Kohlberg-Manacher Foundation Application

The KMF Professional Excellence Scholarship Program provides $12,000 scholarships and active mentoring to high achieving, entrepreneurially minded juniors and seniors enrolled in U.S. colleges and universities with intended careers in business and/or technology.

The Program is performance-based, and recipients must maintain their eligibility to receive funds. Please see the “About” tab for more details.

KMF's three primary goals are to help scholarship recipients build strong practical foundations for professional growth; launch them confidently into their first and second jobs; and provide ongoing mentorship on their longer-term journeys towards top 1% professional performance and interesting, fulfilling, happy lives.

apply for
KMF Professional
Excellence Scholarship Program

The Program goes beyond developing essential skills and tools for early career success. We focus on cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset that prepares KMF Scholars to eventually start their own businesses if and when they become ready, at any point in their professional careers. Please see the "Curriculum" tab for more details.

KMF is led by co-founder Curt Kohlberg, an entrepreneur who failed miserably at nearly everything in his twenties yet went on to found and serve as CEO of two highly successful international consulting firms specializing in business strategy, market research, contract negotiations, and transaction advisory services. Mr. Kohlberg earned a master’s degree from MIT’s Sloan School of Management in International Business after completing his bachelor’s degree at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

The Program places special emphasis on the details, nuances, and key lessons drawn from Mr. Kohlberg’s numerous early-career failures and mistakes, and his later major successes. Exposure to these valuable lessons in regularly scheduled group Zoom sessions, in addition to one-on-one mentoring with Mr. K, provides the framework for the Program’s raw, authentic, soft skill-focused curriculum. KMF’s annual Jeopardy team competition, Poker Tournament, and Talent Show round out this powerful, one-of-a-kind learning experience.

Shown below are some straight-talk videos about KMF from recent graduates and current KMF Scholars. Applicants are strongly encouraged to watch at least five videos before applying to ensure they know what to expect, as while the Program is especially valuable and fun, it is also quite demanding: