Support people to think bigger and differently

Why it’s important to us

The future of communities in our region will be defined by what the people in them believe they can be. That’s why we want to take every opportunity to encourage people to think bigger and think differently about what is possible.

We also know that applicants spend a lot of time and energy to submit their proposal to us. That is particularly true for the Bush Fellowship program, which is why we are focusing on that program as our indicator here. The Bush Fellowship is highly competitive—we only award Bush Fellowships to 30 people each year. This means that we say no to a lot of people doing incredible work in our region. That makes it even more important to us that our process supports people to grow and expand their sense of potential and possibility, whether they end up as a Bush Fellow.

How we’re doing

It’s great that 93% of Bush Fellowship applicants say the application process helped them to think bigger and think differently. However, this percentage is down a little from previous years, so we want to learn more about why that changed. It’s an opportunity for us to utilize the applicant feedback we gather to find ways to adapt and grow.

What’s next

We will continue tracking our applicant data and other information to make sure we’re doing all we can to add value to our processes across programs.

* Source for chart: Bush Fellowship Application Survey, September – October 2024

2024 Bush Fellowship applicant rating of how helpful the application process was in thinking bigger & differently *

  • extremely helpful
    54%
  • at least somewhat helpful
    39%
  • not helpful
    7%
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