Grace Fiori
Buffalo’s Fire
The Bush Foundation is adapting its fellowship program, expanding the number of fellows from 24 to 30 and increasing the grant awards from $100,000 to a maximum of $150,000. The application process opens on Tuesday and is more concise, requiring only five reflections and a single interview. The changes aim to better support community leaders by enhancing their ability to develop chosen leadership skills.
“What you could do with $100,000 five years ago looks a lot different than what you can do today,” Adora Land, grantmaking director for the Bush Foundation, told Buffalo’s Fire. To keep up with inflation, the award increased by $50,000. The organization made these changes based on alumni and community feedback.
Applications, which can be submitted from Sept. 17 to Oct. 15, consist of five open-ended questions about how applicants “want to bring their vision to life by investing in their leadership,” Land explained.
Each year, the Bush Foundation awards one –or two-year fellowships– to residents and Native citizens in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota. The Bush Foundation is well known for its investments in tribal communities throughout the region. In the past two years, Native fellows have made up a quarter of the cohort.
The fellowship gives applicants great freedom to identify the best way to expand their leadership skills and drive change – this can look like networking, working with mentors, or pursuing a degree.
2024 Bush Fellow Arlene Krulish has been a healthcare administrator for more than three decades, including chief executive officer for Spirit Lake Health Center. She’s using the fellowship to pursue a psychiatric nursing degree at Minneapolis’ Herzing University.
Krulish recalled her sometimes stressful submission experience last fall. The process encourages applicants to “dream big – what would you like to do if there were no barriers?” she explained.
Hearing of the more concise application process for 2025, she said, “This is a positive change.” Hopefully, Krulish added, this will reduce applicants’ anxiety and allow them to focus on the broad, sometimes daunting questions.
“It’s about investing in yourself as a leader and not about a project,” Land explained. “I oftentimes tell people to think about themselves as the actual project.”
Krulish, like many other Fellows, applied multiple times before being accepted in 2024. “Don’t give up, keep trying,” she urged applicants.
When it came time to apply last September, she was determined to become a nurse practitioner, even if she didn’t get the fellowship. Krulish advised applicants to use the process to get greater clarity on future goals.
The opportunity has helped her reframe her educational experience as a current fellow. Instead of “‘I have to study,’ it’s ‘I get to study,’” Krulish said.
“It’s not that I am obligated; I get to do this wonderful opportunity.” For Krulish this looks like exploring substance use disorder treatments that incorporate Western medicine and ceremony throughout her two-year fellowship.
This article was published via AP Storyshare.