Deadline: June 1, 2020
Atlas Corps is accepting applications for Fellowships beginning early 2021. The Atlas Corps Fellowship is a 12-18 month Fellowship in the United States and online for the world’s top social change leaders.
They have launched a blended fellowship that combines virtual service from Fellows’ home countries with service in the United States. The exact timing of the U.S.-based component of the Fellowship will depend on how guidelines about health, travel, and visas develop over time.
They will also be piloting their virtual learning network, an online Atlas Corps community that brings the professional and networking strengths of our model to emerging social impact leaders across the world.
About the fellowship
Fellows serve full-time at Host Organizations to develop leadership skills and learn effective practices through the Atlas Corps Global Leadership Lab professional development series and networking opportunities with other Fellows.
The Fellowship allows participants to engage in group cultural activities like a D.C. Monuments Tour, sporting events, U.S. holiday celebrations, and more. Atlas Corps sponsors the J-1 Trainee visa and covers most visa expenses. Atlas Corps also provides each Fellow with a living stipend to cover basic expenses (food, local transportation, and shared housing), a monthly phone plan, emergency health and travel insurance, and round-trip international airfare.
Through this Fellowship, Atlas Corps seeks to advance the U.S. State Department Education and Cultural Exchange Bureau’s Mission: To promote mutual understanding through people-to-people exchanges and to further U.S. foreign policy objectives by engaging international exchange visitors and American communities in a diversity of positive, safe, and enriching educational, cultural and professional exchange programs.
Benefits
This prestigious fellowship includes a living stipend to cover basic expenses (food, local transportation, and shared housing) and health insurance.
Fellows – but not their dependents – receive:
• Program-related international travel (U.S. Fellows only)
• Program-related domestic travel
• Basic health insurance
• Monthly stipend for basic living expenses (shared housing, food, local transportation)
• Documentation (DS-2019) that enables the Fellow to obtain a J-1 visa.
• Placement at a Host Organization
• Participation in the Atlas Corps Global Leadership Lab (nonprofit management training series)
Eligibility
• Applicants should have two or more years of relevant experience;
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent;
• English proficiency (oral, writing, reading);
• Age 35 or younger;
• Apply to serve in a country other than where you are from (U.S. citizens are not eligible for the U.S. Fellowship);
• Commitment to return to your home country after the 12-18 month Fellowship;
• Commitment to living on a basic stipend that only covers food, shared housing, and local transportation.
Application
Atlas Corps accepts applications year-round, but they encourage you to start your application soon. Their priority deadline is June 1st to be considered for Fellowships beginning in January 2021. Candidates with certain backgrounds that match special opportunities offered by their funders and Host Organizations may receive priority consideration and be considered for Fellowships beginning in July or October 2020.
• Application & Selection Board Review: Applicants are required to register for an account and save their login information through the online application system so that they can return to the application at any time. The application includes a brief eligibility test to determine if applicants meet the basic requirements of the Fellowship. Once applicants pass that initial eligibility test, they will be asked to give information on their passport, travel/visa history, language skills, employment history, professional skills, and social issue areas. They will also be asked to complete three short essay questions.
o The application also requires additional attachments:
An official transcript or diploma from previously attended universities.
Two Recommendations: Applicants are required to submit contact information for at least two recommenders who know them in a professional capacity. Applicants will need to send their requests directly through the application system. Their recommenders will receive an email that asks for a recommendation. More detailed instructions can be found in the online application form.
• Selection Board Interview (by invitation only): Atlas Corps selects top applicants who have the potential to match potential Host Organization placements for an interview via Skype with the Atlas Corps Selection Board.
• Host Organization Review (by invitation only): When you apply for the Atlas Corps Fellowship, you’re not applying for a specific Host Organization or a specific start date. You are applying for the opportunity to be considered by Atlas Corps and potential Host Organizations for placements starting throughout the year. Applicants that pass the interview stage will be designated a Semi-Finalist which means they are eligible to be reviewed by potential Host Organizations for placements based on their interests and skillset and the organization’s needs.
• Host Organization Interview (by invitation only): Host Organizations invite Semi-Finalists that best match their positions to conduct Skype video interviews with them, moving on to the Finalist stage. The Host Organization may ask for additional information from the Finalists, such as sample assignments.
• Selection and Visa Process: Host Organizations will make their final recommendations to Atlas Corps, and Atlas Corps will notify the selected applicants. After being selected, Fellows will go to the U.S. Embassy in their respective countries to apply for a J-1 visa. Atlas Corps will provide support in obtaining this visa.
• Semi-Finalists who are not selected by a Host Organization will be notified and may be given the option to keep their application on file for consideration for the next class of the Fellowship. Atlas Corps will continually reassess Semi-Finalists to determine if they are still in consideration for future Fellowship placements.
For more information, visit Atlas Corps.
