Hurford Youth Fellowship Program 2024-2025 (Fully-funded)

Deadline: July 31, 2024

Do you have great ideas about how to promote democracy in your community? Are you ready to build your leadership skills? Would you like to meet other youth leaders from around the world? Now’s your chance! Apply for the Hurford Youth Fellowship 2024-2025!

The Hurford Program seeks to build leadership skills, enhance organizational talents and harness the potential of emerging democratic leaders from around the world. Through the Fellowship program, youth activists spend three months in Washington D.C during which they expand their global network, learn lessons from activists from democracy movements around the world, and contribute to the development of the World Movement for Democracy. Fellows will be expected to organize online discussions to generate active engagement among youth activists around the world. Hurford Youth Fellows will engage in strategic meetings, conduct research, and organize and lead presentations, and information-sharing sessions on the following specific areas outlined in the “What’s Next? Youth Declaration:”

Expanding Civic Space for Young People
Countering Disinformation
Building Citizen-Centric Accountability
Delivering Democracy

Fellowship Activities

Specifically, each fellow will engage in the following activities:

Conduct research on one topic related to the democracy themes.
Develop online resources, such as a collection of related publications and training materials.
Facilitate online discussions.
Contribute to the World Movement’s social media posts.
Take part in planning and implementing other activities of the World Movement.
Participate in relevant events and discussions in Washington, D.C., to deepen understanding of issues and build working relationships.
Identify, compile, present, and creatively share discussion materials and results.

Each fellow will also make at least one formal presentation of their work during their fellowship.
Presentations may be open to the public or geared to a more select audience and will typically focus on
the fellow’s project topic.

Benefits

Each fellow will receive a monthly stipend for living expenses, plus basic health insurance and roundtrip travel to and from Washington, D.C. Stipends take into account the cost of living in Washington, D.C.
Fellows are provided with a fully equipped office, including internet and email access, and a limited budget for fellowship-related long-distance phone calls.

Eligibility

Open to applicants from any country.
Applicants must be no older than 30 years of age.
They must demonstrate a strong interest in democratic activism and in the advancement of democracy in their respective communities, as well as worldwide.
Youth affiliated with civil society organizations are especially encouraged to apply.
A working knowledge of English is an important prerequisite for participation in the program for general communication purposes. All application materials must be submitted in English.

Application

Applicants are asked to submit the following: