New America Fellows

In brief, no.

New America’s flagship Fellows Program invests in thinkers—journalists, scholars, filmmakers, and others working in forms that diverge from the traditional think-tank formula—who generate big, bold ideas that have an impact and spark new conversations about the most pressing issues of our day.

The product of the fellowship should be a nonfiction reporting project in the form of a book, film, podcast, longform article, or multimedia project.

In addition to our Fellows Program, New America’s policy programs support a variety of fellowships that do not go through our official New America Fellows Program application process. We suggest contacting the program staff of these individual programs for more information about these fellowships.

All application-based fellowship opportunities at New America can be found on this page.

The application deadline was Monday, February 2, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. EST.

The deadline to receive reference letters is Thursday, February 5, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. EST. Applications missing reference letters will be considered incomplete.

Yes, you can download and review the application instructions file before starting your application by clicking this link: Fellows Program instructions to apply.

Annually, the fellowship begins in September and runs until May of the following year.

The product of the fellowship should be a nonfiction reporting project in the form of a book, film, podcast, longform article, or multimedia project.

Interested applicants should visit the Fellows Archive to see the types of projects we have supported over the years. Most are book projects; however, the program has also supported and welcomes other narrative-driven project methodologies.

• Funding: We offer unrestricted financial support (ranging between $15k and $30k) to give our Fellows greater flexibility in developing their project. Whether it supplements their income, funds travel, research assistance, or multimedia production, the stipends are meant to ease some of the financial constraints that often limit ambitious storytelling. While funding alone won’t eliminate all barriers, we aim to provide breathing room to think, create, and experiment—allowing our Fellows to focus on telling stories that challenge perspectives and contribute to public discourse.
• Community: We bring our Fellows together to support them in building relationships with one another, former fellows, and experts. In addition to an in-person opening gathering in Washington, DC, we host virtual program gatherings designed for our Fellows to get to know and support one another while learning from alumni, external experts, and their peers. We also enable connections with New America’s various policy programs, which house some of the top thinkers in their respective fields. In May, we convene either virtually or in person for a closing gathering..
• Platforms and Partners: We offer our Fellows opportunities to publish with one of our media partners and in New America’s monthly newsletter, The Thread. Our fellows are regularly featured in our program newsletter, The Fifth Draft. We organize skill-building sessions to facilitate additional connections in service of amplifying the voices of our Fellows. And, lastly, we help with organizing our Fellows’ project launches during or after the completion of the program.

New America Fellows typically remain in their jobs and home city. They come together for the program’s gatherings. The in-person opening gathering lasts three days, is held in Washington, DC, and requires 100% attendance. The virtual gatherings typically take place monthly from November to April, over 60 to 120 minutes. We strongly encourage our Fellows to participate in all events and ask that they attend at least 75% of them. Whether our closing gathering takes place virtually or in person depends on funding and is usually determined toward the end of the calendar year.

The number of New America Fellows we accept each year typically ranges from 10 and 15. Our application process is highly selective. For example, for our Class of 2026, we received nearly 400 applications and accepted 10 New America Fellows for that cycle.

Read our Class of 2026 “Who Applied?” report to learn more about the applicant pool.

The timeline for reviewing applications is subject to change and depends on the number of applications we receive. Our selection team will carefully review submissions and participation at each phase of the process and select candidates who will advance to the next phase. At each phase of the application process, our team will communicate with all candidates about the progress of their application.

There are three phases to the selection process:

• PHASE 1: Application Due
  All applications must be completed and submitted online. The Fellows Program staff and expert readers review all applications from February to April. This first review narrows the applicant pool to between 40 and 50 finalists.
• PHASE 2: Finalist Interviews & Committee Review
  All candidates will be made aware of the status of their application in late April, and finalists will be asked to schedule an interview with the program staff at that time. Once we determine the finalists, we send all the applications for review by our Selection Committee, which comprises New America’s President, Fellows Program staff, current and former New America Fellows, and other issue experts in New America’s network. Applications are private—we ask anyone involved in the selection process not to share or discuss any candidates or materials with outsiders.
• PHASE 3: Final Selection
  We expect to make our final selections in early July and will contact the finalists about our decisions then. The Class of 2026 New America Fellows will be publicly announced when they begin their fellowships in September 2025.

We expect Fellows to carve out time and space—at their discretion—to pursue their fellowship projects and make meaningful progress during the fellowship year. However, because this is a nonresidential fellowship, we do not require them to step away from other professional commitments.

Yes. We consider applications from individuals who may be based abroad for all or part of the year, and we accept applications from non-U.S. citizens.

The key expectation is that, regardless of where they are based, New America Fellows remain actively engaged in the New America community. That may include traveling to our offices for events as speakers or moderators, participating in fellowship sessions (virtually or in person), and contributing to New America’s quest of renewing the promise of America.

New America is headquartered in Washington, DC, and has a presence in San Francisco and Chicago that can serve as local hubs for Fellows.

Yes, you are welcome to apply again. When submitting your application, you will be asked whether you’ve applied to the program before. If you are proposing the same or a similar project as in a past application, please describe the progress you’ve made on that project since you last applied. If you are proposing a new project, simply note your previous project when prompted in the form.

Yes to all of these. We take on New America Fellows at various project stages—from those still writing their book (or documentary or other) proposal to those well on their way to completing their second or third book. What we look for are individuals who have well-articulated and compelling ideas that they are ready to develop and implement.

We also offer resources for those new to the process, including professional development sessions with experts; connections to agents, editors, and publishers; and access to a supportive community of past and current New America Fellows who have published books, produced documentaries, and more.

For film projects, please note that in recent years, we have primarily supported films that are already in production or have an established impact campaign.

Before preparing your work samples, please carefully review the Fellows Program instructions to apply.

Please submit the work that best showcases your abilities related to the project you are proposing, within the limits of the 40-page count limit and a three-sample count limit.

We would suggest choosing work that best represents the following:

• Your ability to communicate to broad audiences一with storytelling and narrative, clarity of explanation, compelling arguments, striking videos or images, etc.
• Your expertise in the area you are proposing AND/OR your ability to do the research, reporting, thinking, or other work required for your proposed project.

Writing samples can include drafts, unpublished works (such as book proposals, excerpts from sample chapters, and other similar materials), or published works (articles, book excerpts, op-eds, blog posts, and other similar materials). It is up to you which one(s) you would like to include. Please note that we only allow three writing samples—anything beyond three, even if it falls within the 40-page count limit, will not be reviewed.

For non-written work samples, all videos/audio work/photos must be your original work and must have been produced by you. The ability to upload non-written work samples is reserved for non-written work products only (films, podcasts, or any other multimedia narrative form).

Please note that a TED talk, a written script from any speech, a television interview, or a video of you giving a presentation does not count as original, non-written work. Therefore, we ask that you refrain from submitting these types of video samples as part of your work sample (written or non-written), as they do not enable the committee to properly evaluate your application.

Applications are kept private, so any work in progress will not be shared with anyone outside of those involved in our selection process.

Yes, as explained in the Fellows Program instructions to apply, you may submit a combination that totals three samples. In other words, you may not submit three writing samples in addition to three video/audio clips. You may share one or two written work samples in combination with one or two audio/visual work samples that may be relevant to your candidacy for the Fellowship. Applications with more than three work samples in total will not be reviewed.

Please use your best judgment when dividing your three-count work sample maximum between the two types of samples. For example, you should not submit a 40-page writing sample if you also plan to submit one or two video/audio clips.

Unfortunately, no. Given the volume of interest in the program, under no circumstances will the program staff take calls. Further, we cannot provide candidates with direct feedback either on a project idea or the components of an application, as we do not want our feedback to be viewed as an endorsement of an application.

We are certain that you can find enough information on our website to guide you as you prepare your application. Reading through the bios/project summaries for those Fellows in our current class may be a great starting point.

Yes, we require two reference letters with your fellowship application.

Your references should be familiar with you and your work, and we ask that you send them a copy of your project description so they can comment specifically upon your proposed project. Reference letters must be written in English. Do not send letters written for another purpose, such as a job application. ​You can see if your recommender submitted their letter in the applicant portal.

Your references should be people with whom you have worked closely. They should not be family, friends, or spouses.

You will be asked to submit the names and email addresses of the two individuals who will provide your reference letter in your application. Applications missing reference letters will be considered incomplete.

You can check the status of your letters in the “request two recommendations” section of your application. Once a letter is uploaded, a checkmark will appear by their name. If the circle remains open/empty, that indicates a missing letter.

Additionally, all candidates will receive a confirmation email once your letter has been successfully attached to your application.

Lastly, while the system will send a reminder email to references with a missing letter, you are welcome to send a personal note if your application is missing a letter.

Yes, the most common questions about the program and the application can be found here on this FAQ page. If you wish to dive deeper, browse the work of past fellows in the Fellows Archive, review our recent events, and read our recently published 25 Stories of Impact.

Unfortunately, due to the high volume of interest in the program, we are unable to accommodate requests to schedule a phone call.

Stipends generally fall into the following levels: $15,000–$30,000. The stipends in each class vary depending on the type of applicants we accept and the funding we secure for that year. There is no need for candidates to address stipends, budgets, etc., in their proposal—you should use the space in your “Statement of Interest” to pitch your idea.

Stipends are typically paid in three installments. Fellows are free to use the stipends they receive in the manner they choose; they may be used for travel, research assistance, multimedia support, or other expenses related to developing the project. Again, how you use the stipend does not have to be addressed in the application—we are far more interested in the ideas upon first consideration.

Yes, we are open to considering teams of two or more (co-authors or otherwise). However, please note that if a team project is accepted, the funding level remains the same as an individual fellowship award.

If you would like to apply as a team, we would prefer that one of you apply and explain what kind of team arrangement you would like to have—if you would be co-Fellows, one Fellow and an outside collaborator, etc.—in the statement of interest.