2026 Finalists
Information for Finalists for the Fall 2026 Herbert Scoville Jr. Peace Fellowship
Interviews will be conducted on June 12, 2026 via Zoom.
Advice for Informational Interviews
Finalists are required to schedule informational interviews before June 12 with five or six of the organizations that participate in the Scoville Fellowship. The purpose of these meetings is to help you determine which group you would like to work with if you are selected as a Scoville Fellow. These meetings will probably last around 20-30 minutes. You are not obligated to meet with the same organizations that you listed on your application. The fellowship has a rule requiring participating organizations to sit out two semesters after hosting a fellow; therefore, the Friends Committee on National Legislation Education Fund, Nuclear Threat Initiative, and Win Without War Education Fund will not be eligible to host a fall 2026 fellow, so do not schedule meetings with any of these groups. The Brookings Institution and Truman Center for National Policy may also be unable to host during the fall 2026 semester.
When meeting with organizations to determine your fellowship placement, pay attention to the following. You do not need to verbalize each of these questions but you should keep them in mind during your meetings. Finalists in the past have found it helpful to write down the major takeaways following each informational interview that they can refer back to when making a final decision.
While these informational interviews are important for both the prospective fellow and host organization to determine fellowship placement, they will not influence whether or not a finalist will be selected as a Scoville Fellow. They are designed to be purely informational, and fellows are encouraged to use this opportunity to get to know the host organization and better understand whether placement would be an appropriate fit.
The organization
•How large is the staff? How many of them are senior-level staff?
•Are you meeting with one person or the whole team? How enthusiastic do they seem about working with you?
•Is the office atmosphere formal or casual? Is the office quiet or is there ambient chatter? Which environment do you prefer?
•Is the organization primarily research or advocacy oriented?
•What issues do they work on–arms control, disarmament, conventional arms, emerging technology threats, environmental security, global health security, military budget, peacebuilding, etc.? Although some of the partner organizations focus on a broader range of topics, Scoville Fellows may only work on these issues.
•What types of publications–magazine, reports/briefing books, newsletters, factsheets, blogs, op-eds, letters to the editor–do they produce? Do they sponsor policy briefings, lobbying events, or other activities for their members?
•Who is the intended audience of their work, e.g., Congress, executive branch, international, media, or public?
•What does the hierarchy of the organization look like? Do they work horizontally as a team, or primarily based on directions/requests/instructions from supervisors/directors?
•Does the organization work in conjunction with other groups?
•What is the work culture like? Is there diversity in age and identities?
• Familiarize yourself with the work of your potential supervisor and the organization. Ask them what interests them about this line of work and how they plan to continue the work in your fellowship year. Indicate which particular content areas are interesting to you and why. Show yourself to be intellectually engaged.
•Does the organization have any major events planned that would require you to work through the weekend or work longer hours than usual?
•If the organization has hosted a Scoville Fellow in the past, what was the organization’s experience with the fellow and what work did the fellow complete?
•Has there recently been, or is there likely to be, a change in or extended absence from the office of personnel heading the organization or project you are interested in, a change in the organization’s or project’s mission or focus, or funding cuts that would jeopardize a project on which you want to work?
•Are there other young professionals–interns, fellows, junior staff– working in the office or in different locations of that organization? How would your role as a Scoville Fellow differ from theirs?
Your role at the organization
•Who would be your supervisor/mentor, and what type of working relationship are you likely to have with that person (i.e. collaboration on projects or independent research)? What is the program’s management style with regard to junior staff? Would the fellow expect regular check-ins with or close supervision from their supervisor, or does the program take a more hands-off management approach?
•Would you primarily be working independently, as an assistant to a senior-level staff member, or in a group? Would the fellow primarily be assigned research assistance or projects, or would they be expected to seek out that work for themselves? Make sure you ask questions about how much of your time is going to be research focused, collaborative, spent in meetings, etc. If you do not want the majority of your time to be spent doing independent research and writing, vocalize that and find an organization/supervisor that will be a good fit.
•Will you have the opportunity to interact frequently with the director of the program(s) with which you will work? Does this person travel often or spend most of their time in the office? Will they take you to meetings with them and have time to discuss policy issues with you?
•What opportunities might you have to write or contribute to written publications? Do junior-level staff members have the opportunity to publish items in their own name or only to provide research for senior-level staff?
•If the organization has substantive projects/assignments in mind for you, what are they?
•If you have projects in mind that you would like to pursue, how do they respond to your ideas and do they fit into the goals of that organization?
•Will you have access to or the opportunity to work for the director of the organization?
•Does the organization have a full-time staff member who is responsible for ordering office supplies, answering phones, mailing letters, etc., or might some of these responsibilities fall to you?
•Will you have your own computer, telephone and desk or will you share these with other staff members?
•Confirm that your supervisor would allow you to attend advocacy events, conferences, roundtables, talks, webinars, etc., which would allow you to learn about policy and expand your professional network.
•After you have described your skills, area/issue exposure, and interests, do you have a sense of whether or not you will be useful to your potential supervisor, program, and organization? Do you think you can make a meaningful contribution to the work of that organization?
• How could you be most helpful to ongoing or upcoming projects in the first month or two of your fellowship?
•What skills and knowledge would you learn at the organization that would make you more employable after the conclusion of your fellowship?”
•Does the organization offer any sort of training or introductory course on issues or skills you may need during your fellowship?
•Are there other young professionals–interns, fellows, junior staff– working in the office or in different locations of that organization?
In-person vs. remote work
•Does the organization have a DC office or are they fully remote? If hybrid, how many days per week are you expected to be in the office? How many staff typically work in the office?
•What steps would the organization take to support a Scoville Fellow working remotely? What measures are they taking to help their staff feel connected while social distancing?
Following is advice from recent fellows on contacting host organizations to schedule an informational interview:
• Open with a request for an informational interview to learn more about the organization’s work, priorities, and ideas for what a potential Scoville Fellow would work on during their fellowship. Be sure to include the word Scoville in the subject line, e.g., Scoville Finalist or Scoville Informational Interview. It may be useful to include a brief description (1-2 sentences) of your background and a reflection on why you are interested in the organization. This does not have to get too specific — but any sense that you’ve done a bit of homework on projects they work on, organizational values, etc., and how that relates to your interests and goals, can go a long way.
• Offer several dates and time blocks that work well for you within the following week or two, to help avoid going back and forth too much about scheduling. Because you may not be in the same time zone as the people with whom you are meeting, provide your availability in Eastern Time, which is likely to be where the staff at the host groups are based. Also determine the length of the conversation; 30 minutes is typical.
• Attach your resume/CV so they have a broader sense of your background.
•The host organizations are interested in you as a young professional, and it is OK to share that you may not be experienced in certain skills or knowledge about policy issues, since you would hope to acquire those skills and knowledge by working at that organization.
• Thank them for taking the time to meet with you, before and after you chat.
When discussing your potential work with the organizations try to determine the specific projects, tasks, and output rather than vaguely agreeing that you would work on, for example, WMD issues. Scoville Fellows are expected to perform substantive work. The fellowship is required to report the activities of each fellow to the foundations that fund the program; while it is not required that each fellow produce written materials, it is helpful to have fellows work on documents that can be shown to funders. Although Scoville Fellows should be working with a senior staff member at the participating groups, they should understand that they may also work with and get assignments from more junior level staff members who have been working at that organization and have a prior work relationship with the senior staff member. While considering the projects you would work on, bear in mind that it may take a while for you to learn about how NGOs in DC work and to get up to speed with the issues; the organization you work with may expect you to prove yourself before they assign you with greater responsibility. Fellows should be treated as junior staff members and be invited to staff meetings. They may help out with phone answering or other administrative tasks so long as it is a small part of their fellowship. Scoville Fellows are prohibited from lobbying.
Each Scoville Fellow must sign an agreement with their supervisor. Reading this agreement prior to your meetings with the host organizations should give you a better idea of the expectations of the program.
WISCONSIN PROJECT ON NUCLEAR ARMS CONTROL
1701 K Street, NW
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(202) 223-8299
Downtown
K Street at 17th Street
Metro: Farragut North (red line) or Farragut West (blue/orange line)
CONTACT PERSON: Valerie Lincy valerie@wisconsinproject.org
