Cultivating Conversation Fellowship: Elevating Discourse Through Expert-Led Training

This fellowship is only open to returning undergraduate, graduate, and professional students. The application period is closed. For questions about the fellowship contact cultivating.conversation@yale.edu.

Fellowship Overview 

The Cultivating Conversation Fellowship is a new, unique leadership development opportunity for returning undergraduate, graduate, and professional student leaders to deepen communication and dialogue facilitation skills that are essential for effective leadership. This selective program combines rigorous intellectual development with practical skill-building, preparing participants to lead and engage in meaningful discourse across academic, professional, and civic contexts.  

The fellowship is carefully designed based upon empirically backed knowledge from the fields of communication, psychology, neuroscience, education, international peace and conflict studies, and organizational management. Through intensive, experiential, and expert-guided training, the fellowship cohort will be encouraged and supported to apply the skills to their leadership roles both within and outside the campus community.    

The 2025-2026 Cultivating Conversation Fellows will participate in the inaugural pilot year of the program. The fellowship program is part of the larger Cultivating Conversation initiative and was developed in response to student feedback. Fellows will be compensated for their time to acknowledge that meaningful leadership development requires meaningful commitment from both the institution and participants.  

Commitment:

Participation in six in-person workshops held across the fall and early spring semesters, along with opening kick-off and closing celebration events. To earn recognition of completion, fellows must attend the opening and closing events and at least five of the six workshops.  

Schedule of Events

Two opportunities will be offered to attend each of the workshops. Please make sure you are able to meet the attendance requirements before submitting your application.  

Fellowship Kick Off: September 16th, 5-7pm  
Session 1: Choice of September 23rd, 12-2pm OR September 25th, 5-7pm  
Session 2: Choice of October 7th, 5-7pm OR October 10th, 10:45am-12:45pm 
Session 3: Choice of October 28th, 5-7pm OR October 31st, 10:45am-12:45pm 
Session 4: Choice of November 18th, 5-7pm OR November 21st, 10:45am-12:45pm 
Session 5: Choice of January 20th, 5-7pm OR January 23rd, 10:45am-12:45pm 
Session 6: Choice of February 17th, 5-7pm OR February 20th, 10:45am-12:45pm  
Closing Celebration: March 4th, 5-7pm  

Learning Objectives

Through participation in the Cultivating Conversation Fellowship, student leaders will deepen their capacity to engage others thoughtfully and develop practical skills to lead and facilitate meaningful conversations. They will learn to sharpen their self-awareness and emotional intelligence as well as be equipped with multiple approaches to successfully navigate complex conversations and disagreement with empathy, curiosity, and intentionality. Fellows can expect tools to cultivate both personal growth and collective impact in their current and future leadership roles. 

Intrapersonal Foundations 

  • Mindfulness, Grounding & Self-Regulation 
  • Emotional Intelligence  
  • Growth Mindset 
  • Silence & Reflective Practice 

Interpersonal Skills 

  • Listening for Facilitation & Leadership 
  • Interpersonal Effectiveness 
  • Formulating & Adapting Questions  
  • Naming & Bridging Differences 

Communication & Facilitation Tools 

  • Building Trust & Connection 
  • Multimodal Communication 
  • Designing Generative Environments
  • Formulating Questions with Intention 

Leadership in Community 

  • Community Leadership Applications 
  • Intra and Inter Group Dynamics 
  • Facilitating Collaboration and Imagination