Our Fellowship
The Pathwaves Fellowship is a 20-month program that develops leaders who are committed to building a more racially just early childhood policy system. The Fellowship is employment- and cohort-based, and it posts Fellows in placement sites, which are organizations doing early childhood policy work in Washington state.
Context
Early childhood systems throughout the country continue to be inequitable, with Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) children facing poorer outcomes due to a history of systemic and structural racism. At the same time, leaders from BIPOC communities are grossly underrepresented in positions of power within policy development processes.
We created the Pathwaves Fellowship in order to address this – to transform early childhood systems. We are cultivating leaders from communities furthest from justice to have the power to shape early childhood policy by inhabiting decision making roles within the sector.
The program
The Pathwaves Fellowship employs Fellows full time, posting them at placement sites which span across public, nonprofit, and philanthropic sectors within the early childhood policy landscape.
One day a week is devoted to professional development, where Fellows meet with values-aligned trainers, coaches, and consultants to cover topics like:
- Policy and advocacy
- Antiracist leadership
- Policy Analysis
- Building and leveraging grassroots power
- Early childhood systems
- Storytelling and narrative change
- Community-building
Fellows spend the other four days of the work week at their placement sites, where they gain on-the-job training as well as opportunities for them to practice their skills and apply the knowledge they are building.
The program is cohort-based, designed to connect folks with shared values, so that they can learn together and build community as they all go through the same experience at the same time. The goal with a cohort model is also to create a professional network for Fellows to continue to expand and grow after they complete the Fellowship.
Placements sites
Placement sites are organizations working in the early childhood policy sector in Washington state. They include both more “established” policy organizations and smaller community-based service organizations who are seeking to expand their state-based policy work.
Meet our Fellows
Apply to be a Fellow
For more information on becoming a Fellow, visit our
