NOAA’s Young Changemakers Fellowship (YCF)

NOAA’s Young Changemakers Fellowship (YCF) is a program dedicated to collaborating with and empowering the next generation of ocean and environmental leaders.

Through the program, high school students from the United States, U.S. territories, and tribal nations build skills around creating change in their home communities, culminating in a self-designed action project. In addition to taking local action, the changemakers also learn about and provide NOAA leadership with their perspective on large-scale issues such as the climate crisis, ocean issues, environmental justice challenges, and more. 

Fellows take part in an in-person summit in D.C. in the summer and virtual meetings throughout the school year. These meetings include everything from project planning workshops to communication training to roundtable discussions with NOAA leadership.

Together, these opportunities help fellows turn their passion for ocean and environmental topics into concrete action, all while helping NOAA better understand the perspectives of young people. 

In return for full program participation, each fellow receives:

• a stipend ($800).
• funding to support their action project (up to $750).
• one-on-one mentorship with a NOAA employee.
• an all-expenses-paid kickoff summit in Washington, D.C. (July 23-27, 2024).

Up to 15 high school students will be selected as fellows for the 2024-2025 cohort. As only the second class of Young Changemakers, participants in this cohort will help shape the future of this program and pave the way for future fellowship cohorts.

Eligibility Criteria:

• Be a high school student during the entire 2024-2025 school year.
  All grades within high school are accepted. The fellowship is open to all types of high school students, whether you attend a public school, home school, charter school, private school, or other type of high school.
• Be at least 13 years old.
  You must be at least 13 years old at the time you apply for the fellowship. If you are not going to be 13 years old by the application deadline of June 10, 2024, please wait until a future year to apply.
• Be living in and attending school in the United States, U.S. territories, or tribal nations.
  We are excited to select a diverse group of fellows from across the United States, tribal nations, and territories! We require all applicants to both live and attend school in one of these locations.
• Be excited about the environment, ocean, Great Lakes, and/or coasts, and their protection.
  We are looking for passion and commitment in our fellows. We don’t expect you to come into the fellowship already knowing everything there is to know about the environment, ocean, climate justice, or NOAA, but we want you to come ready to learn and engage!
• Be willing to commit to this year-long program and its requirements from July 2024 to June 2025.
  Only 15 students will be selected as fellows this year. We want to make sure each one of them is ready to commit to participating in all aspects of the program! Requirements include:
  • Attending the kick-off summit with an accompanying parent / legal guardian in Washington, D.C., on July 23-27, 2024 (NOAA covers all travel expenses)
  • Attending and participating in at least 9 of the 12 mandatory monthly meetings
  • Responding to emails within 5 days
  • Contacting your NOAA mentor at least monthly
  • Planning and carrying out an action project in your community, which includes on-time submission of a written project plan and final documentation of the project
  • Providing feedback to the NOAA team about your experience

Applicants do NOT necessarily need to:

• Be an expert in ocean and environmental science
• Have deep knowledge of NOAA and/or the federal government
• Have years of prior experience as an ocean or environmental changemaker

Application process

First, be sure that you’ve read about the program and confirmed that you are eligible to apply.

Next, preview the application here. Please read the whole application carefully, making sure you are ready to commit to the program before applying. Please also note that the application requires a letter of recommendation from someone who knows you and is not your parent or legal guardian.

Then, craft your application! We recommend drafting your responses in a separate document and then copying your final responses into the official application Google Formoffsite link, as the Form itself may not save your work.

Finally, submit your application via the official Google Formoffsite link by June 10, 2024, at 11:59pm Eastern time. We will not be able to accept late applications or applications not submitted via this form.