The Future of Belarus Fellowship 2025-26 is for exceptional professionals working with young people towards a free and peaceful future for their country and beyond.
This fellowship supports leaders with passion and purpose to achieve their vision for fairer, more sustainable and inclusive societies. It brings together Belarusian leaders and change makers from different sectors, including civil society, journalism, politics, social enterprise, science, arts, education and business. This year, the programme will be specifically for professionals focused on supporting young people and the efforts of the next generation to bring change for a better and fairer future for their society and country.
Why apply to the fellowship?
The programme is a chance for Fellows to gain insights into the values, ways of working, and challenges faced by people and institutions in the UK, and to connect with counterparts and learn from each other’s work. The six-month programme comprises a series of online workshops followed by a week-long residential programme in the UK.
Each Fellow participates in a core programme of group workshops and visits and has an individually tailored programme of meetings related to their professional interest and action plan. The action plan is an existing project that will be advanced and informed during the fellowship programme and the progress on its implementation will be shared 12 months later.
After completing the programme, participants also become life-long members of the collaborative community of John Smith Fellows and have the opportunity to participate in Fellows’ network activities.
All our programmes are rooted in the belief that the way to find sustainable solutions is to work together, listening and learning from each other. We are looking for applicants who embrace this ethos and who embody our core values.
Programme details
- The programme runs from 1 October 2025 until 28 February 2026. Attendance of all sessions (online and in-person) is compulsory.
- The week-long residential programme will take place in the UK in early December. It includes collaborative leadership training, group discussions and workshops as well as visits to public institutions, policy institutes, and NGOs and meetings with experts across our thematic field.
- Fellows will also have a tailored set of meetings with UK counterparts to enhance their action plan.
You can find further information, including on action plans, on our FAQs page.
Eligibility
The Trust will select up to 10 exceptional and influential future leaders, who are already making an impact through their work, to become John Smith Fellows.
Fellows can work in any sector, e.g., politics, non-profit sector (civil society, NGOs, think tanks, research/education institutions, media) or private sector (legal professions, business/social business, finance) but their work must be connected to the empowerment, capacity-building, participation, engagement or needs of young people.
To apply you must:
- be a citizen of Belarus living outside the country no longer than five years
- be aged 25-35
- speak and write fluent English (preferably having already studied or worked in English)
- demonstrate a commitment to the John Smith Trust’s shared values of tolerance, respect and openness towards one another at all times
- demonstrate your potential as a leader in your chosen professional field, committed to building a fairer, more sustainable, and inclusive society in Belarus
- demonstrate a clear professional focus on young people or issues affecting them
- propose an ‘action plan’ addressing a challenge in policy or practice aimed at contributing to the development of a free and peaceful future for Belarus, and which will be informed by your experience in the UK
- be prepared to make a substantial commitment, dedicating time and effort into making the most of the programme and participating actively in the Fellow’s online and in-person community in the long term.
The Trust will select candidates looking to make the most significant long-term positive impact on their society’s development and not the development of their own careers.
Please see our Fellows’ Charter for more detail on what we expect from Fellows. The Trust strongly condemns Russia’s unlawful act of aggression on Ukraine and supports the people of Ukraine who are defending their freedom. Fellows who take part in our programmes need to accept this position. Please see our statement on the war on Ukraine for more detail.
Please note there is no obligation for Fellows to participate in public communications or to be visible on our website or social media platforms.
What last year’s Fellows say
Application process
The application process consists of an online application form, an online interview for those who are shortlisted, and a final stage face-to-face interview.
Applications are open on our website from 21 May and close on 8 June.
