New Orbits Fellowship

A Peer Accelerator for Changing Your Trajectory
The Q1/Q2 application window has closed.
Let us know if you’re interested in future cohorts.

As the days get darker and the headlines heavier, it’s easy to feel the pull of winter and the world. New Orbits is for people navigating the regional tech ecosystem, and would like some fellowship as you they are:

  • new to Chicago or returning to the city

  • exploring a shift in industry or function

  • stepping into a new orbit

  • positioning for a bigger leadership role or

  • charting your experience amongst the ecosystem.

We intentionally blend industries, levels, and backgrounds to help our New Orbits Fellows better reflect on their own path and chart possibilities. This is a peer accountability circle for leadership development, career exploration, and expanding your professional orbit rooted in Midwestern innovation.

Just as a spacecraft uses gravity to slingshot farther with less fuel, Fellows gain energy and direction from one another to shift their personal and professional orbits. Over our 6 months accelerator, Fellows work to make small shifts that can change their course significantly towards chosen goals.

Program Dates:

  • Fridays: 9:00AM–12:00 PM

  • Program Period: January–June 2026. Dates: 1/16/26, 2/6/26, 2/27/26, 4/3/26, 4/24/26, 5/15/26, 6/5/26, 6/26/26

  • Application Deadline: The official application has closed.

  • Location: Hosted by fellow tech leaders in or near Chicago’s Central Business District.

  • Meal: Because thoughtful conversation is better with food and fellowship.

  • Confidentiality: Meetings follow Chatham House rules to encourage candor, reflection, and curiosity. All Fellows are given the option of being included in a public announcement of their acceptance and completion.

  • Pricing: $450/month, 6-month committment + optional add-ons

  • Future Cohorts: Let us know if you’re interested in future cohorts.

Peer accelerators are curated learning groups designed to unleash innovation and help our clients be happier, more productive, and more connected.

  • Co-facilitator, New Orbits Accelerator
    Founder and CEO, Intentional Gravity
    Director of Platform, PACE Healthcare Capital

    As Founder and CEO of Intentional Gravity, E.J. Reedy designs programs like the New Orbits Accelerator to help people navigate the complexity of modern innovation ecosystems. He brings a rare ability to both zoom out—mapping patterns, connections, and system dynamics—and zoom in to help leaders take clear, grounded next steps. His two decades of cross-sector work now includes board service with the Illinois Science & Technology Coalition and serving as Director of Platform at PACE Healthcare Capital, where he supports founders and investors shaping the future of healthcare innovation.

    A strategist and ecosystem builder by training and temperament, E.J. has spent his career helping people and organizations make sense of what often feels like chaos. His work spans biotech, fintech, climate tech, food innovation, and civic entrepreneurship—always with a focus on identifying emerging patterns, clarifying choices, and strengthening the connective tissue across siloed environments.

    Before founding Intentional Gravity, E.J. played leadership roles that shaped innovation in the Midwest and nationally. He helped scale Portal Innovations into a national biotech venture platform; led major initiatives at the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center; and positioned the Kauffman Foundation as a global force in entrepreneurship research and policy. His work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and other outlets.

    Today, E.J. focuses on coaching leaders, advising organizations, and building small, trusted communities where deeper connection enables meaningful progress. Through New Orbits, he works closely with mission-driven professionals exploring what comes next—blending strategist, coach, and mission control to help them tighten their orbits, gain velocity, and make intentional moves toward the futures they want to build.

    Read more.

  • Co-facilitator, New Orbits Accelerator
    Community Strategy Advisor, Intentional Gravity
    Founding Director and CEO, TechWalk Chicago Chapter
    Founder and Principal Consultant, Chrystal Price Creative Arts & Consulting

    Chrystal Price is the Founding Chicago Chapter Director of TechWalk, an international community that brings technologists and innovators together through movement and meaningful connection. She is also the multidisciplinary Founder and Principal Consultant behind Chrystal Price Creative Arts & Consulting, where she integrates tech strategy, creative arts, communication, and people-centered marketing to help clients clarify direction and design intentional, sustainable practices.

    With a background spanning healthcare tech, health communication, education, nonprofit leadership, and creative direction, Chrystal brings a grounding and connective presence to New Orbits, supporting fellows as they uncover their path, strengthen their momentum, and build practices that honor both purpose and growth.

    Read more.

  • New Orbits Accelerator is for innovators, operators, scientists, founders, and leaders ready to grow with intention.

    Participants navigate moments of change together: stepping into new leadership roles, exploring career transitions, or deepening their connection to the region’s innovation networks.

    New Orbits Accelerator is not just about building skills but building belonging with peers who will both challenge and champion each other’s growth.

  • Because progress is rarely linear — and no one accelerates alone.

    New Orbits Accelerator helps people feel the gravity of their work and lives. Through small-group accountability, shared learning, and reflective practice, fellows gain energy and direction from one another — much like a spacecraft using planetary gravity to slingshot farther with less fuel.

    Meals, workshops, and conversations are shared in fellowship — moments of nourishment that honor both the personal and professional journeys fellows are undertaking. The program helps fellows find momentum, clarity, and courage to move toward what’s next.

  • New Orbits Accelerator brings together a fixed, small groups of fellows (8 fellows/cohort) who meet for 3 hours 8 times over 6 months to support professional growth and development on target goals.

    The program’s eight-meeting arc blends reflection, goal-setting, and practical collaboration.

    Circles are peer-led with facilitation and support from Intentional Gravity.

  • Shared Table Culture — Fellows come together around potluck meals, providing moments of grounding, generosity, and support that accelerate our career journeys.

    Peer-Led Accountability — Groups are mixed across sectors and experience levels, fostering new networks, perspectives, and collaborative problem-solving in a confidential setting.

    Coaching and Add-Ons — Optional 1:1 coaching is available at a 20% discounted rate for Fellows for one year, plus preferred access to Intentional Gravity events.

    Human-Powered Acceleration — Rather than chasing speed, New Orbits focuses on meaningful propulsion — helping each fellow find the energy and direction to shift their personal and professional orbits with intention.

  • People often ask great questions rooted in experiences with other accelerators, coaching programs, or industry groups. To help you understand fit, here are a few things New Orbits is not:

    Is this an industry-specific accelerator?

    No.

    New Orbits intentionally blends sectors, levels, and backgrounds. New Orbits is not a biotech, AI, product, or founder program. We work across the regional tech ecosystem so you learn from people who see problems differently than you do.

    Is this like a startup accelerator?

    Not exactly.

    We share the intensity, fellowship, structure, and goal-setting you might recognize from entrepreneurial accelerators.

    But New Orbits works with individual people, not companies. There is no demo day. This is human development, not venture development.

    Is this a program for people in the same company or functional track?

    No.

    Cohorts are intentionally cross-company and cross-discipline.

    You may sit next to someone in product, someone in venture, someone in engineering, and someone in science.

    This range is part of the magic. It expands what you see as possible.

    Is this group therapy or a personal support group?

    No.

    New Orbits involves reflection and community, but it is not therapy.

    It is a structured, facilitated career and leadership accelerator where peers support one another’s goals with confidentiality and care.

    Adjacent 1:1 personal coaching services are offered for fellows but not part of the core program.

    Is this a casual drop-in networking group?

    Definitely not.

    This is a closed cohort with consistent membership, structured sessions, accountability, and committed fellowship over six months.

    Is this only for people looking for a new job?

    No, but…

    Some Fellows are exploring new paths. Others are leveling up in their roles, expanding leadership, or reconnecting with creativity.

    New Orbits supports career exploration, clarity, and momentum, whatever that looks like for you — without pressure.