The 2025-2026 Career Pathways application window will open on Tuesday, January 7,2025
Applications for the 2025-2026 Career Pathways cohort are due Monday, March 3, 2025 at 11:59pm in your local time zone.
All applicants will be notified of their acceptance status into the 2025-26 cohort by late April 2025.
Please note: to be considered for the Waldman Scholarship, you must complete the separate scholarship application by Monday, March 10, 2025.
Application Requirements
- Answers to all of the narrative essay questions.
- A PDF of your updated Resume/CV to upload into this application
- A recommendation letter from your home institution, either uploaded into the application or emailed to educate@cof.org by Monday, March 10, 2025 at 11:59 in your local time zone.
Recommendation Letter Guidelines
The purpose of the recommendation letter is to learn more about you, better understand your journey with your organization, and get a sense of your organization’s commitment to your leadership development journey. Here are a few guiding questions you can provide your recommender with to address in the letter:
- What has their experience been like working and collaborating with you?
- How has the institution seen your leadership journey develop?
- Where do they see you in the next five years?
- Why do they believe you would be a strong fit for Career Pathways?
- How will the institution support you to succeed in the participation of this program?
A reference is required from your home institution and is expected to be from the current CEO or the supervisor to whom you report. References should be submitted during the online application process. If a letter for your home institution is not possible, you may submit a reference from a previous employer, however, we strongly encourage a letter from your current organization as a way to acknowledge their commitment to supporting you in the Career Pathways Program.
Narrative Essay Questions
- What do you hope to achieve by participating in the Career Pathways program? Why are you applying at this point in your career? (No more than 200 words.)
- Describe a mentor or leader you have worked with and admired. What did you learn from their leadership? What did you learn about yourself? (No more than 200 words.)
- Describe a personal or professional experience that didn’t go as expected. What did you learn from this experience, and how has it changed you professionally? (No more than 200 words.)
- Share one example of how your personal and professional experiences shaped your understanding of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), broadly. This can be, for example, a deepening of your understanding about power or privilege or navigating a tension in the implementation of DEI work or advocacy. (No more than 150 words.)
- Describe a significant challenge facing philanthropy and/or philanthropic leadership today. How would you navigate it or work to address it as a leader? (No more than 150 words.)
- The Leadership-in-Action Project is intended to help you apply what you are learning and leverage your resources toward developing your vision and leadership in philanthropy. It is an opportunity to dive into a project in your organization, a passion project, or project for self-reflection, personal growth or learning. At this moment, what are some budding ideas you might focus on? (No more than 150 words.)
- The Career Pathways community draws individually and collectively on each other's knowledge and support. What are you most looking forward to in interacting with the Career Pathways community? What are elements of yourself you want to contribute to the community? (No more than 150 words.)
