For the January 2026 Congressional Innovation Fellowship, we are looking for both early- and mid-career technologists. Individuals with a background in technology and with technical skills are encouraged to apply. Fellows have diverse expertise and backgrounds. Our fellows to-date have had significant technical experience, including backgrounds in computer science, engineering and cybersecurity policy. This year, we want to expand the profile of the fellows beyond just “technologist” in the traditional sense. We’re hoping to have 1-2 fellows who fit within one of the following verticals: digital service delivery, climate tech, criminal justice, and space. If you have a technical degree and/or have worked in engineering, development, journalism, scientific, legal, or government roles in the tech, climate, space, or criminal justice spaces, then we also encourage you to apply!

Any bachelors, graduate-level or PhD-level program in computer science, engineering, data science, informatics, IT, cybersecurity, or other technical field as well as being a bootcamp graduate would make you well qualified. If you studied or worked in one of these fields, or worked in a technical field and are now pursuing a law or public policy degree, you are also eligible. If you have a technical degree and/or have worked in engineering, development, journalism, scientific, legal, or government roles in the tech, climate, space, or criminal justice spaces, then we also encourage you to apply!

Those applying as an early-career technologist should have between two and six years of experience post-undergrad, which includes individuals that have recently completed a graduate-level or PhD-level program. Recent graduates with Bachelor's degrees with no work experience are not eligible.

Those applying as a mid-career technologist should have eight or more years of work or postgraduate study.

Not necessarily. Fellows come from diverse backgrounds. That said, all of our fellows have had professional experience working with the nuts and bolts of technology. An understanding of how technology works, and an ability to translate complex technical concepts is essential. Please have a look at our current fellows or alumni to get a better sense of the kinds of individuals we’re looking for.

Fellows are selected using criteria that includes: potential for leadership in technology policy; professional achievements and technical ability; commitment to building a diverse and cross-sector technology policy ecosystem; potential for future growth and career advancement; interpersonal, communication and “tech-translation” skills; individual plans for incorporating the fellowship experience into specific career goals.

What is the difference between the Senior Congressional Innovation Fellowship and the Congressional Innovation Fellowship?

The primary difference between the Senior Fellows and Fellows is their level of experience coming into the fellowship and the duration of their time in the program. The Senior Fellows are mid-career (at least eight years of experience) and participate in a 13-month fellowship. Fellows are early-career (they typically have between two to six years of experience, or recently graduated from a Masters or PhD program) and have a 10.5-month fellowship.

Both Congressional Innovation Fellows and Senior Congressional Innovation Fellows have the same role: to serve as a tech policy advisor.

You must be a U.S. citizen to apply for the Fellowships. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) recipients, or those eligible for the DACA program, are eligible and encouraged to apply.

Unfortunately, no. Remote participation is not possible. You will have to relocate to Washington, D.C. for the fellowship. Most offices require you to work in person. Regardless of whether you are working in person or in a hybrid model, fellows will staff Members of Congress at Committee hearings and during floor votes and it is imperative that you are local for those occasions. We do, however, provide relocation support to our fellows to help them make the transition.

That’s great! That’s exactly what we’re trying to accomplish. We spend a large portion of the program helping you build your network in Washington and on Capitol Hill in order to position you to find full-time employment after the program finishes.

Yes! In addition to a stipend, fellows receive a health care reimbursement of up to $425 per month; a $2000 reimbursement for Fellowship travel; up to $2000 for relocation expenses; up to $2000 for accommodation for the first month of the fellowship in the Washington DC area to ease the transition; and a $500 clothing allowance for purchases of professional attire.

You can apply here. Our application consists of a qualifications essay, a motivations essay, and a tech policy memo. We also ask that applicants provide an anonymized resume (devoid of identifying information) and the names/contact information for two references. Please note that we do not require references to write letters of recommendation.

You can view an offline version of the application here.

We will accept a resume or CV! Please use whichever format you prefer and will highlight your candidacy.

We ask that applicants remove identifying information from their resume, such as name, photos, and LinkedIn urls, as the first round of application review is anonymized to help to prevent unconscious bias. Please also ensure that the name of the file does not have your name on it.

We know that applicants will have papers or articles they published that they want to showcase and we encourage you to do so! Please just ensure your name is not showing (some folks choose to replace their name with XXX or redact your name).

Yes, if you think it showcases your candidacy better! We encourage folks to include these when they can.

Our selection process is approximately eight to ten weeks. We conduct an anonymized first review of applications and then invite candidates to a 20-minute first round interview. We then invite candidates to a 45-minute second round interview and conduct reference checks before making offers. Please note that we will notify you before contacting your references.

You can read more about our selection process from the previous application cycle here.

Since our application review process is anonymized, we’re unable to provide individual feedback about an application.

TechCongress is committed to building an ecosystem of diverse, cross-­sector technology policy leaders. We recognize that diversity is a problem in the technology community and are working to be part of the solution. As part of this commitment, we’re dedicated to testing new approaches towards building an equitable organization and fellowship. We are the first organization in Washington, D.C., or in politics, to adopt a diversity referral award.

If you nominate a candidate from an underrepresented community for one of our fellowship programs and they apply, are accepted, and join the program as a fellow, we’re going to pay you $500.

Anyone can nominate a candidate! The easiest way to nominate someone is through our site to qualify for the referral, you just nominate a candidate for the fellowship. When a candidate is accepted and begins as a fellow, we will search the nominations form to see if that individual was referred to us. We’ll also ask fellows to identify if they were nominated or referred to the program by an individual.

Only third-party referrers are eligible for the diversity award. Even though we encourage folks to nominate themselves, just know they aren’t eligible to receive the $500 award.

The January 2025 Fellows will start in early January 2025. Senior Fellows will serve from January - December 2025 (with an optional one-month extension of your stipend through January) and Fellows will serve from January - October 2025 (with an optional two weeks extension of your stipend through mid-November).