Postgraduate Fellowship Program

• For the last 40 years, CHCI has forged a critical pathway to Educate, Empower, and Connect our nation’s future Latino leaders, creating a transformative and lasting Impact on Latino youth and our nation. Learn more about CHCI’s history.

• CHCI hosts a platform of leadership development programs, which equip emerging Latino leaders with the tools they need to be successful in the public and private sectors. Through our educational and leadership development programs, CHCI is committed to our mission of Developing the Next Generation of Latino Leaders®. 

The 2025-2026 Public Policy Fellowship Program application is due at 11:59 pm Eastern Time on December 15, 2024. 

The CHCI Postgraduate Fellowship Program requires your graduate degree be conferred within two years of the program’s prospective start. For the 2025-2026 application cycle, you should have completed your graduate degree between May 2023 and August 1, 2025. You are also only eligible if you do not plan to enroll in an academic program at the same time as the fellowship. 

Please keep your responses to a maximum of 600 words each.  

No, CHCI does not accept applications from Doctoral students. 

• A complete application consists of: 

• a one-page PDF version of your resume or curriculum vitae 

• your most recent unofficial transcript 

• two professional recommendations 

• four essays (300-600 words each) 

CHCI’s Postgraduate Fellowship Program requires two recommenders to complete a recommendation questionnaire. You should identify and ask your recommenders to complete a recommendation as early as possible in the application process. Be mindful of who you identify as a potential recommender – be sure the provider indicates having a positive working relationship with you and speaks well to your interests in public policy. 

• Please return to your application page and press the “Save for Later” button. This will allow our application system to consider your application active for your recommender to provide their letter on your behalf. You may need to populate required fields before saving if you have not already done so. “N/A” is acceptable in our system until you go to submit your application. 

• If your recommender continues to have issues, please have them email programs@chci.org   

• Yes. Applicants to the Postgraduate Fellowship Program are welcome to apply to more than one discipline of that program: K-12 education, finance, health, law, technology, child welfare, international affairs, environmental issues, and housing. However, you must be able to make a case connecting your academic and work experiences to the discipline to which you are applying. 

• Applying to more than one program will not necessarily improve your chances of being interviewed or admitted. 

• We encourage all applicants to apply as early as possible to allow us to facilitate the review process more easily. 

• Please note, the application system shuts down at 11:59 pm Eastern Time on December 15, 2024, and will no longer be accessible after that time. 

• CHCI utilizes two rounds of interviews in the selection process. 

• Semi-finalists will be invited to record an asynchronous interview using CHCI’s online interview portal, hosted by VidCruiter. 

• Finalists will complete an additional live interview with program staff. 

• Interview questions ask about a candidate’s leadership experience, work style, specific interests in public policy, and prospects for the Latino community. There are no trick questions; we use the interviews to get to know candidates on a deeper level, get a feel for how they will handle the unique work environment of Capitol Hill, and help us to create a cohort with diverse interests, approaches, and experiences. 

• Top applicants will be invited to interview within each discipline category. If you apply to more than one discipline, expect to share your interest in those other disciplines, but that your interview may be intended for one over another. 

• A candidate is selected based on their demonstrated leadership experience, commitment to advancing the Latino community, quality of writing, recommendations, and resume. Candidates are reviewed after the closing of each respective application stage by program alumni, members of the CHCI Board of Directors and Advisory Council, and CHCI staff. While we strive to provide a timely decision to all candidates, this time period can vary between applications. 

• We encourage anyone interested in better understanding how public policy impacts their area of expertise to apply! 

Your essays are the best opportunity to tell us about you. We understand that each applicant’s story is unique; we encourage you to take advantage of this space to indicate how you have exercised leadership in your family or community and how that has contributed to your interests in public policy. Please also ask a friend, professor, or mentor to review your essays in advance or to help you brainstorm what to talk about. 

Applicants interested in making an investment in the Latino community and/or working on policies that affect the Latino population are welcome to apply to any and all CHCI programs. 

Yes. Applicants are not required to disclose their citizenship status during the application process. Once admitted, CHCI would ask for that disclosure for onboarding purposes. Any DACA applicant accepted must have their permit at the start of the program and maintain valid employment authorization for the program’s duration. 

No. CHCI does not host summer opportunities at the graduate level. 

• Postgraduate Fellowship experiences vary from placement to placement. Fellowship placements are intended to align closely with the fellow’s background and interests in public policy. Fellows are expected to put forth their best efforts in any placement and proactively search for opportunities to demonstrate their work capabilities, in addition to learning from and working with the legislative staff in the office.  

• Postgraduate Fellows are placed based on their professional and academic backgrounds, along with their interests in public policy, with at least one half of the full program term being on Capitol Hill. 

• Admitted fellows enter the placement process soon after accepting their fellowship offer and work closely with CHCI staff to determine a placement option(s). Fellows also have the option to pursue a placement off Capitol Hill during the program at a federal agency, think tank, nonprofit, or corporate office. 

• Postgraduate Fellows are placed based on their professional and academic backgrounds, along with their interests in public policy, with at least one half of the full program term being on Capitol Hill.  

• Admitted fellows enter the placement process soon after accepting their fellowship offer and work closely with CHCI staff to determine a placement option. Fellows also have the option to pursue a placement off Capitol Hill during the program, which – in even-numbered years – would occur during the first half of the program, due to the political election cycle. 

No. CHCI does not provide permanent housing for fellows during the nine months of the program. CHCI program staff will share resources and connect all incoming fellows during summer onboarding to support the facilitation of their independent housing search. 

• This happens sometimes, particularly with schools out-of-country. Please send the following information on your school to our programs team, programs@chci.org: 

• School Name 

• City, State, Country 

Fellows are expected to fully commit to this time-intensive and immersive fellowship program, which occasionally requires attendance at evening events. Any concurrent commitment should not interfere with regular work hours and your ability to complete the rigorous fellowship requirements and are subject to approval by CHCI Programs Staff. 

• Health
• k-12 Education
• International Affairs
• Technology
• Clean Energy
• Child Welfare
• Housing
• Law