investment.
The one-day event will include keynotes, panels, performances, and a career showcase for emerging leaders.
Elara Fireside Chat Series
Launching in summer 2025, the Elara Fireside Chat Series will feature virtual conversations between industry leaders and Elara Fellows. These bi-weekly sessions are designed to offer unfiltered insight into leadership, influence, and the realities of navigating power as a Black changemaker.
The series will be open to students nationwide, with live Q&A, moderated interviews, and follow-up media posted to YouTube and podcast platforms.
A Year of Infrastructure-Building
Elara’s 2025 slate reflects the organization's core pillars: invest in people, elevate institutions, and convene leadership across lines of discipline and generation.
“We’re building the scaffolding around brilliance,” said Burton. “Not just to get students into the room — but to prepare them to reshape the room itself.”
For more information on upcoming applications, sponsorship opportunities, or event details, visit www.elarainstitute.org or follow @ElaraInstitute on Instagram and LinkedIn.
