PUBLIC VOICES FELLOWSHIP
on Public Health

We are pleased to announce that we are now accepting applications for the 2026 Public Voices Fellowship on Public Health, an initiative of The OpEd Project in partnership with Blue Shield of California Foundation. This year-long Fellowship, which is part of a broader global initiative, will convene twenty thought leaders of diverse expertise and background, working at the intersection of public health and its impact on society. Fellows will receive extraordinary support, build leadership skills and knowledge, and work alongside journalist coaches to ensure their ideas shape not only the field, but the greater public conversations of our age.

APPLY HERE BY MAY 24, 2026, AT 11:59 PM PT

overview

The Public Voices Fellowship is part of a global initiative, launched by The OpEd Project in partnership with a core group of leading mission-aligned organizations and institutions, to diversify public knowledge and discourse, make the world more intelligent, and better equip us to face the most urgent challenges and opportunities of our day. The Public Voices Fellowship initiative has a track record of stunning results over many years, dramatically increasing the visibility of Fellows and driving real and measurable impact. 

The Fellowship explores knowledge, leadership, and voice in an urgent timeframe. Each Fellow joins a unique cohort of highest-caliber thinkers, who are paired with dedicated journalist coaches and engage in a globally recognized leadership curriculum and training over the course of a year. Fellows come together four times during the Fellowship year for discovery-based convenings designed to catalyze knowledge into action (1.5 day-long convening in Oakland, California, and three virtual convenings over Zoom - details below). Using time-tested methods of transformational learning, Fellows explore how credibility works, how ideas spread, when and why minds change, and how ideas play out over time and space. This program will engage selected Fellows in intense, results-oriented thinking and activities around their knowledge and impact, with the goal of contributing to public discourse (including publishing op-eds). It will provide the inside information, high-level support, and media connections to drive large-scale change. Upon completion, Fellows will join a global network of thousands of peer Fellows, allowing for knowledge sharing and innovation across institutions, cohorts and years. 

What’s it like? Watch a short video of a previous Fellowship cohort.

Expectations of fellows

  • Participation in all Fellowship convenings in full, without exception

  • Commitment to contribute to public discourse, with minimum publication goal of 3 op-eds 

  • Commitment to engage with and contribute to the cohort

  • Alignment with the spirit and mission of the Fellowship

Applicants must be able to join all convenings:

  • Knowledge: June 25-26, 2026 (Thu/Fri): Thursday from 10-5:00 pm PT & Friday from 10-1:30 pm PT in-person: Oakland, CA*

  • Connection: Sept 24-25, 2026 (Thu/Fri), 9-12:30 pm PT on Zoom 

  • Contagion: Nov 5-6, 2026 (Thu/Fri), 9-12:30 pm PT on Zoom

  • Legacy: Feb 25-26, 2027 (Thu/Fri), 9-12:30 pm PT on Zoom

*There will be limited funds to support travel to the in-person convening 

SELECTION

We are looking for exceptional leaders and thinkers working at the intersection of public health and its impact on society—which may include research, professional work, lived experience or community leadership—as well as the desire and ability to contribute to public discourse and the public good. This Fellowship is an opportunity to help shift our public narratives towards solutions by introducing new knowledge, necessary ideas, and collaborative thinking across a diversity of expertise, background and identity. Fellows will be chosen through a rigorous and competitive selection process. We are committed to building a diverse cohort. We will consider various factors, including but not limited to area of expertise, work history, track record of impact, potential for impact, gender, race/ethnicity, age, geography, and experience as an agent of change. The Fellowship is open to people at least 18 years old.

Applicants will be notified of acceptance status in early June. Finalists will be required to confirm their commitment to publication goals and ability to join all convenings before confirmation of the final cohort and notification of acceptance.

Apply here by May 24, 2026, at 11:59 pm PT

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS 

These FAQs relate to all Public Voices Fellowships led by The OpEd Project.