Nancy Pelosi Fellowship Program – US

The program recruits and builds diverse future talent sources in support of the Department’s strategic workplace planning priorities to hire a highly qualified workforce from all segments of society.

The Nancy Pelosi Fellowship Program encourages applications from members of groups historically underrepresented in the Foreign and Civil Service, women, and those with financial need. The program directly supports FY22-26 State-USAID Joint Strategic Plan’s Strategic Objective: Build and equip a diverse, inclusive resilient and dynamic workforce and supports GTM’s Functional Bureau Strategic Objective: Recruit and hire a highly qualified workforce from all segments of society.

The Department invests in participants by providing financial assistance for undergraduate students to complete paid domestic internships over the course of up to two consecutive summer cycles, the first at a D.C.-based think tank, foundation, or other non-education institution dedicated to global engagement and public service. Approximately one year after, students will be encouraged and favorably considered to complete a second paid internship with an office of the Department of State, managed directly through the Department’s well established Student Internship Program. Though placement in the second paid internship at the Department is not guaranteed, successful completion of the first summer Pelosi Fellowship will be a positive factor in consideration for the Department’s Student Internship Program. Fellows are provided with professional development, mentoring, and complementary learning activities throughout the duration of the program. Through an integrated program, Fellows forge lasting connections and develop skills to prepare for future work as national security professionals and diplomats.

This award will provide for the selection of approximately 20-25 Fellows and will cover approved costs for the program period. Recipient will be advised of the final number of Fellows prior to the selection cycle.

Goals

• Develop future talent for the Department of State’s Foreign and Civil Service, starting at the undergraduate level.
• Increase opportunities and pathways for undergraduate students to engage in public service to prepare for careers within the Department of State advancing national security and foreign policy interests.

Objectives

• Equip future talent with direct insight and foreign policy-related work experience through a program of professional development and practical internship experience.
• Develop network of participating D.C.-based national security think tanks, foundations, or non-education institutions for Fellowship participants to gain direct professional experience with non-governmental foreign affairs entities dedicated to global service and engagement.
• Enable participants to benefit from paid internship experience with participating think tank, foundation, or non-education institution.
• Provide Fellowship cohort with professional development, mentoring, and complementary learning enrichment activities to prepare them for future work as foreign affairs professionals.
• Provide Fellows with information and direct insight on the service elements, benefits, challenges, and requirements of a Foreign Affairs career and understanding of entry pathways to Foreign and Civil Service careers.
• Establish and administer the program in a strategic and efficient way that produces the intended results.

Funding Information

• Total available funding: $ 1,642,510
• Duration: 15 months

What they provide?

• The Nancy Pelosi Fellowship Program provides financial assistance towards internship stipends, travel, and temporary housing expenses. The current model allocates:
  • Recruitment and marketing expenses for internship program, selection of intern cohort, and establishment of network of participating external internship hosts.
  • Up to approximately $18,000 for each intern to cover related costs for summer internship placement, including a stipend and full support for travel and temporary housing expenses for a domestic summer internship hosted by a foreign affairs think tank, foundation, or non-education institution.
  • Expenses up to $7,000 annually for each intern to cover an in-person program orientation or seminar; professional local enrichment engagements, including visits to foreign affairs organizations; and professional development and mentoring from a senior foreign service-level officer.
  • Expenses to cover a program evaluation conducted by a third-party evaluator. Fellows who successfully complete the first internship rotation are encouraged to apply for a second paid internship through the Department of State’s Student Internship Program (SIP) during the subsequent summer cycle following completion of the first summer Pelosi summer internship.

Outcomes 

• Attract and build diverse pipelines into public service that inclusively represent the cultural, social, ethnic, racial, gender, and geographic diversity of the United States to pursue a career in national security and diplomacy.
• Equip future talent with direct professional development and understanding of foreign policy and advancing U.S. diplomacy firsthand.
• Provide participants with a deeper appreciation of current issues and trends in international affairs, a greater understanding of career opportunities in international affairs, particularly the Foreign and Civil Services of the U.S. Department of State, and the enhanced knowledge and skills to pursue these career paths.

Eligibility Criteria

• U.S.-based non-profit/non-governmental organizations with or without 501(c) (3) status of the U.S. tax code; U.S.-based private, public, and state institutions of higher education.
• Intern Applicant Criteria
  • The Nancy Pelosi Fellowship Program requirements include:
    • proof of U.S. citizenship at time of application and ability to obtain and maintain a Secret security clearance;
    • undergraduate enrollment in a bachelor degree-seeking program and must be a rising sophomore at the start of the first Fellowship rotation;
    • minimum 3.2 undergraduate grade point average or higher on a 4.0 scale; and
    • in addition to outstanding leadership and academic achievement, demonstration of financial need;
    • interest in completing up to two paid internship rotations approximately one-year apart, subject to availability of funds.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.