Fellowship FAQs

If you are having trouble uploading your files, please try using Google Chrome as your web browser. If you are still facing issues, please feel free to reach out to Joanna Zalewska (she/her).

No. All applications must be submitted via the online form system in order to be considered eligible. Please understand that documents received via mail or email cannot be accepted and the application will not be considered complete.

No. Humanity in Action will discard any materials that are not explicitly requested. We request that applicants name two people as references. We will contact them in the final stages of the admissions process and reach out to them ahead of time by email. Please make sure these persons consent to being listed with their contact details in your application.

A common reason why PDFs will fail verification is that they are password-protected. One work-around to this problem is to open the PDF and use your computer’s print-to-PDF function to create a new copy, which will not carry the password protection. If this doesn’t solve the problem, reach out to us Joanna Zalewska (she/her).

The admissions process involves two phases. During the first phase, a diverse panel of Humanity in Action alumni, staff and Board members read and score all of the applications independently. On the basis of the first round of rankings, a pool of around 80 to 90 applicants is selected for the second stage of the selection process. During the second phase, the Admissions Committee, consisting of a smaller group of Humanity in Action alumni, staff and Board members, conducts interviews with those who were shortlisted in the first round. The finalists are then invited to interviews in small groups of two to three applicants together with a small panel consisting of two to four members of the Admissions Committee. The final selections are made based on the scores of the first reading of the submitted applications and the interviews.

For the 2023/24 cohort, we expect to contact all applicants by the end of September 2023 to inform them on whether they have been selected as finalists. All finalists will then be interviewed by Humanity in Action’s Admissions Committee between October 9 and 20, 2023. The Admissions Committee will announce its selection of new Democracy Fellows during the week of November 6.

Your video should be uploaded as ‘unlisted’ to YouTube, with its URL pasted directly into the application form. When uploading your video to YouTube, please be sure to go into your ‘video manager’ and change the privacy setting of your video to ‘unlisted’. An unlisted video does not appear in any search results, suggestions, or video tab. Do not set it to private, as we will be unable to access it. If for whatever reason you do not feel comfortable using YouTube, please use another video service with similar settings. If you are facing issues, please feel free to reach out to Joanna Zalewska (she/her).

To apply for this program, you need to have been born in or after 1983. If you were born prior to 1983, you are not eligible to apply.

As our criterion specifies, you need to have at least five years of professional experience. We therefore kindly ask you to wait and consider applying to join one of our upcoming cohorts in future years. Meanwhile, the Humanity in Action flagship Fellowship program, designed for students and recent graduates, might be of interest to you. If you wish to be notified about the next call for applications, please sign up here. 

Democracy Fellows need to have at least five years of (full-time or close to full-time) work experience. This may include freelance work, (part-time) employment, (PhD or postdoc) research, entrepreneurship, and/or volunteer long-term (over six months) engagement. Traineeships and internships count if they were full-time and lasted six months or longer. However, internships or traineeships cannot constitute the majority of the five years of work experience. Short-term student jobs cannot be considered. If you are in doubt or have equity concerns, please feel free to reach out to Joanna Zalewska (she/her).

You are eligible to apply if you are a permanent resident in one of the European Union member states, the United Kingdom, or the United States. Citizenship is not a requirement. The target group of the project and its related activities need to include communities from the country of your residence. This can be online and/or offline and across borders.

The project proposal and its related activities need to focus on the specified geographic range – EU, Ukraine, UK, or US. Based on your specific circumstances, please determine whether you could achieve the implementation of the project in these countries. If you are unsure, please reach out to Joanna Zalewska (she/her).

No. The project proposal and its related activities need to focus on the specified geographic range – EU, Ukraine, UK, or US.

All Humanity in Action Fellowship Programs are conducted in English.

Humanity in Action will help Fellows obtain any visas necessary for participation in the activities of the program. However, it is the full responsibility of Fellows to obtain the visa on their own. Fellows must initiate the process, request supporting documentation from Humanity in Action in a timely fashion, and follow through to make sure they receive their visa on time. Humanity in Action is not responsible for obtaining a visa for Fellows.

You can pitch an idea within an already existing project if your idea adds a new component or angle to the larger project (i.e. subproject or project expansion). The proposed new project component needs to be largely independent from the existing project and free of constraints. Candidates seeking shortfall funding for an existing project should not apply. If you are unsure whether your idea meets this requirement, please feel free to reach out to Joanna Zalewska (she/her).

You can pitch an idea to be implemented with external partners, including projects under the auspices of a non-profit and non-governmental organization.