FAQs About ELP's Fellowship Programs
- What are the primary benefits of an ELP Fellowship?
ELP creates a structured and supportive learning environment that nurtures reflection, collective wisdom, and shared growth.
Within this container, Fellows:
- Build meaningful community and expand professional networks
- Develop leadership and career skills grounded in equity and justice
- Clarify goals and direction through the Personal Leadership Plan (PLP)
- Cultivate confidence, self-awareness, and personal resilience
- Strengthen communication, facilitation, and management skills
- Engage in a trusted, reflective, and justice-centered learning environment
We encourage you to visit our Testimonials page to hear from fellows about the benefits of participating in an ELP Fellowship.
- What happens in the ELP Fellowship and at retreats?
Typically, ELP Fellowship Programs are comprised of 12 days of training spread over several multi-day retreats.
Each retreat is a mixture of training and retreat. Fellows have time to dig into intense learning and also have space to process this learning - in conversation, in quiet reflection, and in time outdoors. Our retreats employ a range of models and and facilitation tools - and this is influenced by the particular facilitators and the nature of the group. Our basic model involves meaningful exploration of critical topics and skills, dialogue and reflection, the opportunity to generalize useful lessons, and the opportunity to strategize about next steps, and set intentions with supporting structures.
ELP retreats are an amazing time for people to have fun, play, grow, celebrate, and connect. We recognize that some of our deepest learning happens outside our comfort zones, so we also create a safe space for Fellows to take learning risks, experiment with new types of learning, and more. In addition to the structured learning sessions that happen each day, retreats contain long-lunches and most evenings are open.
- What content do we cover during the Fellowship?
ELP creates a structured and supportive learning environment that nurtures reflection, collective wisdom, and shared growth. Within this container, Fellows examine how systems change, explore their roles in stewarding that change, and build authentic relationships that strengthen networks and collective impact.
Here are some of the topics we will explore in a re:
- Diversity, equity, inclusion, justice and skills for working across difference
- Strengths-Based Leadership; aligning with and investing in your gifts
- Network-weaving and creating communities of abundance
- Personal effectiveness
- Creating high-functioning teams and learning organizations
- Difficult conversations and dealing with conflict
- The nature of leadership in our times - and in our individual contexts (issues, domains, etc.)
- Is the fellowship appropriate for people in my sector? Or of my age and/or level of experience?
ELP's Fellowship Programs are intentionally designed to be a "cross-sectoral" and intergenerational, allowing fellows to gain wisdom from a range of perspectives in the environmental sector. Each ELP cohort has participants working on a range of issues and a range of from different sectors (non-profit, private, public, and academia, grassroots). Fellows have ranged from academics to organizers, program managers to executive directors, exceptional graduate students to city mayors, and sustainability officers at Fortune 500s to start-up CEOs.
- How are fellows selected?
ELP’s Fellowship Programs are intentionally designed as small, cohort-based learning communities, typically ranging from 15–20 fellows. Because the fellowship is a highly participatory experience, we look for individuals who are ready to fully engage in the six-month journey and the community-based learning that takes place throughout the program.
During the selection process, we consider whether applicants have the time, energy, commitment, and readiness to participate meaningfully in the fellowship experience. We seek candidates who are excited about the opportunity, open to learning and reflection, and prepared to contribute to a supportive learning community.
Environmental challenges disproportionately impact communities marginalized by race, economic status, and other systemic factors. These inequities are rooted in historical and structural systems that influence both environmental harm and access to power, resources, and solutions. In response, ELP centers equity, justice, and power analysis as core leadership competencies throughout the fellowship experience.
We believe effective environmental leadership requires:
- Self-awareness and critical reflection
- An understanding of how power, identity, and systems shape leadership
- Leadership rooted in inclusion, accountability, and collective care
As part of the interview process, we assess each candidate’s readiness to engage thoughtfully with these concepts and to participate in conversations about equity, justice, and power analysis. We are not looking for applicants to be experts; rather, we seek individuals who demonstrate openness, curiosity, humility, and a willingness to learn and grow alongside their peers.
- When is the next Fellowship?
PNW 2026: We encourage you to apply if you reside in Washington or Oregon.
- Do I have to be present for the entire training?
The ELP Fellowship is designed as whole - and as the entry point into a larger learning community. Though participants are on an individual journey of leadership development, there is also a collective journey - a whole that is great than the sum of the parts. Given that the process is actually diminished and hindered when some participants miss parts, we ask that you be present for the entire training from beginning to end. If you know in advance that you can’t participate in the retreats, please think about either rescheduling commitments or applying the following year.
- Do I have to stay on-site during the trainings?
In ELP’s 20 years of facilitating retreats, we’ve heard that participants have the richest experience when they commit fully to the training - including being on-site throughout. This allows for organic connections, community-building, and for participants to be reasonably well-rested. For these reasons, we require ELP Fellows to stay on-site at the retreat center rather than commute.
- How much work is involved between the retreats?
There are some short assignments before each retreat, but they are not time-consuming. There are occasional pre-retreat reading assignments and the creation of a PLP (personal leadership plan) which is then discussed and honed through conversation (in person or digital) with your learning team or pod. This is as demanding as you want it to be - and also very rewarding.
When Fellows graduate into Senior Fellowship, they determine their level of engagement in this larger learning community. There are many - and varied - opportunities for engagement but these are all voluntary.
- What does Diversity mean to ELP?
Diversity is a major value for ELP and has been since the launch of the organization 20 years ago. This is not lip service; it is a core part of our mission.
Currently, almost 40% of the over 1200 Senior Fellows (graduates of the ELP fellowship) are leaders who identify as individuals of color. In all of our classes/cohorts, we seek to maximize a bunch of different types of diversity (ethnicity, gender, sector - and we are hoping to start tracking other types including sexual orientation and socioeconomic class). We aim to do this in ways that are non-tokenistic and non-intrusive, but also deeply honor the value of this kind of diversity to the learning process, to the larger ELP community, and to our environmental and social justice movements.
We acknowledge that ELP is a learning organization and a work-in-progress. Though we are committed to building diverse, inclusive, and just spaces (and societies), we know that almost every organization has a long way to go on these counts. Thus, we welcome conversation, feedback, and recommendations.
- How much does the ELP Fellowship Program cost?
Your tuition supports facilitation, curriculum development, participant materials, coaching and mentorship, administrative coordination, and the creation of a meaningful learning community. We offer early-bird and organizational discounts, as well as payment plans, to help make participation more accessible.
We encourage you to reach out to your employer and community for financial support if you need it, as we intend for you to share the gifts you learn in this fellowship with them.
Individual: $3,750 earybird rate is $3,500
Organizational: 2+ participants from the same organization: $3,500 per person
If financial constraints would prevent your participation, please reach out to discuss scholarship opportunities or alternative arrangements.
- How do I pay for the ELP Fellowship Program?
Once you have been selected for an ELP fellowship, you will be sent an invoice for a deposit to secure your spot. You can pay this online or via check.
- How can I convince my employer to support my participation in the ELP Fellowship Program?
Please check out our guide on how to ask your employer to support your participation in an ELP fellowship.
I have more questions. Do you have a real human I can talk to?
Yes!
- For questions regarding our Regional and National Network Fellowship Programs, please contact info@elpnet.org and we will get back to you as soon as possible.