Freedom in the World Junior Fellowship

Deadline: April 30, 2021

Location: Remote (New York, NY)

Position Summary

Freedom House is seeking three (3) motivated candidates to inaugurate the nine-month Freedom in the World Junior Fellowship program. Freedom in the World is Freedom House’s flagship analysis on political rights and civil liberties in 210 countries and territories. Produced since 1973, it is the most widely read and cited report of its kind, used on a regular basis by policymakers, journalists, academics, activists, and others. The most recent edition of Freedom in the World, published in March 2021, was cited in the Washington Post, the AtlanticNBC NewsCNN, the BBC, and in a March 3 speech about US foreign policy by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, among many other places.  

Each Junior Fellow will be hired to join Freedom House as a fixed-term, salaried employee, eligible for a generous benefits package. Junior Fellows will be responsible for managing the research for one of the six geographic regions covered by Freedom in the World. In doing so, the Junior Fellows will have the opportunity to establish expertise on a specific region, and will be called on to provide analysis of that region for internal use and potentially in response to media and other external queries. Through the fellowship program, Junior Fellows will also bolster their knowledge of global democracy using a comparative lens; build a network of external regional experts; develop crucial project management skills; and strengthen research and analysis skills. They will have opportunities to interact with senior and executive Freedom House staff, as well as other prominent practitioners in the democracy and human rights field. At the completion of the fellowship, they will have developed a range of highly marketable skills that will help propel them on to successful careers.

Junior Fellows will work closely with other members of the Research and Analysis team to ensure that all Freedom in the World research outputs adhere to the highest standards of quality and analytical integrity. Key responsibilities include:

  • Developing and training a network of regional and thematic experts and acting as their primary point of contact
  • Systematically coordinating the research process for an assigned region
  • Tracking democracy and human rights developments in the assigned region
  • Preparing event logistics for expert workshops

Junior Fellows will conduct data analysis; contribute to the development and launch of analytical pieces, social media content, infographics, and other support materials; and participate in briefings to key stakeholders, including US congressional and administrative staff on Freedom in the World findings. Freedom House will work to assign fellows to their region of interest, but may offer an alternative.

In the last three months of the term, Junior Fellows will be encouraged to work on a capstone project to launch after the release of Freedom in the World 2022, contributing original content using Freedom in the World findings that can help Junior Fellows establish a voice in the democracy and human rights field. Examples of capstone projects may include op-ed articles, data visualizations, narrative stories about human rights defenders, and video features. Junior Fellows will be matched with a Research team member who will provide guided mentorship on the capstone project.

The nine-month, full-time fellowship will begin on or around July 5, 2021, and end on March 31, 2022. Junior Fellows will receive an annualized salary of $42,000—amounting to a pre-tax, pre-deduction salary of $3,500 per month for nine months—and a generous benefits package. Given the COVID-19 outbreak, the fellowship will begin as a remote position with optional relocation to New York City once circumstances allow.

Minimum Qualifications

  • Applicants must be graduating seniors in an applicable field, or individuals who have completed their undergraduate degree during or after May 2020.

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