Conservation International invites interested women across the Southern Landscape to apply for the 2025-2026 Emerging Indigenous Women Leaders Fellowship. One Fellow will be selected.
Purpose
To support emerging women leaders to engage in activities and research that contribute to supporting equitable and inclusive governance within communities and women’s leadership in rangeland management.
Alignment with other efforts
This fellowship aligns closely with the ongoing work of our partners (JDI, MWCT, and Big Life Foundation) in supporting local-level restoration of degraded areas across selected TWENDE project landscapes, with a strong emphasis on gender-responsive interventions. The fellow will also benefit from the broader NRT Fellows Network, the annual Women’s Leadership Summit in the Northern Landscape, and national platforms such as the KWCA National Conservancies Women Forum. The Summit in 2025 highlighted the following priorities:
Increase Women’s Participation in conservation and community development, supporting women-led projects;
Ensure equitable inclusion of women in leadership across conservancies;
Strengthen Leadership Capacity of women in governance, rangeland management, and conservancy decision-making;
Climate and Carbon Credits Literacy: Enhance understanding of climate change and carbon credits as tools for sustainable development;
Ensure women receive awareness on health including reproductive health care;
Human rights and social justice in conservation.
The fellowship at a glance
Support 1 emerging woman leader within the southern landscape (Chyulu Hills);
Part-time commitment from 3rd March 2026 – 28th Feb 2027;
USD 15,000 (approximately 1.9 million Kenya Shillings) for activities and stipend;
Fellowship focus and activities are identified and driven by the fellow supported by our partners.
Fellowship application components
Completed application form;
Clearly defined work plan for the fellowship, which includes:
Specific and measurable activities and deliverables;
Work plan can include activities focused on professional development (for example training courses);
One activity should be the submission of a final report highlighting outcomes from the fellowship (around January 2027);
Another activity should be for the fellow to present findings and outcomes from their fellowship (audience and methods to be determined);
Associated budget, clearly detailing how the funding will be spent across each activity;
Nomination letter from the fellow’s home conservancy or affiliated organization explaining why she is a good candidate for this fellowship.
Eligibility
The fellow must be a member of our project partners affiliated project sites;
Fellow must speak and write English; all communication will be done in English;
Fellow must have phone and email connectivity;
The fellow must have a bank account or be able to open a bank account.
To apply
Please email the application components (application form, work plan and budget, nomination letter) to ProcurementkenyaKE@conservation.org, on or before Jan 30th, 2026.
Expected timeline of fellowship
December 2025 – Fellowship announced;
Jan 30th 2026 – Applications due via email to ProcurementkenyaKE@conservation.org;
Feb 10th -14th 2026 – Interviews with top candidates and final selection;
Feb 17th, 2026 – All applicants are notified of the selection result;
Feb 18th -28th 2026 – Contract paperwork/work plan development;
March 3rd, 2026 – Fellowship officially begins;
Feb 28th, 2027 – Fellowship closes, final report due; final meeting/presentations.
Deadline: 30 Jan 2026
