- What technical skills and experience should a Leland International Hunger Fellow have?
- What interpersonal qualities should a Leland International Hunger Fellow have?
- What kind of candidate is best served by the Leland Fellows Program?
- Where are Fellows placed?
- With whom are the Fellows be placed?
- How do Fellows bridge the gap between field and policy placements?
- How does CHC choose host organizations?
- What kind of training does a Fellow receive?
- How does this fellowship develop leaders?
- How can Fellows work together to fight hunger?
- What can a candidate expect from the Leland Program?
- How are Fellows be compensated and how is the fellowship funded?
- Does the Congressional Hunger Center Have Accountability And Assistance?
The CHC chooses candidates from a variety of educational and professional backgrounds, as well as ethnic, religious, and cultural experiences. Each fellow must have at least one year’s continuous experience working to alleviate hunger and poverty or serving within a related field in a developing country. In addition, each fellow may be required by their host organization to speak a regional or local language. The Congressional Hunger Center generally considers only those candidates with a graduate degree in a related field. However, exceptions can be made if a candidate has equivalent experience. All fellows must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
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The CHC believes that the best candidates for its Leland International Hunger Fellows Program are those with integrity, a positive attitude, and the flexibility to take challenging situations in stride. While CHC also looks for candidates with the appropriate technical skills and background, candidates’ character, poise, and dedication play an equally significant role.
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Usually, candidates who have some technical experience in the field and graduate studies in a related field find the Leland Fellows Program useful in propelling them into a larger professional leadership role after the fellowship. It is those candidates who combine these previous experiences with a desire to learn, willingness to initiate, and a drive to understand the systems that create and perpetuate poverty who truly gain the most. CHC has no official age limit, though most fellows are between 24 and 34 years old. On the whole, the most successful fellows and alumni are those who see this fellowship as a means to a long-term commitment to fighting hunger and poverty.
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In the first of two years in the program, Fellows are placed in countries in which food insecurity is most severe and widespread. During the field year, fellows are based in different areas in the developing world, including sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and Latin America. The following year, for the policy placements, most fellows return to the US to work at the US headquarters of the organizations for which they were placed during their field experience (or at partner institutions of Southern NGOs). Fellows associated with the UN Food Agencies in the field will be placed at those headquarters in Rome.
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The Congressional Hunger Center places fellows with non-government organizations, government or bilateral agencies, international or multilateral agencies, and cooperatives. Within these kinds of organizations, fellows focus on transitional, sustainable, and relief development, looking in each case at local, national and global solutions to hunger. CHC has a tradition of partnering with USAID, the United Nations, and a number of international non-government organizations like Save the Children USA and Mercy Corps International.
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During the field component of the program, fellows help design, implement, or evaluate a project dealing with relief, transition, or development activities related to poverty alleviation or food security. During the policy placement, fellows use the information and experience gained in the field to contribute to evaluating and shaping the organization's broader strategy for combating poverty and hunger.
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The Congressional Hunger Center wishes to match fellows with host organizations that have proven management systems and a history of collaborating with other groups - indigenous and otherwise - in their efforts to eliminate hunger. All field organizations address root causes of poverty and hunger, and effective policymaking institutions have a history of generating policy that empowers the poor through, for example, increased access to land, education, or health care. Most of all, host organizations will be expected to provide fellows with an involved supervisor who will make it possible for fellows to have opportunities to make substantive contributions.
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At the outset of the fellowship, the Congressional Hunger Center leads a leadership retreat, which is followed by a field training in Washington DC. In addition to providing a time for the fellows to meet each other and learn about their leadership styles, this is an opportunity to prepare fellows for their field assignments. Since most fellows have some prior professional experience, the curriculum is designed to build on skills they already possess. The trainings focuses on the specific issues fellows will face in the field and the skills they will need to meet their goals.
A second formal training takes place after the first year in the field is completed. Though the leadership curriculum is similar, it directly focuses on the policy process. Fellows learn about United States policymaking from the perspective of members of Congressional staff and lobbyists as well as government, non-government and multi-lateral organizations. Also during the second year of the fellowship, CHC sponsors professional development days, which give the fellows an opportunity to pursue any professional learning topics they deem worthwhile.
At the end of the second year, fellows participate in a Country Policy Study, which is an opportunity for fellows to reunite with each other and learn about solutions to hunger and poverty in a particular country context.
Finally, each fellow is entitled to a personal development fund, which he or she can use in order to advance his or her professional learning on any given topic or skill. Most often, fellows often use these funds for additional language training and/or as resources to participate in international conferences.
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Throughout the fellowship, participating fellows are given the tools to design a leadership vision that includes a broad strategy for using their individual abilities and education in the anti-hunger movement. CHC helps fellows as they think about these vision statements, encouraging them to take the lessons of their fellowship with them for the rest of their career and life.
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The Mickey Leland International Hunger Fellows Program is designed to bring together innovative anti-hunger leaders in a collaborative community. One of the greatest strengths of the fellowship is that it brings together a group of intelligent, passionate, committed individuals who are given a forum to share their experiences and insights with each other over the two year fellowship experience and beyond. In order to facilitate these positive relationships between fellows, the Congressional Hunger Center creates and sponsors a variety of fora for the fellows to communicate and interact. While the fellows are away at their field placements, CHC sponsors a listserv and blog for the fellows to continue to develop their relationships with each other. From the retreat and field training during the first year of the fellowship to the policy training, the professional development days and Country Policy Study of the second year of the fellowship, there are ample opportunities for the fellows to work together. Ultimately, hunger fellows are encouraged to think of each other as long-term resources - personally and professionally - in their fight against hunger and poverty.
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All candidates can expect that CHC will do everything it can to place Leland Fellows with reputable, reliable organizations which have a commitment to hands-on supervision. CHC will also provide regular technical support and professional training throughout the program, connecting all of its Leland Fellows with many leading anti-hunger experts. Fellows should not, however, see the Leland Program as a means to meeting all their professional and personal goals. While CHC is committed to providing the best anti-hunger leadership program available, in some cases, Leland Fellows do not gel with their supervisors or organizations do not provide the exact kind of work environment a candidate expected. Leland Program staff will do everything possible to remedy problems. However, the Fellows themselves ultimately are responsible for taking the opportunities the Leland Program provides and turning them into stepping stones for future growth and leadership.
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Throughout the fellowship, fellows receive a monthly stipend, as well as a housing subsidy. In addition, the Congressional Hunger Center pays for medical insurance and travel to and from field placements. Upon completion of the program, fellows receive an end of service award to help them transition to the next phase of their career. The Leland International Fellows Program is funded by grants from private corporations and foundations, as well as through funds from an annual Agriculture Appropriation Bill. During the second-year policy placement, the host organizations contribute $5,000 to offset Fellowship expenses as part of a cost share arrangement.
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The Congressional Hunger Center has developed a Leland Advisory Board comprised of professionals in the international relief and development community. In addition to guiding the leadership and anti-hunger philosophy of the program, the advisory committee alerts the CHC to positions within organizations where hunger fellows can be placed.
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