Welcome to the 2025 fellowship application portal
2025 FELLOWSHIP APPLICATION PERIOD IS OPEN
DEADLINES: February 17 (Early Bird $0), March 16 (Regular $25), March 19 (Late $100)
The 2025 Fellowship offers two participation options:
Fully Virtual Cohorts: Organized by time zone (PT/MT, CT, and ET). Applicants in the Mountain Time zone are encouraged to join the PT/MT cohort. Virtual cohorts are open to anyone in the U.S., including those who prefer the flexibility of an online program.
In-Person Cohorts: Available in the Bay Area (sessions take place in San Francisco), Chicago, New York City (most sessions take place in Manhattan), and Washington, DC. Individuals living within commuting distance of these cities are encouraged to apply to the in-person fellowships if they are able to commit to participating in person on these dates: 8/6, 8/13, 8/20, Saturday 9/6, 9/17, 9/24, 10/8, 10/15, 10/29, 11/5, 11/12, 11/19, 12/3, and Thursday 12/4.
Which Cohort to Apply To?
Virtual Cohorts
2025 Virtual Cohorts encourage any individual meeting eligibility requirements for fellowship, who lives and works in the United States, to apply. This fellowship is great for individuals who operate with tight time constraints, and who are self-motivated to build relationships online. This fellowship is ideal for individuals living and working outside of CELI’s city hubs (anyplace other than the Bay Area, Chicago, Washington DC, or New York City).
2025 Fellowship virtual cohorts meet predominantly on Wednesdays, plus a few optional Tuesday sessions, and some Saturdays — over zoom:
Tue (varying dates, optional): PT/MT Cohort: 5-6 pm PT/ 6-7 pm MT; CT Cohort: 7-8 pm CT; ET Cohort: 6-7 pm ET
Wed (required): PT/MT Cohort: 6-8 pm PT/ 7-8pm MT; CT Cohort: 6-8 pm CT; ET Cohort: 6-8 pm ET
Five required sessions include:
[Required] Wednesday, July 30 - Orientation
[Required] Tuesday, August 5 - Introduction to Energy Justice Frameworks & Energy Equity Supports
[Required] Saturday, September 6 - Adaptive Leadership in Practice
[Required] Wednesday, December 3 - Capstone Night #1
[Required] Thursday, December 4 - Capstone Night #2
In-Person Cohorts
2025 In-Person Cohorts are best for applicants living in the following metro-areas: Bay Area, Chicago, New York City, and Washington, DC, who can commit to attending sessions in-person approximately once per week (see Curriculum-At-A-Glance for comprehensive listing of dates).
For the majority of sessions, participants will be in-person with approximately 20 - 25 cohort peers (for 14 out of 23 sessions), including all activities and discussions. Please note that for all sessions guest speakers are “zoomed” in and the space at which the in-person cohorts meet will have appropriate technology to accommodate an interactive “zoom” with a guest speaker. Occasionally, sessions will be fully virtual for all 2025 Fellows. For these sessions where all fellows across the country are pooled together, the “in-person” participants will join the programming via zoom.
CELI 2025 fellowship Application Form
CELI’s application process consists of 3 - 4 steps, including a written application, the submission of an application fee (with the exception of the early bird period), submission of a financial assistance application (optional), and the interview (if the candidate’s application is moved forward for an interview).
Be sure to read the Who Should Apply and FAQs explanations before applying! Persons with disabilities who would like to request accommodations or have questions about access may contact applications@cleanenergyleaders.org. If you have questions about what cohort to apply to (e.g. moving for work or grad school during the fellowship, or if you live close to but not within one of these metro areas), don’t hesitate to contact applications@cleanenergyleaders.org to determine the best cohort fit. Please note that applicants may only apply to one cohort based on their physical location during the fellowship. Applicants who live in cities that have an in-person fellowship option can rank their preference between either an in-person cohort or virtual cohort, if they would like to be considered for both.
We estimate the total application will take you 15 minutes, with additional time required to craft your essay responses.
STEP 1) Prepare: Prepare your essay questions and resume in a single PDF Document (see below)
STEP 2) Application Form: Click on “CELI 2025 FELLOWSHIP APPLICATION FORM” to be taken to a Google form to fill out the Application Form (10 min). Please login in with your Gmail (or another Google account) to upload your application.
STEP 3) Upload: Upload your PDF with resume and essay questions, and hit Submit.
STEP 4) Financial Assistance: Immediately AFTER submitting your application and making the application fee payment (with the exception of the early bird period), please fill out the financial assistance application if you think that you’ll need financial assistance. Financial Assistance Applications are due by March 19 (10 min). Please complete the Financial Assistance application only after you complete your application to the Fellowship. The direct link to the financial assistance application page is: https://www.cleanenergyleaders.org/2025-tuition-and-financial-assistance. We encourage all applicants to ask their employers for full or partial support.
If you do not have and do not wish to create a Google/Gmail account or have issues with the file upload, don’t hesitate to email us at applications@cleanenergyleaders.org, and we will assist you.
Prepare resume and essay questions in advance: We ask for information about your learning goals, your work and community-building experience, and clean energy expertise. A resume/CV submission that highlights the 3+ years of clean energy experience or 5+ years of professional experience in a related field is required at the time of the application. In addition, you are asked to upload a short answer to the five mini-essay questions below. Please only upload one PDF file with resume and essay responses and use the title format "FirstName_LastName".
Essays (200 words or less for each essay):
Community Prompt: Why do you want to be a CELI Fellow? What would you look to receive from a community of clean energy professionals?
Perspective Prompt: What distinct perspective would you bring to a fellowship class as a result of your professional insight and experience?
Leadership Prompt: Describe a time when you took on a leadership role in a community setting - professional, social, or otherwise. How do you hope this fellowship will support your growth as a leader?
Learning Prompt: What energy technology, policy, or market trend most excites you and why? How have you pursued a deeper understanding of this topic or other clean energy opportunities?
DEIB Prompt: Diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging are core values of CELI. How have you worked to advance these values in your personal or professional life? If you’re still early in your understanding of systems-level exclusion, why are you excited to learn more about how to contribute to energy justice within the clean energy ecosystem?
To ensure a fair evaluation process we will only read and review up to 200 words for each essay.
Direct link to the application form is above, or please copy and paste this link to a new window: https://forms.gle/YGicRqam7w7CAPqf6
Financial assistance applications are submitted separately and can be submitted immediately after you complete the fellowship application. All financial assistance applications are due: March 19, 2025 at 11:59 PM PT. Financial assistance applications are accepted on a rolling basis and generally take 10 minutes to complete. Visit the 2025 Fellowship Tuition and Financial Assistance page for full details.
Application Interviews and Notifications
Interviews are the final step in the application process, and the opportunity to interview will be offered to select candidates in mid-April, 2025. At this time, all applicants will receive a notification of the first-round decision and whether they will be offered an interview spot. For candidates offered an interview spot, once the interview has been completed, selection decisions are made. Acceptance and regret notifications will be emailed on May 20, 2025 to all applicants that are selected into the program.
The Fellowship will start on Wednesday, July 30, 2025. Please consult the Curriculum-At-A-Glance and FAQ for details on the exact dates of Fellowship meetings, Fellowship requirements, and other information.
For more information, check out our:
Email applications@cleanenergyleaders.org with any questions.