Deadline: March 30, 2025

Applications are open for the Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice Women PeaceMakers Fellowship Program 2025-2026. For twenty years, the Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice (Kroc IPJ) at the University of San Diego’s Kroc School of Peace Studies has hosted the Women PeaceMakers Fellowship program. The Fellowship offers a unique opportunity for peacebuilders who focus on gender, peace and conflict to engage in a cycle of learning, practice, research and participation that strengthens peacebuilding partnerships.

The Women PeaceMakers Fellowship facilitates impactful collaborations between peacebuilders from conflict-affected communities and international partner organizations. The Fellows also co-create research intended to shape the peacebuilding field and highlight good practices for peacebuilding design and implementation.


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Throughout the Fellowship with the Kroc IPJ, selected Fellows will:

  • Learn from and with other Fellows and the Kroc School team
  • Gain new skills, perspectives, and innovative approaches to peacebuilding
  • Expand their professional peacebuilding networks
  • Drive forward vital peacebuilding research that focuses on shaping practice and policy

2025-2026 Theme: Borders, Gender and Violence Reduction

For the 2025-2026 fellowship year, the Kroc IPJ will select three Fellows who are working to make border policy and the implementation of that policy less violent, using a gendered lens in their work or analysis. They are looking for Fellows focused on border policies rather than operational questions related to service provision or humanitarian relief, though the impacts of policies and the need for services and support are linked.

The Kroc IPJ hopes to show how peacebuilders are working to reduce and mitigate the violent and gendered impacts of harsh border policies and to build less violent policies and practices. This work could take the form of advocacy, organizing, policy-focused research or other actions. Fellows may be working in any sector, including government, civil society, academia or the private sector. Fellows must integrate a focus on gender in their work or research.

Benefits

  • Fellows will receive a stipend of USD $15,000, which will cover their time spent in the fellowship as well as any costs for conducting fellowship-related research. The Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice will cover costs for the residency period at the University of San Diego.

Eligibility

  • Anyone who considers themselves a peacebuilder working to reduce cycles of violence through a focus on gender, peace, and conflict is welcome to apply. People of all genders, including transgender and non-binary or gender-fluid people, are welcome to apply and are eligible for a fellowship. The Women PeaceMakers Fellowship program does not consider sex, gender, or any other protected status as part of the application and selection process.
  • Applicants must have at least five years of peacebuilding or violence reduction experience and must speak sufficient English to participate fully in Fellowship activities.

Application

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Submit your CV, answers to the following essay questions, and research proposal in a single combined PDF document. Ensure that these materials are all your original work; do not use generative AI tools, such as Chat GPT, or plagiarize others’ work.

Essay Questions (no more than 300 words per essay question)

  • Describe the peacebuilding or violence reduction work you have led or currently lead related to border policy. How do you consider gender in this work?
  • How is your work to reduce violence related to border policy connected to communities affected by those border policies? Describe how you collaborate with those most impacted in your work.
  • What do you consider your greatest achievement in building peace or reducing violence?
  • Describe your experience conducting research, including the methodologies you have used in the past and how you have collected data. Please provide links to two of your published research works.
  • Describe how this Fellowship would benefit your ongoing work and how your experience can contribute to the community at the University of San Diego and the Kroc School of Peace Studies. How do you plan to engage with faculty, staff, and students?

Research Proposal

As part of your Fellowship, you will work toward a ten-page case study focused on ending cycles of violence and/or peacebuilding work in your country of residence. Ensure that the research proposal is your own original work. If it is determined that AI tools were used to create your research proposal, your application may be disqualified. 

In 750 words or fewer, provide a research proposal on the topic you would like to explore within the theme of building less violent border policy using a gendered lens. This research proposal should focus on policies and implementation of those policies, not only on service provision or humanitarian response. Kindly include the following elements in your research proposal:

  • A brief abstract
  • Your research question(s)
  • A brief description of your methodology
  • Types of data to be collected
  • Study participants or community of focus

Letters of Recommendation

Submit two letters of recommendation. They suggest that these recommendations come from colleagues or supervisors who know you well and can speak to your strengths in peacebuilding or violence reduction and your research skills. Your application will not be considered complete without the submission of these letters.

Click here to apply


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For more information, visit Women PeaceMakers Fellowship.

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