Aspen New Voices Fellowship Announces Call for 2016 Nominations

The Aspen Institute seeks nominations for one-year non-resident media skills and coaching program for next generation of global development leaders from the developing world

WASHINGTON, DC September 1, 2015– The Aspen Institute’s New Voices Fellowship today announced a call for nominations for the 2016 Fellowship class. The Fellowship initiative, supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, offers development experts from Africa and other parts of the developing world a year-long program of media support, training, research and writing under the guidance of experienced mentors and trainers.

Candidates for the 20 Fellowships awarded next year must be experts in fields relating to global development. The Fellowship welcomes specialists from all development fields, and this year is particularly interested in professionals with backgrounds in food security, polio and/or infectious diseases and development finance.

Fellows must be from a developing country, and ideally work and live in their country of origin or another developing country.

Over the course of a year, the Fellowship works to prepare and support Fellows to become recognized thought leaders, helping amplify their insights and ideas rooted in experience on the ground. They will be given training and support to speak at major events; write conversation-starting op-eds and think pieces for major outlets; and build their social media platforms. The Fellowship is non-resident, but includes travel to training workshops as well as opportunities for travel to select international conferences.

Current Fellows have had their work featured in media sites ranging from the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN and Al Jazeera to the Huffington Post, Africa Report, and AllAfrica.com. Fellows have been interviewed by news organizations including the BBC, CNBC, and National Public Radio (NPR) and been invited to speak at events including TED and the Aspen Ideas Festival

Application to the Fellowship is by nomination only through the program website at http://www.aspennewvoices.org/Nominations. The nomination period will close on November 1, 2015 and the incoming class will be announced in January 2016.

The New Voices Fellowship

The New Voices Fellowship at the Aspen Institute is a groundbreaking initiative designed to bring more expert voices from the developing world into the global development discussion. Launched in 2013 with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the New Voices Fellowship is part of Aspen Global Health and Development. For more information, visit www.aspennewvoices.org.

The Aspen Institute

The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington, DC. Its mission is to foster leadership based on enduring values and to provide a nonpartisan venue for dealing with critical issues. The Institute is based in Washington, DC; Aspen, CO; and on the Wye River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. It also has offices in New York City and an international network of partners. For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.

Contact: Andrew Quinn

Director, New Voices Fellowship

The Aspen Institute

202-736-2291

Andrew.Quinn@aspeninstitute.org