OSI offers the ambitious a year of focus

Looking to strengthen an already strong resume? The Open Society Institute recently created a top-notch fellowship program that may be right for you. The New York-based nonprofit is part of the Soros foundation network, and last year began offering accomplished, mid-toearly-career journalists, academics and activists the opportunity to learn more about some of the most pressing issues today-human rights and democracy, media and public health, among them-and produce a work of lasting value. The fellowship lasts for a year of full-time work and includes a stipend of between $60,000 and $100,000, depending on the current income of the fellow. The process begins with an application. Four times a year a small group of staffers pore over some 200 of them from all over the world. The first step-whittling the number down to 25-is easy. “It’s fairly clear that, whatever the merits, if it’s not right for the Open Society fellowship, that jumps out right away,” said Stephen Hubbell, communications officer at OSI’s New York City headquarters. These 25 applications are passed around the OSI network, so experts in each issue area can peruse and make their own comments. Oftentimes the staff will call the applicant for a short interview, to clarify and refine the subject area of intended study. OSI’s core areas of concern are human rights, transparent government, the promotion of civil society and social inclusion. Project themes must address at least one of these areas, and preferably more. The staff then selects the final eight to 10 proposals to pass onto the selection committee, which meets quarterly and chooses the fellows-anywhere from all the finalists to none-in one morning. An appealing applicant must present a balance between potential and accomplishment, be interested in an issue of concern to OSI and be looking to produce a work of value during the fellowship, such as a topical book or documentary. Topics that cut across areas of interest to OSI are the most appealing. Hubbell pointed to one of the current fellows. “Mark Schoofs offers just what we’re looking for,” Hubbell said. “He’s won a Pulitzer [while at the Village Voice], he’s very expert in the area, he’s writing his book and his work cuts across disciplines.” Schoofs can make a presentation on criminal justice, lead a forum on AIDS and talk about public health, which he’ll soon be doing in China for OSI’s public health program. OSI also seeks organizational dynamism, an ability to cultivate strong working relationships that foster innovation and generate ideas. Unlike some fellowships, there is a residency aspect to OSI’s program and fellows are expected to spend some time interacting with other fellows and staffers in either the New York or London offices. Ultimately, the key component is the applicant. “He or she should [be] entrepreneurial, resourceful,” Hubbell said. “Somebody who makes things happen and has established a track record of getting his or her work out to the public.” That description would certainly apply to Rebecca Hamilton, a current OSI fellow. She has a law degree from Harvard and a master’s from the Kennedy School, and she’s working on a book about Darfur advocacy. Hamilton stumbled on the OSI fellowship program online while working as a prosecutor’s assistant at The Hague last year. “I was looking for some way I could move to focus full-time on this book project, which I’ve been working on part-time for three years, but it’s just so difficult, working nights and weekends,” she said. “I read about it, this fellowship, and thought it was a perfect fit.” She quickly started the application process, which she said “is quite thorough.” Hamilton had to submit every detail of her research plans, and also consider outreach capabilities, research targets and final outcome. She submitted the application along with work samples and references, and, a few months later, was interviewed for about an hour by six staffers simultaneously on a conference call. “It was a little intimidating,” Hamilton said. “But they push you to really articulate the different outcomes of the project and how you are going to get from your idea to the actual product.” She started the fellowship in February. “It’s wonderful. I still can’t believe it,” Hamilton said. “The difference between trying to do this project around a more than full-time job and being able to focus on it 24/7 is utterly incredible. My productivity curve has gone on a very sharp increase.” She’ll be working at different locations throughout the year, including Washington, Cairo, Darfur and The Hague. Right now she’s focusing on U.S.-based advocacy, and she spent her first month in D.C., where she spoke with several people who just returned from Darfur. If Hamilton has one complaint, it’s that all the recent news from Sudan has complicated her work. “What is made difficult is where I’m going to finish the project,” she said. “I keep thinking it’s going to end here and then things just keep going, at some point I’ll have to draw the line.” OSI does not draw the line at fellowships. Those still in school would be wise to look into an OSI scholarship. Its network scholarship program awards about 800 scholarships a year, predominantly at master’s degree level, to students from Central and Eastern Europe and Central and Southeast Asia. Universities involved are from the U.K., U.S., France and Germany, while funding comes from OSI, participating universities and governments-the program receives funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development. The college generally chooses the scholarship winners. Of interest to OSI are two key points: scholars show real potential in an area of study of interest to OSI and plan to return to their home country upon completion of their studies. “The entire hope is that you can create the critical mass of professionals and academics that can promote the goals of Open Society in their home country,” said Martha Loerke, the program’s director. She acknowledged that in some of the countries, the economic opportunity is not that great or the governing regime is repressive, and so the students don’t return. “You can’t play God here, we have to respect people’s decisions in their lives,” Loerke said. “Soros does try to incentivize return. We find peers and sponsor grantee conferences, internships. We want them to feel internationally connected, not so isolated when they return. At the end of the day, it’s up to the individual.” While most OSI scholarships go to students from the developing world, only one of its fellowships has gone to a developing world applicant. Hubbell is hoping to remedy that. He said the next batch of fellows will include another from the developing world and that as OSI’s global network expands beyond the U.S. and Europe, the number of developing world applicants is sure to rise. Most importantly, OSI will always seek to encompass an array of perspectives. “We like to think of OSI as an organization that doesn’t adhere to orthodoxy,” Hubbell said. “Fellows with the latest, most cutting edge perspectives are well represented here. We need that to continue to shape and to challenge our ideas.” Read more career advice articles.