Bush Fellowship program — Fellowship

The Bush Fellowship program is an annual, self-designed leadership development program run by the Bush Foundation. It gives individuals time and funding to build their capacity to lead and pursue equitable, large-scale change. Up to 30 Fellows are selected each year.

Applicants may come from any sector, and each Fellow designs a plan around the skills, experiences and relationships they need. A Fellowship lasts up to two years and includes a required in-person kickoff retreat; the rest varies with the individual plan. The 2027 application is not yet open and becomes available on September 22, 2026.

Benefits & funding

Each Fellow may receive up to $150,000 for a self-designed leadership development plan.
The Fellowship may last up to two years.
Funds cannot be transferred to another person or organization, used to fund a business or program, repay debt, lobby, make political contributions or cover campaign expenses.
Government and elected officials covered by the published restrictions may use the Fellowship only in a degree-granting program.

Eligibility

Be at least 24 years old by the application deadline.
Be a resident of Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota or one of the 23 Native nations sharing that geography, and have lived in the region continuously for at least one year before applying.
No citizenship requirement applies.
Prior recipients of a Bush Fellowship, Bush Artist Fellowship, Bush Leadership Fellowship, Bush Medical Fellowship or Enduring Vision Award cannot apply.
Current Bush Foundation staff or board members’ family members, as defined by the Foundation, cannot apply.
Leaders from any sector and at any educational level may apply; no quantified work-experience requirement is published.

Can you apply?

Here's who can apply

Decoded from the official rules. A free account checks them against your passport, degree and age in seconds.

Residence required
USA
Age requirement
≥ 24 yrs

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Application process

1
Review the eligibility rules, selection criteria and six application questions, then draft responses offline if helpful.
2
Prepare a current résumé, the required legal-history disclosures, two primary references and one alternate; one primary reference should have led you, another should have been led by you, and at least one should live in the region.
3
Create a new online application when the 2027 form opens on September 22, 2026; returning applicants must create a new application for each year they apply.
4
Submit by noon Central on October 6, 2026. The first response may be written or recorded in the application platform as a two-minute audio or video response; the other five responses are written and have published character limits.
5
If selected as a semifinalist, complete the reference stage; finalists complete background checks and an in-person panel interview.

Program timeline

Most recently completed application deadline, retained in the structured record while the program is between cycles.
October 7, 2025, noon CT
Live applicant Q&A.
September 15, 2026, 12–1 p.m. CT
September 22, 2026, 8:00 a.m. CT
2027 applications open.
Live applicant Q&A.
September 22, 2026, 12–1 p.m. CT
October 6, 2026, noon CT
2027 applications close.
Semifinalists notified.
December 1–4, 2026
Finalists notified.
March 10–15, 2027
April 15, 19 and 22
Finalist interviews; the official page currently labels these dates as 2026, which conflicts with the published 2027 selection sequence.
Required Bush Fellowship retreat.
May 19–21, 2027
June 2027
2027 Fellows publicly announced.