Applications for the 2024 Byron Fellowship are now closed.
Our five-day program supports participants in articulating and sharing their vision, clarifying and aligning with their purpose, and embodying the practices and ways of being essential for powerfully bringing their vision into reality.
If you would like to be notified of future programs, please fill out the form below.
Application Process
Admissions begin in January 2024 and remain open until April 2024. Nominations are not required to apply.
The Byron Fellowship program offers an unparalleled experience of embodied leadership and deep personal growth. Diversity of perspectives and practice in our cohort is essential. As we strive for multidimensional diversity in each cohort, priority is given to the first qualified applicant from any particular field.
For instance, if three exceptional environmental leaders apply, we will admit the candidate who applied early in our process and then waitlist the second and third candidates to determine at the end of our admission process whether or not we’ll admit an additional candidate from a similar field. Beyond area of focus, we also seek to craft a cohort that reflects diversity in race, place of origin, gender, sexual orientation, parental status, religion, age, and more.
We highly recommend applying as early as possible.
Who Are We Looking For?
We seek fellows who are making a profound difference in their own communities and keenly attuned to the challenges we share globally.
Prospective fellows are evaluated based on their demonstrated leadership within their various disciplines or communities, so please ensure that your application materials speak to your demonstrated leadership.
We also evaluate prospective fellows based on their vulnerability and readiness: the extent to which candidates express clear intention and willingness to venture into the journey of personal transformation required to create the change they envision catalyzing in the world.
Past participants' fields and backgrounds include...
Physics, Community Organizing, Philosophy, Musical Composition, Farming, Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Urban & Regional Planning, Ecology, Dance, Biology, Political Science, Animal Production, Family Planning & Womens’ Health, Agriculture, Engineering, Sociology, Business, Fine Arts, Communication, Theology, Public Administration, English and other languages, Environmental Science, Economics, Graphic Design, Computer Science, Geography, Geology, Chemistry, Construction Management, Psychology, Neuroscience, Mathematics, Eco-Theology, Historic Preservation Sciences, Anthropology, Pharmacy, Music, Social Change, Geophysics, Divinity, Culinary Arts, Hospitality Management, Theater Performance, Elementary Education, Human and Organizational Development
Program Cost & Details
Byron Fellowship is largely made available through generous volunteer and financial contributions. Fellows contribute a maximum $2,000 program fee to participate in the five-day program. The program fee represents approximately 30% of the per-participant financial cost of the program; the remaining 70% is subsidized by the Byron Fellowship Educational Foundation.
The Fellowship program takes place in a restorative retreat center set amidst the rolling fields and forests of upstate New York. The program fee includes five nights of lodging, nourishing farm-to-table meals each day, optional restorative experiences such as yoga and hiking, and access to the learning resources that we draw from during our in-person experience. Cost of travel to and from the program is the responsibility of the fellows.
Accepted fellows will be asked to confirm their participation by paying a non-refundable $300 deposit within seven days of their acceptance. The balance will be due on June 1, 2024.
Life after Byron Fellowship
Beyond the Fellowship week, fellows are invited to join our Generative Leaders Network, a global learning network through which Byron Fellowship alumni and mentors co-create continued leadership development experiences and other opportunities to support one another.
Financial Support
A candidate’s ability to pay is not a prerequisite for admission. If the program fee is a barrier to your participation for any reason (for example, being in the start-up phase of a new endeavor, earning income in a currency that makes the program fee unattainable, or personal circumstance), please request the support that you would need to make your participation possible. There is a dedicated space in our application form for financial requests.
We encourage applicants to seek professional development funding from their employer or academic institution and/or to fundraise within their communities so that scholarship funding can support as many other fellows as possible.
Financial support is allocated on a first-come, first-serve basis. Those requesting financial support are encouraged to apply as early as possible.
How to Apply
Applications are not considered complete until we have confirmed receipt of the following materials:
- the online application (the personal statements require a depth of reflection; the entire application may take you ~2 hours to complete)
- one letter of recommendation
After you fill out the online application form, we’ll contact your chosen recommender directly with instructions for submitting a letter of recommendation on your behalf.
Make sure to submit your application well in advance of the deadline in order to give your chosen recommender enough time to submit their letter.
Any applications that are incomplete at the time of system close will be automatically excluded from the final review.
Have the following information ready when you begin the online application:
1. An updated resume or CV with academic and professional history
2. Information about any academic and civic recognition including awards, grants, and scholarships.
3. Two professional and two personal references.
4. Contact information for the person providing your letter of recommendation. They will receive an email from us inviting them to submit their letter directly, so please make sure they are expecting our request.
5. If you are seeking financial support for your participation in the program, be prepared to share a short statement with us outlining your financial situation, including the amount you are requesting in assistance, the amount that you will seek to raise from other sponsors (e.g., company or school) and/or your community, and the amount you know you will be able to contribute.
FAQ
Can people apply only when they have been nominated?
No. People can apply without being nominated. Receiving a nomination is a meaningful gift, and making nominations strengthens ties within your community and networks.
Can I nominate my wife/best friend/neighbor?
Who is eligible for financial support?
If our program resonates with you but the program fee is a barrier to your participation (for any reason) please request the amount of support that you would need to make your participation possible. Space for financial requests is provided within the application form.
What program outcomes can I expect if I attend?
Exact outcomes will vary. You will gain concrete knowledge that can support your ability to effectively create change in the world; however, the overall arc of the program invites participants into open-ended experiences and practices rather than focusing on knowledge acquisition. What each participant will find through exploring those experiences and practices will be deeply personal.
If you can bring an open curiosity and willingness to be deeply honest with yourself and others, you will leave changed by some if not all of the three core outcomes, although most people find that they have engaged more deeply and experienced more inner growth around one of the core program outcomes.
What age and/or stage of life is this fellowship for?
We intentionally seek to craft cohorts that are diverse in as many ways as possible, as this further deepens the learning and possibility of perspective that is available to our fellows. We’ve found that fellows most powerfully benefit from the program when they have the life experience necessary to metabolize and integrate the depth of reflection and resources that we offer. Not a particular stage of life, but more of an awareness of life. We have fellows who are in the early stages of creating an initiative, fellows who are CEOs of well-established organizations, and everything in between.