NYC Social Impact Cohort Information Session (Virtual)
Propel Earth × Tavern Community: The NYC Social Impact Cohort
This cohort will be supported and advised by Seth Cohen, Founder of Optimistic Labs, former Chief Impact Officer at Forbes.
Apply now to submit your application
New York City has the capital, the talent, and the ambition to solve the world’s most pressing challenges in climate, health, education, and economic mobility. Yet, the ecosystem remains severely fragmented. Propel Earth and Tavern Community are teaming up to change that.
Led by Cohort President Stephen Michael, of Propel Earth, the NYC Social Impact Cohort is an in-person community with focused programming designed to bring the city's most driven, mission-oriented builders out of their silos and into the same room. We are transforming underutilized premium hospitality spaces into dynamic hubs for strategic collaboration, capital deployment, and ecosystem building.
This is a highly curated, structured journey that moves you from defining systemic problems to pitching scalable solutions. It's also a community that will stay engaged in the long-term, positioning cohort members to create and maintain relationships. Creating lasting change requires real and strong ties.
Who Should Apply?
Founders: Building early-stage to scaling impact startups, nonprofits, or hybrid models.
Investors: Angels, venture fund partners, and philanthropists actively seeking vetted, mission-driven deal flow.
Organizers: Leaders of movements, communities, and civic initiatives looking to scale their reach and operations.
Providers: Service professionals (lawyers, UX/UI designers, growth marketers, consultants) offering critical infrastructure to impact ventures
Changemakers: Those looking to support impact ventures with their network, skills, funding, and more.
Program Structure & Dates Term:
April 15 – June 19, 2026 (10 weeks)
Focused programming tailored to impact-minded founders, investors, organizers, and providers
Locations: Rotating between premium NYC spaces including Edge Studio, Tempo by Hilton, and Barlume.
June 19, 2026 – beyond
Monthly high-profile social impact event series, exclusively available to Tavern Community members
The program runs on a predictable, two-day-a-week rhythm to balance deep work with deep connection:
Wednesdays | Core Programming (6:30 PM – 8:45 PM): High-impact sessions featuring expert lightning talks, hands-on design workshops, and structured collaboration based on weekly themes (e.g., Mission Mapping, Venture Design, Capital Access, Ecosystem Partnerships).
Fridays | Community Cowork & Social (1:00 PM – 4:00 PM): Informal, unstructured time to cowork, share project updates, trade feedback, and build authentic relationships over drinks and coffee.
Demo Night | June 17, 2026: pitch your work in front of the Tavern Community and a curated audience of investors and ecosystem players.
Monthly | High-profile social impact event series
We have launched 5 different cohorts in the past 5 months (AI, Investors, Pre-seed & Seed founders, Solopreneurs, The Pioneers), each focused on a particular niche. Joining the Social Impact Cohort positions you in a network of interdisciplinary, ambitious professionals with opportunities for collaboration.
Tavern Membership Benefits
Belong to a caring community of over 100 members
Access exclusive events (at least one high value event each month)
Some past events:
How I Raised My Series B
$50k Pitch Night
Tech Week Closing Yacht Party
Host your own events
Access 3rd spaces across Manhattan
Get $60/month food and beverage credits
This cohort launches early April. Applications are due by March 18 at 11:59pm.
Application and interview are required prior to admission.
If you’d like to be considered for cohort leadership positions, please indicate so in your application.
If you’d like to launch a themed cohort in collaboration with Tavern, email Ben Schwartz.
**Please note: A Tavern Community membership is required to participate in a Tavern Cohort. See here for pricing.**