What the badges mean
A quick glossary of the small coloured chips you'll see on fellow cards and profile pages. Each one is an origin marker or status signal, not a ranking.
Badges
Fellow
A Fellow is a professional listed by their firm on Edelvor. Fellow status requires three things: a 100% complete profile, an active firm association, and a seat covered by that firm (every firm's first three are free during the founding window; additional seats use the per-Fellow rate card). If the profile drops below 100% or the firm changes its subscription, Fellow status can pause; the account and its history stay intact.
Vanguard firm
A Vanguard is one of the founding firms that helped launch Edelvor. Fellows at Vanguard firms carry this badge as an acknowledgement that their firm backed the platform from day one. It's an origin marker, not a ranking.
Founding Fellow
Awarded to the first 1,000 Fellows on Edelvor. Two criteria: (1) a 100% complete profile with an active firm association, and (2) being among the first 1,000 Fellows to meet (1). The badge is permanent. It stays on the account for life even if Fellow status is later paused. No pricing subsidy, an origin marker.
Legacy Founding Member
A grandfathered marker from the original signup-time FOUNDING2026 promo. Awarded before the live Founding Fellow rule (above) was in place. Some accounts hold the Legacy marker, some hold Founding Fellow, some hold both. Both are permanent and both render where present.
Featured
On cards and lists, 'Featured' is an older alias for Fellow, the firm's designated spotlight expert. Both mean the same thing; we're in the process of standardising the label.
Example profile
Seed content, not a real fellow. A handful of profiles on the site right now are carefully-constructed examples so new visitors can see how Edelvor works before real fellows populate their own pages. Example profiles don't accept enquiries and are clearly labelled.
Example firm
The firm equivalent of an Example profile. A placeholder firm for demonstration, not a real Edelvor customer. Pages for Example firms carry the same amber disclosure.
Founding Firm
Firms carrying this badge helped launch Edelvor. It's the firm-level counterpart to the Vanguard badge shown on their Fellows' profiles. An origin marker, not a ranking.
Availability status
The fellow is open to new enquiries right now. Send the enquiry and they'll see it.
The fellow is taking enquiries but with constraints, typically only certain project types, geographies, or time frames. Check the fellow's note for the specifics.
The fellow isn't accepting new enquiries at the moment. You can still save the profile, and their availability may change.
Terminology
- Fellow
- A professional whose firm has listed them on Edelvor, whose profile is 100% complete, and whose seat is covered by the firm (free during the founding window; per-seat rate card after). Fellows are paid for by firms, never by individuals.
- Member
- Any team member at a firm. Fellows are a subset of members, the ones the firm lists on the platform. Members who aren't Fellows don't appear in the directory.
- Vanguard / Founding Firm
- A firm that helped launch Edelvor during the founding window. Their Fellows carry the Vanguard badge.
- Founding Fellow
- A Fellow in the first 1,000 to complete a profile and be listed by a firm. Permanent badge, one per user.
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