Scoville Fellowship

"As a Scoville Fellow, I had the unique opportunity to meet with scholars, policymakers, and government officials working in the niche field of biosecurity. The professional network I built during my fellowship was a springboard for many of my early career achievements, such as an appointment at the age of 30 to become Policy Director of President Obama's Congressional Commission on Children and Disasters. I share this fellowship widely now through my work with ProFellow!"

“I would not be on the path I am on, working to build peace in the U.S. and globally, had it not been for the Scoville Fellowship. As a young woman from the Midwest, I had no connections in Washington DC, no way to get my foot in the door, and I certainly could not have afforded to take an unpaid internship. The Scoville Fellowship opened up doors and relationships with other amazing peacebuilders and professionals (and professional peacebuilders) that I could not have imagined. Today, I work to build the resource support for the field of peace and security to be able to address the complex challenges we face today, and to do so in the most inclusive, equitable, and generative ways possible. The Scoville Fellowship allows young people to understand what it means to commit to a lifetime of being a peacebuilder, whether that is through research, philanthropy, advocacy, policy, grassroot movement-building, arts and culture, media, science, or any other path they choose. You cannot unlearn what you learn as a Scoville Fellow; those lessons and relationships stay with you for a lifetime."

What people are saying

"The Scoville Fellowship has been instrumental in providing me with a launchpad to work on nuclear policy issues, to reduce the threats of nuclear use due to accidents, miscalculations, cyber interference, and to understand how emerging technologies intersect with nuclear weapons and impact nuclear deterrence. As pursuing the Scoville Fellowship has been a defining period in my career wherein I really understood the value and importance of mentorship, I now engage, mentor, and assist a number of young early career professionals with the know-how and tools to advance in their careers."

"My decision to apply for and accept a Scoville Fellowship put me on the path I'm on today, working on nuclear, biological, chemical, and radiological weapons threats at the intersection of academia, non-governmental organizations, and government. If it hadn't been for the fellowship, I'm pretty sure I'd be working on some combination of environmental policy, international trade, and/or related issues. These are obviously also important topics, but I'm thrilled to be playing a small part both in directly ameliorating some very serious threats and in supporting the next generation as a teacher and mentor."

"The Scoville Fellowship is honestly the best doorway into the peace and security I know of. Particularly for someone like me who came from a part of the country largely ignored by the field, and from a background that is still woefully underrepresented. I would not be where I am, and would not have thought to make the plans I can now without it."

"The Scoville Fellowship has incredibly robust programming. This includes monthly check-ins with Scoville mentors, routine meetings with leaders in DC, frequent alumni networking events, and cohort bonding activities. This programming has given me the opportunity, as both a fellow and alumna, to build long last relationships with the Scoville community. The opportunity to learn from the Scoville community - to seek their advice and support, learn from their experiences, and join their networks - has been critical to my success in the peace and security field."

“I spent my professional development stipend on online Mandarin Chinese lessons, which I believe directly contributed to my ability to get my first job with the Department of Defense immediately post-fellowship. I studied Chinese from 2009-13 during my bachelor’s degree, but my skills had atrophied in the intervening years. Chinese is a critical language for those working in the United States government as its foreign policy priorities have shifted to the Indo-Pacific. Intending to pursue work in the federal government after my fellowship, I figured I should restart my language learning efforts to become a more competitive applicant—it worked. Beyond career purposes, I believe there is an imbalance of understanding between China and the United States – every year, thousands of Chinese students come to the United States to study, but how many Americans study in China? I would argue that China has a better grasp of the United States than the reverse, and relations between the two countries could improve if each better understood the other. Language is such a critical part of that understanding as it shapes the ways policy is formulated and interpreted, and I hope to continue my language training so I can make a more positive contribution to this important bilateral relationship in the future.”

“I was creative in my use of the professional development fund, traveling to Amsterdam for the World Artificial intelligence Summit. I heard from leading experts like Kai-Fu Lee on the growing security dimensions between China and the United States as well as a broader startup community at the intersections of quantum information science and biotechnology.”