About the Opportunity
Dalai Lama Fellows (DLF) offers emerging social innovators a rigorous, interdisciplinary, and deeply contemplative program to reimagine leadership as involving self-awareness, personal sustainability, genuine compassion for others, and the capacity to skillfully navigate complex systems at multiple levels. Our Fellows learn practices for cultivating emotional intelligence, self-care, resilience, empathy, deep listening, and communication skills in order to foster systems for human and planetary flourishing for generations to come. Over the course of a year, with the support of mentors and coaches, each Fellow implements an original field project addressing a local challenge and learns how to interweave their own transformation with the transformation of the communities with which they are engaging. Upon graduation, Fellows join a community of LifeLong Fellows, with whom they connect in mutually supportive ways while continuing to advance their leadership journeys.
Eligibility Requirements
In order to fulfill the minimum requirements, through the application a candidate must demonstrate:
- Age requirements: 20-36 years old as of Feb 1, 2022 (we added a year of eligibility because we did not select Fellows in 2021; please do not inquire about exceptions to the age range, as this is a firm requirement)
- Fluency in written and spoken English
- Current engagement with or well-articulated plans for a social change project and sustained engagement with the project throughout the fellowship year (NOTE: due to the difficulty of launching a social innovation project from scratch, we give preference to applicants who have ongoing projects, but each year we have selected Fellows who have a concrete vision for a project and plans to launch during the fellowship year, given they have the adequate expertise, resources, and community connections at the time of applying)
- In-depth knowledge of the community and the issue that the project is seeking to address, preferably with at least one year of previous experience working with the community
- Interest in learning and engaging in contemplative practices throughout the year
- Commitment to participating in all dimensions of the program (online learning platform, 1-on-1 coaching calls, group learning calls, etc.)
- We estimate full participation in the fellowship requires about 12 hours per month, not including Fellows’ work on their projects
- Attendance at the Contemplative Leadership Assembly in late July 2022 (DLF will cover all costs for travel, lodging, and meals for the Assembly)
Application Summary
The application for Dalai Lama Fellows consists of five main parts:
- Applicant background and overview
- Short essay questions
- Video submission
- Resume/CV
- Letter of recommendation
Fellowship Components
For most of the fellowship, Fellows participate remotely. They work on their compassion-in-action projects while engaging with DLF’s online leadership curriculum and receiving virtual coaching and mentorship. At the beginning of the fellowship year, Fellows gather for a week-long Contemplative Leadership Assembly in the United States.
Deadline: February 1, 2022