Operate with Purpose.
Transform the World.
Join a cohort of exceptional mid-career professionals committed to becoming high-impact business operators. Sharpen your execution, refine your leadership, and discover how God can use you to build, scale, and operate companies—first locally, then in frontier markets.
Experienced Professional, Are You...
The Gap Between
You’ve worked hard, built experience, and maybe even found success. But something isn’t clicking. Your mission feels unclear. Your work lacks deeper meaning. You’re not alone. Faithful business operators don’t rise by accident. They are forged.
Where You
Are
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Where You
Are Called to Be
The best operators aren’t meant to build alone...
They are designed to support visionary entrepreneurs—adding structure, strategy, and execution to turn ideas into reality. More than just business growth, Frontier Operators serve with humility and ambition, creating transformative workplaces. If you know you're built for more, the Forge may be your next step.
Designed for
Professionals
Full-Time
The Forge is designed to work around the lives of full-time professionals. Our curriculum, mentorship, and experiences are structured to accommodate your demanding schedule while providing the transformation you need to advance to the next level.
Designed for
Full-Time
Professionals
The Forge is designed to work around the lives of full-time professionals. Our curriculum, mentorship, and experiences are structured to accommodate your demanding schedule while providing the transformation you need to advance to the next level.
The Forge transforms mid-career professionals into high-impact leaders, offering a rigorous platform to develop advanced leadership skills and strategic capabilities for demanding environments.
Learn the skills and frameworks needed to execute with excellence, lead with confidence, and operate effectively in complex environments—while staying rooted in your faith.
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Operator Acumen – Gain practical tools in finance, sales & marketing and operations to lead, scale, and drive growth for scaling enterprises.
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Spiritual Formation & Resilience – Strengthen your faith, character, and ability to lead with Kingdom-minded conviction in high-pressure settings.
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Cross-Cultural Leadership – Learn how to navigate diverse global markets with wisdom and effectiveness.
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Review the Course Contents to see how we develop your spiritual formation & business operator acumen throughout the program.
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Surround yourself with seasoned operators, advisors, and high-caliber peers who will refine your thinking, challenge your blind spots, and accelerate your growth.
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Whole-Life Mentorship – Beyond business, your mentor helps you navigate health, relationships, marriage, church, and personal challenges—so you can lead with strength in all areas of life.
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Clarity of Calling & Kingdom Impact – Work with mentors to discern your unique role in God’s mission and develop a tangible plan for impact through business.
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Operator-Led Wisdom – Interact with Frontier Operators who are building & scaling companies with real "in-the-mud" experience.
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Step beyond theory into immersive, real-world opportunities designed to stretch your capabilities and prepare you for high-impact roles.
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Spring & Fall Retreats – Build lasting bonds with your cohort, creating connections that could forge life-long friendships and mission.
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Friendships with Foreigners – Build authentic relationships across cultures to develop fluency and confidence in navigating cross-cultural business and leadership.
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Conferences & Strategic Networking – Connect with Frontier Operators, investors, advisors, and coaches who are actively scaling high-impact businesses.
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Immersion Project – Gain firsthand experience operating in global and frontier markets, applying what you’ve learned in a real-world setting.
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5 Key Outcomes
Operational Excellence
Develop the ability to lead, scale, and operate businesses in dynamic, cross-cultural environments.
Accelerated Wisdom
Refine your judgment and heart posture through mentorship, real-world challenges, and the wisdom of experienced operators.
Clarity of Calling
Gain the tools to align your career, skills, and ambition with Kingdom-driven impact through business.
Global Readiness
Learn how to navigate complex, cross-cultural situations and with humility bring your skills and capabilities to the table.
High-Caliber Network
Build relationships with like-minded, faithful professionals and mentors who desire to see God’s Kingdom thrive in the workplace.
Process
Ready to explore the Forge? A quick call gets the ball rolling. We built our application process around personalized interaction, ensuring we understand your calling.
Interest Call
Schedule time to ask your questions and ensure alignment before you apply.
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Interview
We review it and set-up an interview.
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References
We check two references (one spiritual and one professional)
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Pre-Approval
Once you’re pre-approved, we’re ready for you to join when the time is right, but you might be waiting to finish school, land an internship or your first full-time job. You will join the waitlist, and can access employers in our network.
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Acceptance
Join the Forge in September with your cohort. We’ll work with you to coordinate logistics for travel so you can plan our your year in the program.
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January-May 31st
Application Deadline
June
Finalizing Cohort
July
Onboarding Cohort
September
Launch Cohort
A Week in the Life
of a Rising Operator
Virtual Convenience
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The Convenience of sessions online means many operators will participate in a variety of places and spaces. All sessions will be recorded for convenience as well.
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You can expect 1-2 evening sessions on week nights (after work) and some morning sessions for prayer and Frontier Operator conversations.
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Two Saturday sessions each month, ranging from 2-4 hours will serve as extended times of equipping.
A Week in the Life
of a Rising Operator
Reading & Projects
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You will be reading 2-3 hours a week of 1-2 books and will also have the chance to meet and interact with several of the authors during the program.
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Rising Operators will take on a light-weight project with one company to apply what they’re learning and make it practical.
A Week in the Life
of a Rising Operator
Travel
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Some weeks, you will be expected to take a day or two off work as part of the experience.
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You’ll know the schedule far in advance, so when you share you’re in a leadership development program, we expect companies to support you.
A Week in the Life
of a Rising Operator
Costs
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You’ll pay the standard monthly rate as part of the program, but travel expenses are something you will pay for. Once you arrive at the airport, the program pays for transportation to the venue, food, room and board during the event.
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As a non-profit, you are encouraged to have people donate to your account so you can use charitable contributions to help fund the roughly $5,000-$7,000 worth of travel costs during the entire year.
A Week in the Life
of a Rising Operator
Mentorship
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You meet (in-person or virtually) with one or more mentors or coaches.
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As part of the program, you will have a whole-life mentorship experience with at least one mentor who is committed to walking with you through the 12-month program.
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Rising Operators will have the chance to build relationships with mentors locally through our trust network of faithful business advisors, operators, investors and mentors.
Frequently Asked Questions
Program Details & Structure
In September each year.
About 6-8 hours per week. You can expect 2-3 weekly meetings (some at night and some in the morning). We also will have half-day Saturday sessions once per month. The reading, application and project work fills in the rest of the time investment each week, which will be less intense than a graduate level program, but pretty close in the level of effort.
Forge is a 10-month program that begins each September and concludes with a capstone immersion trip in June. After the program, some Operators continue with optional, customized mentoring—especially those developing a business idea or preparing for work overseas.
Very interactive. This isn’t a series of self-paced online classes. In our weekly training sessions that we host on zoom, Rising Operators are expected to come prepared having read the content and are ready for dicussion and questions. We also curate conversations with CEOs and Business Operators from markets around the world so you can ask hard questions, in small circle of your peers. You’ll also be challenged to build relationships with foreigners in Mosques, and other religious events in your city. Finally, the Mentor check-in, many mentors are local and available to meet in person over coffee or a meal each month.
Yes! We use the Circle app to keep Operators connected—whether you’re networking around conferences and events, asking questions, or catching up on session recordings. Community is a core part of the experience, and this space helps you stay engaged and supported throughout the journey.
Yes, recordings will be available. Just note that many sessions include breakout discussions that aren’t captured on video. That’s why we strongly encourage joining live whenever possible—to fully engage, contribute, and grow alongside your peers.
Our 45+ mentors, advisors, and Frontier Operators bring over 1,000 years of combined experience across industries and continents. Many serve as guest speakers, but more importantly, they open doors. Their wisdom, networks, and social capital are a key part of what makes this program powerful—because often, it’s not just what you know, but who you know. Check out the full list of mentors & advisors here.
For the Fall and Spring retreats, you will book your tickets. we will prepare the transportation from the airport to the venue. Spouses may join us on the trips as they will enjoy getting to know the cohort - and participate in many of the sessions. Since we do not have child care, any kids will to stay behind for the retreats.
Eligibility & Application
Yes, please join the waitlist so we know you are interested in the Collective.
Yes, you can join as a self-employed professional. Many contractors or solopreneurs interested in joining are seeking to help frontier market companies in as a consultant, investor, or operator in some role within the business.
We do not recommend it, but we can discuss your situation to provide guidance. Most MBA students are looking to join within 3-6 months of graduating during our fall cohort.
That’s okay. The Forge will be a great place to explore you calling with a Mentor, including interactions with many Frontier Operators. For example, some companies have short-term consulting opportunities. young professionals to do on summer breaks from school or between jobs. Other companies offer remote jobs to people living in the United States to gain access to customers and markets here in the US time zones. Some offer apprenticeship programs to work for a 1 or 2 year commitment. All of these are opportunities to explore with lower commitment.
Yes and no. Forge is built for Business Operators—those who lead, build, and execute within entrepreneurial environments. Some participants may be starting their own ventures, but most are being equipped to support founders and help scale small to mid-sized businesses. Visionary entrepreneurs need strong, capable leaders around them—and that's what Forge develops. If you are launching something, you’ll benefit from the training, and you may even find future co-founders or key teammates within the cohort or broader community.
Cost & Financial Assistance
The total cost $12,500 for the 10-month program, not including travel costs. Once you arrive at locations we cover transportation costs, food and lodging and any conference ticket costs as well. Rising Operators are also responsible for the cost of the books for the program. We offer up-front annual payments along with quarterly or monthly payment options. In total, you can expect to pay us $12,500, and invest another $4,000-6,000 for the international travel costs & books.
Yes, some limited scholarships are available. If you’re concerned about the program costs, we encourage you to supplement with donations to your account or company reimbursement programs for continuing education and or professional development.
Yes, many companies budget for leadership & talent development costs for their employees. Some companies might only fund “non-religious” training that is purely professional. About 50% of our program falls into this category. Some Christian-owned companies are interested in covering up to half of the program costs for employees in the Forge because of how much it will benefit their company while you work for them.
Yes, We encourage Rising Operators to involve their support network of family, friends, mentors and churches to help them participate in the program. As part of the program and your service to our network, the costs of participating (including program costs, travel costs) can be supplemented with donations. We will set-up a project for you specifically that you can fundraise with. You will be able to reimburse some of your expenses (ie: plane tickets) that help you complete the program.
