Us@250 Fellowship Call for Applications

What is the Us@250 Initiative at New America?

On July 4, 2026, the nation will mark the 250th anniversary of the ratification of the Declaration of Independence. To commemorate our nation’s founding we will celebrate its progress, spotlight the areas that hinder us from becoming a more perfect union, and spark conversations about the future of America.

New America’s Us@250 (pronounced “us at 250”) initiative seeks to accomplish this by employing three core themes in its work: pride in the nation’s progress from its origins, reckoning with historical and contemporary wrongs that have caused the nation to fall short of its ideals, and aspiration for an inclusive democracy governed by the principles of equality, fairness, and opportunity.

What is the Us@250 Fellowship?

The Us@250 Fellowship provides funding, resources, and community for those engaged in projects that seek to tell a more comprehensive American story; expand our concept of American culture and identity; create connections across differences; and model how an inclusive multiracial society might thrive. The fellowship will facilitate projects in civic engagement, narrative change and storytelling, and cultural education that foster public participation.

Us@250 Fellows will be actively engaged in the work of renewing, reimagining, and realizing the promise of America as we approach our 250th year as a nation. 

Who Can Be a Us@250 Fellow?

For the second annual fellowship class (2024 to 2025), we are looking for longform journalists reporting on local human-interest stories that engage the core themes of pride, reckoning, and aspiration.

Ideal candidates for this fellowship are journalists or reporters, whether working in a newsroom or as a freelancer, who are working on local stories about communities that come together across differences to solve hard problems, confront local history, or build community in a polarized country. The differences may be along generational, partisan, racial or ethnic, religious, class, or other lines. We are especially interested in stories from communities undergoing significant change (such as major economic or demographic shifts or social issues); and from under-resourced or rural areas. The focus of the work would be truly local in nature and not simply snapshots of a broader national debate. The fellowship is nonresident, fellows will continue their work in their local communities for the duration of the fellowship.

The common thread among candidates for the Us@250 fellowship is their involvement in public engagement activities and that their work centers on the past, present, or the future of the country, while also fostering interactions between people from diverse groups.

Fellows can be journalists or reporters at any stage in their career, and they will have previously published a feature or longform article (approximately 3,000 to 5,000 words). The fellowship deliverable will be a publishable article. 

What’s in It for You?

• An honorarium of $10,000, paid in installments;
• Regular engagements with the fellowship cohort to share best practices, workshop ideas and drafts, and facilitate new connections and collaborations;
• Educational and professional development opportunities, including access to New America’s expertise and networks, and in-person and virtual panel discussions and seminars; and
• Connection to the constellation of organizations, programs, and individuals working to protect democracy or mark the nation’s semiquincentennial to increase the awareness and visibility of your work.

How to Apply

We are now accepting applications for the second class of Us@250 Fellows.

The deadline to apply is May 17, 2024, at 11:59 pm EST.

Note: Prior to applying, you will need to create a SurveyMonkey Apply account. The first time you log in, you will be asked to select which program application you would like to complete before you can begin your application. Please select “Us@250” and then the “Save my profile” button to be directed to the application. Your application will automatically save so that you can come back to the form at any time before the deadline. All applicants will be notified of the status of their application within the portal.