ASPA 2025 Founders Fellows Application

Please answer all of the following questions if you wish to be considered for the 2025 Class of Founders' Fellows. Incomplete applications will not be accepted.

All nominees will undergo a rigorous review process. The deadline to apply is Monday, November 11, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. U.S. Eastern Time.

Do not contact ASPA regarding the status of your application. All applicants will be contacted once selection decisions have been made.

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* 1. Full Name
Enter your name as it should appear in print (e.g., "John Smith, II" or "Jane C. Doe"; ASPA does not list post-nominal initials such as MPA, PhD, etc.). If you are selected, this is how your name will appear in formal announcements, program listings and the Founders’ Fellows plaque.

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* 2. Email address:

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* 3. Phone number:

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* 4. Current Place of Employment or Education
If you are selected, your workplace and/or academic institution will be listed. List your primary affiliation in the first field. List your secondary affiliation in the second field, if applicable.

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* 5. Mailing Address

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* 6. Pronoun Preference

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* 7. ASPA ID:
Applicants must be a current ASPA member to apply. Applicants can click here and log into their accounts to locate their ASPA ID numbers.
(If you are not a member yet and need to join in order to complete this application, click here to do so.)

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* 8. Are you a student member or a new professional member?

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* 9. What are your professional career goals over the years to come?

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* 10. List your professional and/or academic areas of focus. List no more than three areas. (examples: crisis management, human resources management, nonprofit leadership, state and local public finance)
(No more than 50 words please)

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* 11. Upload your resume/CV here.

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* 12. Personal Statement:
In no more than 450 words, explain why you care about public service and how the Founders' Fellows experience will help you make a positive and lasting impact on it.
Please upload your personal statement as a PDF here.

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* 13. Essay:
In no more than 2,000 words answer the following questions:
1) What is the most significant emerging challenge that public service faces?
2) How can our profession—spanning both the practitioner and academic community—address it?

Be specific in your answers, drawing on your own professional, academic and/or community experiences. Use scholarship, high-quality reporting or other relevant forms of information to support your arguments and ideas.

If you are selected, this essay does not need to be the basis for your conference presentation. If you choose to use it in some way, be sure to take the 2025 conference theme and tracks into consideration in your presentation.

Upload your essay as PDF here.

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* 14. Provide the following contact information for the ASPA member who is recommending you. Your recommender must be an ASPA member.

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* 15. Nominator Letter of Recommendation:
Applicants must provide a letter of recommendation from an ASPA member. The letter must address the following questions:

1) Why are you nominating this candidate? How long have you known the applicant and in what context? Provide a rationale for their acceptance as a Founders’ Fellow.
2) In what ways would this applicant contribute to advancing ASPA’s mission specifically, and public administration more broadly?

Upload the letter as a PDF here.

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