Application

Apply to the NELP Program

  1. The Nehemiah Emerging Leaders Program accepts applications for it’s next cohort year-round, with a deadline of April 30 for the class that begins in September of that year.

TIME COMMITMENT
In general, we hold classroom instruction for one full day (Tuesday) and one evening (Wednesday) a month, plus three Saturday dates and two overnight retreats.  View the upcoming class schedule.  Outside of class time, you’ll have a book a month to read in preparation for discussion in class, a class project to coordinate with your cohort, a graduation requirement to find and be appointed to a nonprofit board or government commission and reflection journal assignments to reinforce what you’ve learned each month.

TUITION
Tuition is $10,000 and is often paid by professional development funds from the Fellows’ employers, with a minimum of $500 due from the Fellow’s personal funds as a show of their individual commitment to the program.  Tuition payments may be made with a no-interest payment plan over the 10 months of the program.

We have limited scholarship funds to which Fellows without full employer support may apply.  These scholarship funds, at most, might defray the tuition by 10-15%, based on the number of Fellows who apply for scholarship assistance and the success of our fundraising.  We work with our Fellows and their employers, where applicable, to identify funding sources.  You may apply for scholarship support after you are invited to join the cohort.

SELECTION PROCESS
Each application is scored by a panel of readers and the top scoring applicants are invited to compete for spot in our next class by participating in an all-day interview process that we call “Selection Day.”  At Selection Day, a panel of judges will evaluate your leadership abilities through exercises and interviews.  We invite the top scoring applicants from Selection Day to become a Fellow in the upcoming cohort.  Each cohort consists of 15-25 participants. 

Selection Process Schedule for Class XVI (October 2025 – June 2026)

    • Deadline to apply: April 30, 2025, 11:59 pm
    • Invitations to Selection Day issued: May 30, 2025 (approx)
    • Selection Day: August 15, 2025, 8 am – 6 pm
    • Invitations to join Class XVI issued: August 30, 2025 (approx)
    • Class XVI Begins: September 25, 2025

Application To-Do List

You cannot start and save this application to come back to complete it later, so you must have all of your information collected ahead of time. Prior to beginning the application process, please do the following:

  1.  Review the class calendar to ensure you can attend all sessions;
  2.  Meet with your employer to discuss the time and financial commitment of participation;
  3.  Write your 1000 character (approx. 200 words) “introductory biography” and the answers to the essay prompts in a word processor and cut and paste them into the respective fields below.
  4.  Gather the following items to upload into the application:
      • A color head shot, formal or semi-formal, where your face comprises half or more of the photo. Please, no selfies or snapshots. Present yourself in the most professional way possible as your picture will be used by Selection Day judges to identify you during their evaluation.  Your picture will not be shared with application readers in an effort to minimize bias.
      • Your resume, preferably in PDF format.
      • A letter of recommendation, preferably in PDF format, from someone other than the person who nominated you if you were nominated. The letter must be signed by hand (no digital signatures or emails) and answer the following questions:
               1.   How long have you known the candidate and in what capacity?
               2.  Please comment on the candidate’s leadership potential and provide an example.
               3.  Please evaluate the candidate’s capacity to sustain a substantial effort over a prolonged
                    period and to see it through to completion.
               4.  Please comment on the candidate’s commitment to community and desire to play an active
                    role in leadership within their career or in the community.

PLEASE NOTE:

  • To prevent accidental data loss, DO NOT type your biography and essays directly into the application – write them first in a word processing program and cut and paste the finished work into the appropriate field in the form below. 
  • For best results when cutting and pasting, paste your text first into Notepad, Wordpad or similar text-only, non-formatting program, then cut and paste into the web site form – this will prevent errors in converting incompatible formatting into the web form.
  • Essays are to be no longer than 1500 characters including spaces (approx. 300 words).
  • When pasting your text into the appropriate field below, be sure to check to make sure your answer hasn’t been truncated by the character limit.
  • The essay prompts are:
      • Future & Goals: What is the title of your dream job? What are your ultimate professional and community goals?
      • Challenging Obstacle: Describe the most challenging obstacle that you have had to overcome. Discuss the impact it had on you and what you have learned from that experience.
      • Strengths: How will you contribute your strengths, skills, and experiences to the NELP community and to your classmates’ learning
      • Character: Describe an experience that demonstrates your character, ethics, and accountability to either others or yourself for commitments you have made in your professional or personal life.

APPLICATION TO THE NEHEMIAH EMERGING LEADERS PROGRAM

Important: Read the instructions beneath the question. Essays are to be no more than 1500 characters, including spaces (approx. 300 words). We suggest you type essays in your regular word processor, then cut and paste it in Notepad, Wordpad, or similar text-only, non-formatting program, then cut and paste into the form below. This will prevent errors in converting incompatible formatting into the web form.

"*" indicates required fields

Name*
Home Address*
Personal Email*
Date of Birth*
Please provide an introductory biography of yourself. It should be written in the third person, be no more than 1000 characters, and include information about your responsibilities in your current professional role, recognitions received, previous professional background, where you volunteer your time, and your personal passions (e.g., family, hobbies).
Please list the post-secondary schools (college, professional, or trade) that you attended along with the degree or certificate that you received, for example: Sacramento State, BA, English
Please list the major voluntary, civic, and/or service organizations in which you are now or have been involved, in order of importance to you. For each organization, include: 1) the organization's name, 2) the group's mission, 3) dates of your affiliation, and 4) the extent of your involvement, including positions held.
Employer Address*
Work Email*
Because the Nehemiah Emerging Leaders Program requires significant time away from your workplace, we encourage you to discuss the requirements and time commitment with your supervisor before you begin the application process. If you are admitted to the program, you will be required to submit a signed employer commitment form before the program begins. In addition, if you are selected as a NELP Fellow, we will invite your employer to an orientation to familiarize them with the program and will provide them with regular feedback about your progress. Have you discussed the commitments of this program with your employer and do they support your application?
Tuition for the Nehemiah Emerging Leaders Program is $10,000, which can be paid by personal funds (due in full at program start or paid monthly by credit card), employer training funds, a mixture of personal and employer funds, and by applying to the Nehemiah Community Foundation for scholarship assistance. Please note, however, that scholarship funds are limited, based on the success of fundraising by the NCF, generally range from $500 to $1500 when demonstrating financial need, and may require an additional application and interview process if you are invited to join the class. Please indicate your preliminary payment plan below. This is not a commitment to the plan, but an advisory to the NELP administrators of your resources and needs.
ESSAYS
Enter each of your essays below. The essay's prompt is below each box. Each essay should be no more than 1500 characters. We recommend that you write your essays in a word processor and not directly into the field below to avoid data loss due to timeout/lack of activity errors, or from inadvertently navigating away from this page. For best results when cutting and pasting from a word processor program, first paste your completed text into Notepad, Wordpad, or similar text-only, non-formatting program, then cut and paste into the web site form - this will prevent errors in converting incompatible formatting into the web form.
What is the title of your dream job? What are your ultimate professional and community goals?
Describe the most challenging obstacle that you have had to overcome. Discuss the impact it had on you, what you have learned from that experience, and how it demonstrates your character, ethics, and personal accountability.
Describe an experience that demonstrates your character, ethics, and accountability to either others or yourself for commitments you have made in your professional or personal life.
What strengths, skills, and experiences will you bring to NELP that will contribute to your and your classmates learning experience?
Accepted file types: pdf, Max. file size: 1 MB.
Please upload your resume in PDF format.
Accepted file types: jpg, png, Max. file size: 1 MB.
Please upload a color headshot, where your face comprises about half or more of the picture. Formal or semi-formal photography -- please, no casual snapshots or selfies. This picture will be used by the judges to help identify you at Selection Day if you are invited to compete.
Accepted file types: pdf, Max. file size: 1 MB.
Please upload a letter of recommendation from someone other than your nominator who knows you well and is willing to tell us why you are a great candidate for this program. The letter MUST answer the following questions: 1) How long have you known the candidate and in what capacity? 2) Please comment on the candidate's leadership potential and provide an example. 3) Please evaluate the candidates' capacity to sustain a substantial effort over a prolong period of time and to see a project through to completion. 4) We appreciate any comment you can offer regarding the candidate's commitment to community and desire to play an active role in leadership within their career or in the community. The document should be in PDF format.
I understand the commitment that I am making to the Nehemiah Emerging Leaders Program and, if selected, will devote the time and energy necessary to ensure my effective participation. I also agree to pay the Personal Commitment Fee of $500 if I am selected to participate in the program.
DEMOGRAPHICS (optional)
Please provide this voluntary information to help us when applying for grants and funding. Your answers will be kept separate and not be a part of your application in any way.
With what race do you identify (select all that apply)?