The Dalai Lama Fellows is reimagining leadership by cultivating and supporting an international movement of social innovators between the ages of 20 and 25 to meet global challenges in locally adapted ways as they promote the flourishing of this planet. This Fellow’s program was founded in 2010 with the aspiration and encouragement of the 14th Dalai Lama. Dalai Lama Fellowship 2022 For Young Social Innovators (Fully Funded to Contemplative Leadership Assembly In The United States)
This is a non-sectarian and inclusive program that awards a yearlong fellowship to innovators who are working on projects that affect social change in local communities that address education and youth development, health plus wellbeing, social justice, environment, cultural understanding plus contemplation.
The Award Benefits
- An immersion in a distinctive yearlong Head, Heart and Hands online leadership curriculum
- A one-on-one as well as small group coaching in order to support their personal development and leadership in social innovation work
- Participation in Contemplative Leadership Assembly with Fellows from dynamic faculty and around the world
- A lifelong affiliation to global learning community and support system
Who is eligible?
To qualify for this award, the applicant must fulfil the basic requirements listed below;
- As of February 1st, 2022, the candidate must be between 20 – 36 years of age. The year of eligibility was added because Fellows were not selected in 2021. This is a firm requirement and you are not allowed to inquire about this exception.
- You must be fluent in both written and spoken English
- You should have current engagement with or well-articulated plans for a social change project and sustained engagement with the project throughout the fellowship year. It is important to note that due to the difficulty in launching a social innovation from scratch, preference is given to applicants who have ongoing projects but, each year fellows who have a concrete vision for a project and plans to launch them during the fellowship year are selected given their adequate expertise, resources and, community connections at the time of applying.
- An in-depth knowledge of the community and the issue that the project is seeking to address preferably with at least one year of previous experience working with the community
- An interest in learning and engaging in contemplative practices throughout the year
- A commitment to participating in all dimensions of the program that is; online learning platform, one-on-one coaching calls, group learning calls and so many more. Full participation in the fellowship requires about twelve (12) hours every month and this does not include Fellows’ work on their projects.
- An attendance at the Contemplative Leadership Assembly in late July 2022. The Dalai Lama Fellows will cover all costs for the travel, lodging and meals for the assembly.
The Fellowship Components
Fellows will work on their in-action projects and as well as engage with the Dalai Lama Fellows’ online leadership curriculum and receiving virtual coaching together with mentorship. They will participate remotely for most of the fellowships. Fellows gather for a Contemplative Leadership Assembly in the United States for a period of one week.
The Compassion-In-Action Projects
Each Fellow works in a community with which they have strong relationships on a compassion-in-action project during the fellowship year. The projects give the Fellow an opportunity to apply the concepts and practices that they are learning through the program to their social innovation work. This distributes their personal growth to wider networks in the ecosystems with which they are engaged. These projects engage with one or more of the following categories;
- Health and wellbeing
- Education and youth development
- Social justice
- Environmental sustainability
- Cultural understanding
- Contemplation
An Integrated Leadership Curriculum
The Dalai Lama Fellows’ unique curriculum offers each participant a dynamic learning journey informed by the latest theories and research on leadership and social innovation with age-old wisdom from the world’s contemplative traditions.But this curriculum does not merely deliver intellectual knowledge but, provides regular opportunities for active learning and practical applications of the content to Fellows’ everyday lives as well as social efforts. The learning modules in this curriculum cover topics which include mindful awareness, emotional intelligence, creating meaningful connections, navigating uncertainty, using power with care, story-telling and many more. The three main themes upon which this curriculum is rooted are;
Head: This involves training of the mind and attention, cultivating self-awareness and understanding systems.
Heart: Here, the focus is on harnessing the wisdom of the heart, deepening compassion, working across differences and navigating uncertainty.
Hands: The phrase “Getting the hands dirty” comes into play, enacting wisdom and compassion in social innovation work.
One-On-One Coaching and Mentoring
Candidates receive a one-on-one coaching and mentoring personalized to support their ongoing development. The coaches have an abundancy of expertise and experience working at the intersection of contemplation and social innovation and each coaching call is a space where Fellows get guidance, care, and the opportunity to find answers to their most urgent pressing questions burning within themselves.
Community Learning
In this case, Fellows learn from each other through engagement in small groups and full-cohort learning experiences while receiving further guidance from coaches during community learning experience.
Contemplative Leadership Assembly
Fellows given the opportunity to attend an annual event that lasts for a week. This event provides them an opportunity to learn contemplative practices, new perspectives on leadership plus social innovation. Each Fellow invited by the assembly to show up and bring their rich personal and cultural gifts to a space that harnesses their individual uniqueness as part of an affirming and dynamic learning environment where all costs for attending the assembly such as visa fees, travel and lodging covered.
Application Procedure
There are five main parts to the Dalai Lama Fellows application namely;
- The applicant background and overview
- Short essay questions
- A video submission
- A resume or CV
- A letter of recommendation
The Fellows Timeline
November 18th, 2021: Application opens
February 1st, 2022: Application deadline (11:59p.m. Eastern US Time)
April 2022: Selection and notification of Fellows
April – June, 2022: Virtual onboarding of new Fellows takes place
July 28th – August 1st, 2022: A 5-day Contemplative Leadership Assembly in the United States
July 2022 – June 2023: The Formal fellowship year inclusive of an online curriculum, coaching calls, group learning calls plus project implementation in local communities.
2023 July and beyond: Fellows complete their program and enter a Lifelong Fellows global leadership and learning community.
For more information, please click here to visit the official webpage of the Dalai Lama Fellowship 2022.
