Eligibility

Applications for the Young Changemakers Class of 2024-2025 are now closed. The next application period is anticipated to open in spring 2025.

To be eligible for the Young Changemakers Fellowship, you must:

  • Be a high school student during the entire school year following your application submission.
    All grades within high school are accepted. The fellowship is open to all types of high school students, whether you attend a public school, home school, charter school, private school, or other type of high school.

  • Be at least 13 years old.
    You must be at least 13 years old at the time you apply for the fellowship. If you are not going to be 13 years old by the application deadline, please wait until a future year to apply.

  • Be living in and attending school in the United States, U.S. territories, or tribal nations.
    We are excited to select a diverse group of fellows from across the United States, tribal nations, and territories! We require all applicants to both live and attend school in one of these locations.
  • Be excited about the environment, ocean, Great Lakes, and/or coasts, and their protection.
    We are looking for passion and commitment in our fellows. We don’t expect you to come into the fellowship already knowing everything there is to know about the environment, ocean, climate justice, or NOAA, but we want you to come ready to learn and engage!
  • Be willing to commit to this year-long program and its requirements from July of the application year to June of the following year.
    Only about 15 students will be selected as fellows each year. We want to make sure each one of them is ready to commit to participating in all aspects of the program! Requirements include:
    • Attending the kick-off summit with an accompanying parent / legal guardian in Washington, D.C. (NOAA covers all travel expenses). The 2024-2025 cohort kick-off summit will be held on July 23-27, 2024.
    • Attending and participating in at least 9 of the 12 mandatory monthly meetings
    • Responding to emails within 5 days
    • Contacting your NOAA mentor at least monthly
    • Planning and carrying out an action project in your community, which includes on-time submission of a written project plan and final documentation of the project
    • Providing feedback to the NOAA team about your experience
Applicants do NOT necessarily need to:
  • Be an expert in ocean and environmental science
  • Have deep knowledge of NOAA and/or the federal government
  • Have years of prior experience as an ocean or environmental changemaker