Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellowship

The Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellowship trains, inspires, and sustains a network of leaders who are committed to ending hunger and poverty in the United States.

The fellowship lasts 11 and a half months. For the first half of the fellowship fellows are placed with community-based organizations (field sites) located across the United States that work to combat hunger and poverty at the local, state, and regional level. During the second half of the fellowship, they are placed with organizations located in Washington, DC (policy sites) that work to combat hunger and poverty at the national (federal) level.

Depending on funding, fellow cohorts consist of 11-19 applicants. Fellows are selected from applications that program staff receive from applicants from across the United States. During their time in the program, Emerson Fellows explore how to address the root causes of hunger and poverty and learn how to amplify the voices of those with lived experience. Fellows also become part of a strong learning cohort that they use for reflection, resource sharing, and skill building.

Fellowship Selection Criteria:

• Commitment to ending hunger and poverty and their root causes
• Demonstrated leadership qualities and skills
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience
• Flexibility and ability to adjust to new situations
• Creativity and initiative in problem solving
• Enthusiasm for learning from policy experts, and searching for new models in anti-hunger and anti-poverty work
• Experience working in low-income communities
• Excitement about peer learning in a tight-knit community of like-minded individuals
• U.S. citizenship or permanent legal residency

Benefits

As an Emerson Fellow, you can expect to receive a stipend of no less than $50,000 – pre-tax. The Congressional Hunger Center bases fellow stipends on the location of their field sites and the expectation that they will move to Washington, DC for the policy site portion of the fellowship cycle. (One resource the Hunger Center considers when determining fellows’ stipends is the MIT Living Wage calculator.) Fellows serve as independent contractors, which means they must secure and finance their own health insurance, and are responsible for saving for and paying their own taxes, as no taxes are withheld from their stipends.

Other benefits include:

• The opportunity to connect with an extensive network of alums, partners, and experts
• The ability to work with policy leaders from around the United States
• The chance to engage in leadership development opportunities
• That opportunity to gain real-world experience in project administration and/or project management

Application Brochure and Timeline:

To learn more please read the Emerson Fellowship Application Brochure at this link: https://tinyurl.com/yajc83vb. The online application will open on Hunger Center website on Wednesday, December 4, 20245 The deadline to apply is noon EST Friday, January 30, 2026.

Application Timeline:

• December 4, 2025: Application opens on the Hunger Center website.
• January 30, 2026: Application closes at midnight EST on the Hunger Center website.
• February 2026: A selection committee of Emerson alums reviews applications; Hunger Center staff select semi-finalists.
• March 2026: Semi-finalists invited to online group interviews.
• April 2026: Finalists invited to online individual interviews.
• May - June 2025: Fellows are selected and notified of acceptance on a rolling basis.
• September 2026: Fellows arrive in Washington, DC for orientation.

If you have questions, please email the Emerson

Internship and Recruitment Coordinator, Emily Irsik, at eirsik@hungercenter.org.

The Congressional Hunger Center establishes fellow stipends based on location, taking into consideration the locations of fellows’ field and policy placements. (One resource the Hunger Center considers when determining stipend amounts is the MIT Living Wage calculator.) As am Emerson Fellow, you can expect to receive a stipend of no less than $48,000. Fellows serve as independent contractors, which means they must secure and finance their own health insurance, and are responsible for saving for and paying their own taxes, as no taxes are withheld from their stipends.

Other benefits include:

• Connection to an extensive network of alums, partners, and experts
• Experience working with community and national policy leaders
• Training / mentoring / leadership development
• Project administration and management experience