Applications Open: 2025 Dalai Lama Fellows Program

Frequently Asked Questions

Eligibility & Selection

CAN I APPLY IF I AM OUTSIDE THE 20-36 YEAR-OLD AGE RANGE?

Unfortunately, we are unable to accept applications from candidates outside the 20-36 year-old age range (age as of April 1, 2025).

DO I HAVE TO TAKE TIME OFF FROM SCHOOL/WORK IN ORDER TO APPLY?

No. The Fellowship is structured so that you can pursue your academic studies or professional responsibilities throughout the Fellowship year. That said, we are looking for candidates who are able to set aside about 12 hours per month to engage in all aspects of the program.

DO I HAVE TO BE INTERESTED IN BUDDHISM TO APPLY?

No. Dalai Lama Fellows is a non-sectarian and inclusive program. The curriculum presents ideas and practices from many of the world’s diverse wisdom traditions, and we do not privilege any one over others. We also encourage Fellows to connect with the wisdom and practices of their own cultures and traditions that will support their development.

DO I HAVE TO BE A STUDENT TO APPLY?

No. We accept applications from individuals with no reference to their educational status. Applicants can be enrolled in undergraduate or graduate studies, or not at all. We are simply seeking young people who are committed to their personal growth and development in service of making the world a better place for all.

MAY A GROUP OF TEAM MEMBERS BE SELECTED FOR THE FELLOWSHIP TOGETHER?

No. We believe that it is more impactful for individuals to apply and share their learnings with their team.

HOW DO YOU SELECT YOUR FELLOWS?

When we evaluate candidates, we are looking for alignment between how they seek to develop as social innovators and what our program offers. We are looking for applicants who have a genuine intention to learn new practices and perspectives that will (1) increase their self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and resilience, (2) expand their ability to connect with others in compassionate ways, even when there are differences, and (3) deepen their capacity to navigate complex and interconnected systems in their social innovation work.

We seek Fellows who are working on social innovation projects that address one or more of six key areas (Health and Well-being, Education, Contemplation, Social Justice, Environmental Sustainability, Cultural Understanding). Fellows must show they are deeply familiar with the community in which they are working and they also must have a well researched justification for the issue with which they are choosing to engage.

Unlike many other Fellowships, Dalai Lama Fellows is not merely focused on measurable impact and scale. Rather, our focus is on the individual’s personal transformations and leadership practices as intertwined with the transformations in the world they seek to help foster. Therefore evaluating applicants’ intentions and commitments is just as important as the strength of their project proposals.

Compassion-in-Action Projects

Why Do I need to be involved in a Social Change Project to be a Fellow?

We see Fellows’ social innovation projects as a necessary component of deep learning in our program and the opportunity to engage in the “Hands” dimension of our Head, Heart, and Hands approach to leadership. Certainly, lots of development can happen through academic study and self-reflection. However, deeper learning occurs through application and embodied experience. Therefore, compassion-in-action projects allow Fellows to apply their curricular learning to real-world situations and leadership challenges and ensure their personal growth and transformation is integrated with collective growth and transformation.

CAN YOU GIVE EXAMPLES OF past Fellows’ PROJECTS?

A few examples of Fellows’ projects are:

Stephen Ogweno of Kenya: Stowelink is a youth led organization with the aim of providing health care resources for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and gender-based violence. Stowelink uses the arts and technology as tools for health care and launched a mobile app, NCD 365, that provides education, resources, and support groups to prevent and manage NCDs.

Bhagya Wijayawardane of Sri Lanka: Bhagya’s project, Anybody Can Grow, aims to create equitable and safe food systems by providing community members with access to garden space and healthy food. The program also provides educational programs to gardeners of all ages.

Roseline Adewuyi of Nigeria: STEMFILLES provides training to young girls in Nigeria to embrace STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and to eradicate social biases that prevent girls from entering into fields related to STEM.

Abinash Mohanty of India: Project Anwesha focuses on the Tanga community of Rajgir, Bihar—a traditional horse cart community. The project helped horse cart drivers harvest manure from horses to generate electricity for their homes.

More examples of projects in these areas can be viewed on our Meet the Fellows page.

DO YOU OFFER ANY FUNDING FOR PROJECTS?

We do not offer funding for projects. Based on what we have learned from ten years of programming, we have gleaned that the most meaningful elements of our program for Fellows is our curriculum, coaching, and global community. We encourage Fellows to search for and develop other creative sources of project funding and their program coach can serve as a guide in this area.

IF I DON’T YET HAVE A SOCIAL INNOVATION PROJECT, DO I HAVE TO LAUNCH A PROJECT DURING MY FELLOWSHIP YEAR?

Yes. Fellows’ learning and growth in the fellowship happens largely through applying lessons learned in the curriculum and coaching, as well as personal contemplative practices, to actual social innovation work. Therefore, we expect all applicants who do not have ongoing projects to have well articulated plans for a project and expect them to launch it within the first 6 months of the fellowship.

CAN MY SOCIAL INNOVATION PROJECT BE MY FULL-TIME JOB?

Yes. Many of our Fellows’ social innovation projects constitute their full-time work. Other Fellows execute their projects in addition to other work in which they are involved. Either is acceptable.

DO I HAVE TO BE THE FOUNDER OF THE SOCIAL INNOVATION PROJECT?

No. As long as you play a meaningful role on the project and have the ability to shape the process and outcomes of the work, you can use that social innovation project for this fellowship.

DO I HAVE TO COMPLETE MY PROJECT WITHIN THE FELLOWSHIP YEAR?

No. Many of our Fellows continue to work on their projects beyond their Fellowship year. However, we do expect Fellows to complete their intended goals for their projects during the Fellowship year.

DO I HAVE TO BE LOCATED NEAR THE COMMUNITY WHERE MY PROJECT IS TAKING PLACE?

We require that Fellows have meaningful, consistent, and immersive engagement with the project and the community throughout the Fellowship year. We highly prefer Fellows who are living in close proximity to the community where their project is being implemented. In some cases, we select Fellows who are not in close proximity to their project communities, but typically only if strong connections have already been established and if there is still ongoing contact throughout the year. If you are proposing a project that is located in a different city, state, or country from where you will be residing during the Fellowship year, then you must prove to us through your application how you will be engaged with your project and community in a meaningful and consistent way. Fellows must also demonstrate at least six months of experience with the community they propose to work with.

CAN MY PROJECT BE DELIVERED FULLY ONLINE?

Yes. Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic we have learned that meaningful connections and social innovation work can happen in a fully virtual format. Thus, we welcome projects that are delivered virtually.

CAN I SHARE MY PROJECT IDEA WITH YOU TO SEE IF IT FITS WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE FELLOWSHIP?

Yes. You may email contemplativeleadership@virginia.edu with any project related questions/ideas.

The Fellowship Experience

WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS OF A FELLOW, BEYOND THE PROJECT?

Fellows must expect to set aside approximately 12 hours per month to engage with all aspects of the program (not including the work on their social innovation projects). This includes individual readings and reflections, monthly coaching calls, a monthly full-group learning call, and quarterly small group learning calls. In addition to the curriculum, Fellows will commit to a daily contemplative practice to cultivate the skills and dispositions they’re learning about in the curriculum.

WHAT DOES THE YEAR-LONG CURRICULUM CONSIST OF?

We use an online learning platform to host our Head, Heart, Hands curriculum. The curriculum works to build three core competencies: Connections to Self (the individual innovator), Connections to Others (relationships), and Connections to Ecosystems (the interconnected systems in which we are all embedded). The curriculum is processed through individual reading and reflection exercises, monthly coaching, and group learning.

WHAT HAVE PAST FELLOWS LEARNED FROM YOUR PROGRAM?

Through our program Fellows have deepened their self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and self-care practices, and they have strengthened their ability to form meaningful connections with others on their team, in their communities, and with individuals beyond their communities. Fellows have also come to understand how the quality of their own minds and hearts shows up in all aspects of their leadership, and by cultivating their own inner capacities for wisdom and compassion, they are able to co-create innovative solutions to social problems with their communities. Beyond their Fellowship year, Fellows have expressed how the new perspectives and practices they learned from the program have been personally transformative and have also made an impact on their approach to sustainable social innovation.

CAN I GET CONNECTED TO A PAST FELLOW TO LEARN ABOUT their EXPERIENCE?

Yes. Many of our LifeLong Fellows are willing to share about their experience. Please email contemplativeleadership@virginia.edu with some details about yourself and indicate your desire to connect to a past Fellow. We will follow up with an email introduction to one of our LifeLong Fellows who has volunteered to answer questions. Deadline to request connection to a LifeLong Fellow is November 15, 2024.

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