Vital Voices Engage Fellowship 2026 – YOA

Deadline: May 22, 2026

Applications are open for the Vital Voices Engage Fellowship 2026. Supported by Freeport-McMoRan, this 10-month fellowship is designed to strengthen the capability, determination-making energy, and effectiveness of girls leaders in public life. The program fosters bipartisan collaboration, challenges and shifts cultural perceptions of girls’s public management and advances progress towards equality in public illustration globally.

Through this fellowship, they purpose to work in the direction of a extra inclusive and equitable world by advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a selected give attention to SDG 5: Gender Equality. The curriculum will embrace management, strategic communications, political technique, and governance in partnership with the Council of World Women Leaders (CWWL) and professors of the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS).

Upon commencement, fellows could have entry to a world community of changemakers engaged in essential work in authorities and civil society throughout the globe.

Fellowship Overview

The program runs for 10 months (June 2026 by March 2027), with bi-weekly conferences and unfolds within the following phases:

• Phase 1: Virtual Leadership Skills – At the beginning of this system, fellows will take part in periods centered on the Vital Voices Leadership Journey’s 5 core management practices. They will interact in small-group discussions and be taught from visitor audio system throughout the Vital Voices community.
• Phase 2: Virtual Practical Skills – The program then transitions right into a palms-on studying expertise, the place fellows acquire sensible data of legislative processes, stakeholder engagement, and efficient advocacy methods to drive coverage change. Through periods on political technique, governance and strategic communications, fellows refine their management approaches to satisfy the calls for of public management. They additionally strengthen their means to affect coverage and public techniques whereas creating compelling narratives to advance their work.
• Phase 3: In Person Convening – The program culminates in an immersive, multi-day in-particular person convening designed to deepen fellows’ capability, determination-making energy, and effectiveness as girls leaders in public life whereas fostering a robust sense of neighborhood and shared objective. Centered on peer-to-peer studying, the convening supplies alternatives for fellows to be taught from each other’s lived experiences, management journeys, and coverage work by facilitated discussions, group periods, and casual dialogues. The expertise contains peer-led discussions, reflections on impression, strategic partnership improvement, and tailor-made management and coverage workshops, complemented by mentorship touchpoints and workplace hours. This deliberately designed surroundings fosters belief, open communication, and a robust sense of neighborhood, enabling fellows from numerous areas and governance contexts to change concepts, apply insights in actual time, and determine alternatives for cross-nation and cross-sector impression. 

Benefits

Through participation in this system, members will:

• Strengthen their management capability by the Vital Voices Leadership Journey (VVLJ), enabling them to guide with objective and inclusively. 
• Build complete public management expertise by enhancing determination-making, governance, strategic communication, and political technique to successfully affect coverage, mobilize stakeholders, and advance fairness and SDG-aligned systemic change. 
• Join the VV Engage alumni neighborhood of over 190 alumni worldwide, with entry to ongoing digital programing and continued engagement alternatives. 
• Become part of the Vital Voices international community of over 49,000 girls leaders, with full entry to the Network Hub and steady studying schooling and engagement alternatives. 
• Receive a certificates of completion upon efficiently finishing this system.  .

Eligibility

• Applicant should have a minimum of three years of expertise holding a management or determination-making position in public workplace, authorities, civic establishments, political actions, or public coverage areas. 
• Be 18 years outdated by June 2026  
• Must be one of many following:  
  • An elected/appointed official  
  • A political celebration chief  
  • An appointed official  
  • A political activist  
  • A neighborhood chief 
  • A media skilled  
  • A civil society chief  
• Must display a dedication to the core rules of the “Vital Voices Leadership Model” – Innovative, collaborative, and pushed by a transparent sense of mission; engaged in her neighborhood; dedicated to working with totally different political ideologies; dedicated to advancing the standing of girls and women; dedicated to transparency and good governance  
• Must display a dedication to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 

Application

Accepted fellows should decide to full participation in your complete program from June 2026 to March 2027 and are anticipated to be ready and engaged with employees, trainers and fellows earlier than, throughout and after this system. The VV Engage Fellowship is very selective. Shortlisted candidates could also be invited for a 30-minute digital interview. Final choices will probably be communicated following the choice course of. 

Click here to apply

For extra info, go to Vital Voices Engage Fellowship.