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The CHC chooses candidates from a variety of educational and
professional backgrounds, as well as ethnic, religious, and
cultural experiences. Each fellow must have at least six months
continuous experience working to alleviate hunger and poverty
or serving within a related field in a developing country.
In addition, each fellow may be required by their host organization
to speak the language of the local community. The Congressional
Hunger Center generally considers only those candidates with
a graduate degree in a related field. However, exceptions
can be made if a candidate has equivalent experience. All
fellows must be U.S. citizens.
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The CHC believes that the best candidates for its Leland International
Hunger Fellows Program are those with integrity, a positive
attitude, and the flexibility to take challenging situations
in stride. While CHC also looks for candidates with the appropriate
technical skills and background, candidates’ character,
poise, and professionalism play an equally significant role.
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Usually, candidates who have some technical experience in
the field and graduate studies in a related field find the
Leland Fellows Program useful in propelling them into a larger
professional leadership role after the fellowship. It is those
candidates who combine these previous experiences with a desire
to learn, willingness to initiate, and drive to understand
difficult circumstances and people who truly gain the most.
CHC has no official age limit, though most fellows are between
24 and 34 years old. On the whole, the most successful fellows
and alumni are those who see this fellowship as a means to
long-term service.
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In the first of two years in the program, eleven Fellows will
be placed in areas outside the United States in which food
insecurity is most severe and widespread. During these field
placements, fellows will be based in different areas in the
developing world, including sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia,
and Latin America. The following year, for the policy placements,
most fellows return to the US to work at the US headquarters
of the organizations for which they were placed during their
field experience (or at partner institutions of Southern NGOs).
Fellows associated with the UN Food Agencies in the field
will be placed at those headquarters in Rome.
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Fellows are placed in field and policy positions that range
from relief activities to sustainable development activities.
Relief and development organizations have come to understand
that full recovery and continued development after natural
and political disasters are only possible when certain transitional
steps occur. Therefore, special attention is also given to
ensuring some Leland Fellows focus on so-called "transition
gap" activities, such as post-conflict reconstruction,
and rehabilitation of agriculture systems.
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The Congressional Hunger Center places fellows with four different
kinds of organizations: non-government organizations, government
or bilateral agencies, international or multilateral agencies,
and cooperatives. Within these kinds of organizations, fellows
focus on transitional, sustainable, and relief development,
looking in each case at the community and national solutions
to hunger. CHC has a tradition of partnering with USAID, the
United Nations, and a number of international non-government
organizations like Save the Children USA and CARE International.
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During the field component of the program, fellows will help
design, implement, or evaluate a project dealing with relief,
transition, or development activities related to poverty alleviation
or food security. During the policy placement, fellows will
use the information and experience from the field to contribute
to evaluating and shaping the organization's broader strategy
for combating poverty and hunger. CHC has had fellows focus
on the role of biotechnology in Africa, the importance of
Global School Feeding Programs in Bangladesh, and the implications
of remittances in El Salvador.
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The Congressional Hunger Center wishes to match fellows with
host organizations that have proven management systems and
a history of collaborating with other groups - indigenous
and otherwise - in their efforts to eliminate hunger. All
field organizations address root causes of poverty and hunger,
and effective policymaking institutions have a history of
generating policy that empowers the poor through, for example,
increased access to land, education, or health care. Most
of all, host organizations will be expected to provide fellows
with an involved supervisor who will make it possible for
fellows to have opportunities to make substantive contributions.
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Before fellows begin their field or policy experience, the
Congressional Hunger Center will fly them to Washington, DC
for a week-long leadership training session. Because most
fellows will have some prior professional experience, the
curriculum is designed to build on skills they already possess.
The trainings focuses on the specific issues fellows will
face in the field and the skills they will need to meet their
goals.
A second formal training takes place after the first year
in the field is completed. Though the leadership curriculum
is similar, it directly focuses on the policy process. Fellows
learn about United States policymaking from the perspective
of members of Congressional staff and lobbyists as well as
government, non-government and multi-lateral organizations.
There are additional training and professional development
opportunities during the course of the policy placements when
the fellows are in Rome and Washington, DC.
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Throughout the fellowship, participating fellows are given
the tools to design a leadership vision that includes a broad
strategy for using their individual abilities and education
in the anti-hunger movement. CHC will help fellows as they
think about these vision statements, encouraging them to take
the lessons of their fellowship with them for the rest of
their career and life.
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The Mickey Leland International Hunger Fellows Program is
designed to bring together innovative anti-hunger leaders
in a collaborative community. In order to facilitate these
positive relationships between fellows, the Congressional
Hunger Center will sponsor a leadership training module at
the beginning of the fellowship. Then, throughout the fellowship,
CHC will organize professional development days, as well as
listserv and email communication. At the end of the second
year, fellows will gather in DC again for a two-day retreat
to process their experiences, share new knowledge, and reestablish
ties with one another. At this time, they meet the new class
of international hunger fellows beginning their first training.
Ultimately, hunger fellows are encouraged to think of each
other as long-term resources - personally and professionally
- in their fight against hunger and poverty.
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All candidates can expect that CHC will do everything it can
to place Leland Fellows with reputable, reliable organizations
which have a commitment to hands-on supervision. CHC will
also provide regular technical support and professional training
throughout the program, connecting all of its Leland Fellows
with many leading anti-hunger experts. Fellows should not,
however, see the Leland Program as a means to meeting all
their professional and personal goals. While CHC is committed
to providing the best anti-hunger leadership program available,
in some cases, Leland Fellows do not gel with their supervisors
or organizations do not provide the exact kind of work environment
a candidate expected. Leland Program staff will do everything
possible to remedy problems. However, the Fellows themselves
ultimately are responsible for taking the opportunities the
Leland Program provides and turning them into stepping stones
for future growth and leadership.
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Throughout the fellowship, fellows will receive a monthly
stipend, as well as a housing subsidy. In addition, the Congressional
Hunger Center will pay for medical insurance and travel to
and from field placements. Upon completion of the program,
fellows receive an end of service award to help them transition
to the next phase of their career. The Leland International
Fellows Program is funded by grants from private corporations
and foundations, as well as through funds from an annual Agriculture
Appropriation Bill. During the second-year policy placement,
the host organizations contribute $5,000 to offset Fellowship
expenses as part of a cost share arrangement.
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The Congressional Hunger Center has developed a Leland Advisory
Board [link to advisory board page] comprised of professionals
in the international relief and development community. In
addition to guiding the leadership and anti-hunger philosophy
of the program, the advisory committee alerts the CHC to positions
within organizations where hunger fellows can be placed.
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