Young Voices Launches Opportunity Fellowship for Fall 2026

We're thrilled to launch our 2026 Opportunity Fellowship, kicking off this September. Designed for Contributors and alumni, the fellowship is a chance to dig into the economic, cultural, and technological forces shaping opportunity for young Americans today — through original reporting rather than opinion writing alone.

The fellowship kicks off with an in-person requirement: all selected fellows will travel to Washington, D.C. for a two-day Opportunity Summit, held September 9–11. There, fellows will meet journalists and experts working on issues related to social mobility and economic opportunity. In the months that follow, fellows will work with our team to report and publish their stories.

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The program will accept between six and eight fellows, each of whom will produce deeply reported stories, covering the following questions:

Economic mobility — What policies and innovations actually help people climb the economic ladder?
Housing affordability — Why has homeownership become out of reach for young people, and what reforms might change that?
Artificial intelligence and work — Is AI expanding opportunity or narrowing it, and how is it reshaping careers and entrepreneurship?
Family formation — How do housing costs, work, and public policy affect young families and declining birthrates?
Community and social capital — What role do civic institutions and local networks play in creating pathways to opportunity?
Barriers to entrepreneurship — How do regulation and licensing requirements affect young people trying to start businesses?

‍Timeline

Applications open now and close 11:59 p.m. ET on Sunday, August 9, 2026
Applicants will hear back by Friday, August 14, 2026
Summit: September 9–11, 2026, in Washington, D.C.
Fellowship period: four months following the summit, closing in December.

Apply Here

Note: only active Senior Contributors, and alumni are eligible. Please contact Program Manager, Caleb Franz (caleb@joinyv.org) with questions.

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