Roger Arliner Young (RAY) Fellowship Program Grant

The Roger Arliner Young (RAY) Fellowship Program, managed by the Environmental Leadership Program, aims to foster conservation and clean energy careers for emerging leaders of color. This two-year paid fellowship provides recent graduates with professional development, mentorship, and networking opportunities. Ideal candidates are those with a passion for social and environmental justice, who identify as part of historically marginalized groups, and are committed to community engagement. The program emphasizes diversity, equity, and inclusion in the environmental sector.

NOTE: The RAY Fellowship stands with Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients. We work to support and advocate for RAY applicants and Fellows, regardless of their country of origin, and we support permanent solutions and pathways to citizenship like the Dream Act.
Background
Inspired by efforts to uplift underrepresented professionals in environmentally-related sectors, the Dr. Roger Arliner Young (RAY) Fellowship Program aims to increase and facilitate conservation, energy efficiency, and renewable energy-related career pathways for emerging leaders. The RAY Fellowship Program is a two-year paid fellowship designed to equip recent college graduates with the tools, experiences, support, and community they need to become leaders in the conservation and clean energy sectors—one that, in our visions of the future, fully represents, includes, and is led by underrepresented communities, perspectives, and experiences of the United States.
Managed by the Environmental Leadership Program(link is external) (ELP), the RAY Fellowship Program provides first-time career access opportunities for recent college graduates who do not have previous professional experience or a graduate degree. RAY Fellows are placed within one of our host organizations for a two-year paid fellowship position, with the resources and support to develop experiences that will launch them onto a path of career growth in the environmental field.
All Fellows work with mentors, grow their networks, and forge lasting relationships within and between the Conservation and Clean Energy cohorts of Fellows. RAY Fellowship positions are full-time paid positions with competitive entry-level salaries plus benefits. All Fellows will also receive a stipend of $1,000 to go towards professional development opportunities, in addition to coordinated professional development through RAY Partner Organizations and ELP.
Ideal Candidates
The RAY Fellowship Program looks for applicants who demonstrate:

• Passion, capacity, and transformational potential to exercise leadership and respond to social and environmental challenges
• Commitment to promoting fairness, acknowledging various perspectives, and being a part of a welcoming environment
• Willingness to actively contribute to the Fellowship and take advantage of its benefits including eagerness to connect with and learn from others
• The desire to be active in and give back to community – their own and the large RAY Community during and after the fellowship
• Transformational potential to benefit greatly from the Fellowship’s opportunities and experience.

Eligibility

Applicant EligibilityOur goal at the RAY Fellowship Program is to increase opportunities for emerging leaders of color to learn about, engage with, and enter the conservation and clean energy Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) as well as various federal agencies sectors. This work is rooted in the idea that there is no one right way to do this work. In this spirit, we are excited to announce that we now invite applicants who are within THREE years of having received their undergraduate degree, meaning that applicants for the 2024-2026 Cohort (Cohort 9) must have graduated after May 2021.Historically we have required a maximum of one-year post graduation at the time of applying. This decision will widen the applicant pool, allow applicants to apply more than once if they are not selected for the previous cohort, and help us meet the needs of a wider community with a variety of life experiences. Eligible RAY Fellow applicants:

• Identify as a person from a historically marginalized group, with interest in the conservation and/or clean energy field(s).
• Demonstrate a commitment to equity, environmental justice, racial justice, and social change.
• Be within THREE years of having received their undergraduate degree (must have graduated after May 2021).
• Have not had a full-time job in conservation or clean energy.
• Have the ability to work in the United States and commit to the entire two-year fellowship.

Ineligibility

We are not considering graduate students at this time.