For the 2024 Kinship Conservation Fellowship, applications are now being accepted. The Kinship Conservation Fellowship provides global assistance to conservationists. The curriculum is intended to help you grow professionally and provide you with new perspectives, abilities, and analytical resources to help you lead projects at home more quickly.
The month-long in-residence fellowship develops your leadership abilities in the field while emphasizing market-based conservation solutions. Interactional dialogues, systems-thinking activities, and peer-learning sessions provide Fellows with experiences and creative solutions to difficult problems that they may use in their own work. Bellingham, Washington, USA’s Western Washington University will host the 2024 program from June 30 to July 30.
Delivered by a faculty of global experts, the program’s curriculum is curated to reflect the unique opportunities of each year’s cohort and exposes Fellows to the six Kinship Conservation Pillars for market-based solutions:
- Leading Adaptively
- Iterating for Scale
- Designing for Governing the Commons
- Identifying an Economic Engine
- Financing Conservation
- Evaluating for Impact
Their faculty work closely with each fellow to explore new ways to apply market-based approaches to environmental issues. In addition to the classroom training sessions, the program includes field trips and excursions to learn about real-world conservation issues. Each year, the Fellows get the opportunity to learn firsthand about topics integral to the region’s landscapes, like sustainable forestry and fishing practices.
There is also ample time for exploring Bellingham and connecting with other fellows. Fellows, faculty, and Kinship Foundation staff also gather for meal nights featuring international flavors and cuisines. During these informal gathering times as well as in the classroom, each year’s cohort forms bonds with each other, which become the foundation of life-long friendships.
Benefit:
- For attending the Fellowship in Bellingham, WA, Fellows receive a stipend of US$8,000, net of customary U.S. tax withholding. All Fellows are responsible for paying their own applicable local, state, and federal taxes in respect of the stipend. Additionally, payments to non-US citizens will be subject to customary US tax withholding (currently at 30%, resulting in a net payment of approximately $5600, subject to change based on then-current US tax laws).
Eligibility:
In order to be considered for the program, applicants must meet the following requirements:
- Possess a minimum of a four-year U.S. college degree (or its equivalent).
- Have a minimum of five years of relevant work experience after completing a degree.
- Be proficient in spoken and written English.
- Be a conservation practitioner (rather than an academic or researcher).
Evaluation Criteria:
Applicants who meet the above requirements will be evaluated in the following areas:
- Proposed project viability and appropriateness
- Leadership potential
- Potential contribution at the Fellowship program and ongoing membership in the Fellows Community
Application:
Applications must be submitted no later than 11:59 p.m. US Central Standard Time on January 14, 2024. Applications that are in progress but have not been submitted by this deadline will not be considered. Letters of recommendation should be uploaded to the system by the letter writer by Sunday, January 21, 2024.
