Through participation in the fellowship, professionals are empowered and equipped to assume pivotal roles in:

• Maintaining and growing 21st Century Community Learning Center funds for expanded learning and afterschool
• Establishing state funding mechanisms, state funding streams, and state priorities to support expanded learning and afterschool

Organizations gain strategic capacity and are better positioned to participate effectively in local, state, and national policy arenas. States will benefit from the strategic alliances and greater coordination in policy efforts built through each fellow’s in-state work. National networks will form among fellows and organizations through their work with the White-Riley-Peterson cohort, which includes professionals from across the nation.

Policy fellows are chosen from nominees drawn from a broad national cross-section of individuals and entities who can work closely with the state afterschool networks and/or the Afterschool Alliance to change education policy from a variety of positions. The goal is to create a critical mass and network of culturally and ethnically diverse individuals capable of advancing policy at the national, state and local levels. Fellows will have varying combinations of professional expertise and policy experience.

Fellows’ learning experiences center on an intensive week-long workshop in Greenville, South Carolina, to be held each autumn. Following the week-long workshop, fellows will work in their home states within their afterschool and expanded learning communities to build personal policy plans and participate in a series of online sessions and small-group conference calls, culminating in individual virtual presentations in the spring.

Each spring, the fellows convene at the 50 State Network conference hosted by the C.S. Mott Foundation. At the conference, the current cohort convenes to continue work on their projects and all past and present White-Riley-Peterson fellows are able to connect across cohorts and further develop the relationships that are a key part of the program.

A case study-driven curriculum, presented and facilitated by policy change-makers and supported by nationally prominent professors of policy and politics, is employed to accommodate a range of fellows’ experience and knowledge. The curriculum was developed in partnership with a national advisory committee, chaired by Dr. Terry Peterson and including experts from the Afterschool Alliance, State Afterschool Networks, and the Council of Chief State School Officers. A lead facilitator, Ron Fairchild, President and CEO of Smarter Learning Group, ties all of the learnings together and works closely with fellows during the year to help them develop their individual policy plans.

Through a generous grant from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the White-Riley- Peterson Policy Fellowship is nearly free of charge to participants. This includes expenses associated with travel to South Carolina, and lodging and meals during the October workshop.

Note: Fellows are strongly encouraged to attend the National Network of State Afterschool Networks conference usually held in early spring and the Afterschool for All Challenge in Washington, D.C. usually in April or May, though these expenses will not be covered through the fellowship. It is anticipated that fellows will become integral participants in the work of their respective state networks and participate in these conferences.

Nominations can be made by state afterschool network leads and the Afterschool Alliance each spring and are solicited through direct outreach. The nomination window for the 2024-25 cohort is March 15-May 15, 2024. Applications are due May 28, 2024. If you would like to nominate someone, please email Sara Beanblossom at sara.beanblossom@furman.edu.