Apply Now: The Urban Leaders Fellowship

Sponsored by The Urban Leaders Fellowship

Apply Now to The Urban Leaders Fellowship: Building community-centered change through effective partnerships, equitable policy, and a network of change agents

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE A ULF FELLOW? The Urban Leaders Fellowship is a paid summer fellowship that recruits the best and brightest for an intensive, seven-week experience in ten premier cities: Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Indianapolis, Kansas City, MO, Nashville, New Orleans, Oakland, Tulsa, and Washington D.C.

DURING THE FELLOWSHIP, our fellows spend half of their time researching and writing critical policy proposals for a partner elected official, supporting the elected official’s development of high-quality legislation.

TO IMPACT REAL AND LASTING CHANGE, smart policy is not enough, our fellows spend the other half of their time working with an innovative partner organization, from non-profits to tech startups, committed to social justice & community impact.

DEVELOPING FUTURE LEADERS is at the heart of ULF. Throughout the fellowship, we will work with you to identify the right career path, connect you with leaders in the field, and provide leadership coaching, career coaching, and ongoing support even after the fellowship ends.

We look for applicants who are diverse, in every sense of the word. We bring together a cohort of fellows in each region who come from different backgrounds, races, ethnicities, gender identity and sexual orientation, and have wide-ranging experiences in the topics they’ve studied, the places they’ve lived, and the work that they’ve done. We believe that diversity matters and will bring about better solutions.

You don’t need specific background in legislative policy to join our fellowship, just a passion to learn about policy and how it can impact the lives of those in your community.

While the program is designed to assemble a unique and diverse cohort of individuals, ULF fellows most successful in the fellowship share certain characteristics:

Motivated, self-starter who takes initiative with experience driving and sustaining both short and long-term projects
Seeks collaboration to problem-solve and navigate ambiguity including the ability to govern work independently and manage up to accomplish outcomes
Actively seek perspectives that are different than their own operating with in a mindset of humility
Professionals with at least 2 years of professional experience with excellent written and oral communication skills
Committed to personal reflection and professional development with a desire to transform the community through partnerships
Looking to accelerate their leadership through fellowship with a focus on policy and practice
Team player that can build relationships with a variety of stakeholders (i.e., cohort, elected official, partnering organization, community members, etc)

Applicants must also be United States citizens.

ULF staff will be holding live webinars throughout the application process to answer questions for individuals who have started their application and are in need of clarity on how to make their application stronger.

Please visit our webinars page for more information and to sign up for an upcoming session.

Application Opens: December 16, 2022
Application Deadline: March 7, 2023

Fellows work on a range of issues from education and economic development, to budget decisions, criminal justice reform, and much more. Below you’ll find a Summer Report on each of the 10 ULF regions. Each Report is a deeper dive into the Policies and Partner Organizations from 2020-2022. Additionally, we have broken down each region’s level of government focus HERE.