Postgraduate Fellowship Program - CHCI
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Postgraduate Fellowship Program

Experience: Masters or JD
Program Dates: August 21, 2024 - May 23, 2025
Application Launch: August 15, 2023
Application Deadline: December 15, 2023
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CHCI’s Postgraduate Fellowship Program is designed to offer emerging Latino leaders the opportunity to draw connections between their graduate field of study and public policy. This paid, nine-month fellowship will allow you to spend four days a week on Capitol Hill, obtain unparalleled work experience, and gain exposure to the legislative process.

This nine-month paid program offers emerging Latino leaders the opportunity to draw connections between their graduate field of study and public policy. Applications to the Postgraduate Fellowship Program must have completed a master’s degree in any field or JD within two years of the program start date

Once a week, you will join the Fellowship cohort for a full day of leadership development centered on CHCI’s four Pillars of Leadership—Self Discovery, Transformation through Collective Power, Rooted in my Strength, and Planting Seeds for Tomorrow. The CHCI pillars provide the support needed to strategize and produce organized, culturally relevant programming with timely content to create opportunities, transform, influence, and connect the next generation of Latino leaders.

Weekly programming will refine your leadership abilities, affirm your career goals and area of focus, and allow you to spend time discussing policy issues of national concern. You will gain experience proposing effective policy solutions by critically examining all sides and implications of these issues.

Additionally, you will get the chance to showcase your gained public policy knowledge and highlight your expertise by organizing and hosting a briefing on Capitol Hill.


PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

  • Work a minimum of 32 hours a week at placement site
  • Attend a one-week orientation and weekly leadership development sessions
  • Participate in all CHCI-sponsored activities
  • Research, write and publish an issue brief
  • Develop and execute a policy briefing on Capitol Hill on your issue brief to promote public policy issues of importance to Latinos
  • Comply with CHCI policies regarding work performance and personal conduct
View Program flyer

PROGRAM BENEFITS

  • Over the course of nine months, Postgraduate Fellows will receive a gross stipend amount of $34,200. 
  • Stipend or voucher to subsidize domestic round-trip transportation to Washington, D.C.
  • Medical, dental, and vision insurance for the fellow during the program (all premiums paid by CHCI)
  • $100 per month Metro stipend
  • $350 Professional Development stipend
  • Through a generous partnership with Airbnb, CHCI will offer the 2024-25 Fellowship participants housing vouchers that can be used to cover housing upon arrival to DC, for a period of up to four weeks before the start of the program.
  • Weekly leadership training, networking and more

PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY

  • Applicants must have completed a master’s degree or J.D. within two years of the program start date (doctoral students are NOT eligible to apply)
  • High academic achievement (preference of 3.0 GPA or higher)
  • Evidence of leadership skills and potential for leadership growth
  • Demonstrated commitment to public service-oriented activities
  • Superior analytical skills, outstanding oral and written communication skills
  • Applicants must be U.S. citizens, lawful permanent residents, asylees, or individuals who are lawfully authorized to work full-time without restriction for any U.S. employer and who, at the time of application, possess lawful evidence of employment authorization. International students on F-1 or M-1 visas are not eligible for CHCI programs.
    • NOTE: Individuals who are seeking consideration under the “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival” (DACA) policy must be eligible to work and possess valid employment authorization at the time of acceptance, and must maintain continuous lawful employment authorization for the duration of the program for which the person is applying.

SELECTION PROCESS

The selection process is competitive. Applications are reviewed by a selection committee composed of program alumni, members of the CHCI Board of Directors and Advisory Council, and CHCI staff. Only top candidates receive an invitation to interview for a select number of fellowship opportunities, based on the quality of their application and demonstrated interest in public policy.


FAQS

The 2024-2025 Postgraduate Fellowship Program application is due at 11:59 pm Eastern Time on December  15, 2023.

The CHCI Postgraduate Fellowship Program requires that your graduate degree be conferred within two years of the prospective start of the program. For the 2024-2025 application cycle, you should have completed your graduate degree between May 2021 and August 2023. 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 recommendation
  • 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 in order 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.

Yes. Applicants to the Postgraduate Fellowship Program are welcomed to apply to more than one discipline of that program: K-12 education, finance, health, law, technology, child welfare 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 for us to facilitate the review process more easily.

Please note, the application system shuts down at 11:59 pm Eastern Time on December  15, 2023 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 and we understand that each applicant’s story is unique. 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 must maintain valid employment authorization for the duration of the program.

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 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 at a federal agency, think tank, non profit, 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 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.

Through a generous partnership with Airbnb, CHCI will offer the 2024-25 Fellowship participants housing vouchers that can be used to cover housing upon arrival to DC, for a period of up to four weeks before the start of the program.

Aside from the Airbnb benefit, CHCI does not provide permanent housing for fellows during the nine months of the program.

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

  • School Name
  • City, State, Country

As a fellow you are given the amazing opportunity to be in spaces where you would have never imaged yourself in. My family and friends were always shocked by the things we were doing.

2022-2023 Graduate Fellow, Christopher Luna
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