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IMG_9381 4.HEIC

FELLOWSHIP
SELECTION

OUR WORK  |  FELLOWSHIP  |  SELECTION

SELECTION CRITERIA

Pahara Fellows are exceptional, values-driven education leaders with demonstrated commitment to transforming public education, and to serving students, families, and communities throughout the United States.

We aim to select leaders who:

  • have a track record of leadership in successfully impacting students and families not served well by our public education system and a desire to continue to take action towards future impact; 

  • are creative and entrepreneurial, imagining and realizing new possibilities and pathways personally and in collaboration with others; 

  • are on a journey to understand the effects of their lived experiences, including aspects of race and privilege, and how their identity shapes their leadership and the way they walk through the world; 

  • hold a breadth of experience and maturity gained from overcoming hardship;

  • are between the ages of 25 and 60, and feel reflection on their leadership and vision for the future is timely;

  • don’t have it all figured out and are oriented towards listening to and learning from others with different perspectives, and can do so with self-awareness, vulnerability, levity, curiosity, and empathy; and

  • are eager to build relationships and bridge gaps across political lines of difference.

We curate cohort communities that are vibrant spaces of curiosity, reflection, and learning and include leaders holding multiple differences in background, experience, perspective, and orientation. 

 

We’ve learned over time that this environment is fostered by participants’:

  • dedication to their personal learning journey; 

  • commitment to suspend judgment on what they believe to be true;

  • value for interdependence and desire to build durable bonds across lines of difference;

  • ability to stay in inquiry, holding complexity and discomfort with openness and resilience; and

  • skill to self-regulate and navigate differences in values when activated.

 

We care deeply about leaders and their well-being. In order to create the most productive experience, one’s ability to adhere to our Pahara Community Commitments is required. If you desire a space where everyone shares your worldview, this is not the right experience for you. If your personal experiences or needs warrant more than can be reasonably managed in a group of 24 leaders, please assess if the timing feels right for you to apply.

2024 ANNUAL SELECTION CYCLE TIMELINE 
*Note that the selection cycle timeline is subject to change throughout the year. Please check our website regularly for timeline updates.

MARCH 4, 2024

Call for Nominations: We will accept nominations through April 19, 2024.

MARCH 18, 2024

The application opens.

MAY 1 - SEPTEMBER 30, 2024

Candidate interviews.

OCTOBER 2024

Cohort curation.

DECEMBER 2024

Status updates shared.

EARLY 2025

Selected cohorts announced.

MAY - SEPTEMBER 2025

Cohort seminars launch

Our selection process is designed to help us get beyond surface-level information about individuals and their organizations and really get to know candidates and their outstanding work in service to students and families. We take a relational approach involving the following key phases:

STEP 1

NOMINATION

APPLICATION

OR

  • Leaders can apply with or without a nomination

​​

  • Nominations of exceptional leaders accepted year-round​

STEP 2

CANDIDATE CONSIDERATION

  • 90-minute Zoom interview + Referencing​

STEP 3

COHORT CURATION

  • Inclusive of the breadth of our humanity across multiple domains of difference​

STEP 4

SELECTION

  • Candidates notified of their status in December 

  • Candidates not selected may choose to opt-in for future consideration

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