Applications for the 2025-26 Woodhouse Public Policy Fellowship are now open. The deadline to apply is June 15, 2025.

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The Woodhouse Public Policy Fellowship is a year-long program designed to develop young leaders with a shared commitment to improving public policy. In 2024 TFAS announced a landmark endowment of $1 million to advance and support the TFAS Public Policy Fellowship, which for 15 years has provided professional and academic development to more than 250 of our nation’s rising leaders. The existing Fellowship was renamed the Woodhouse Public Policy Fellowship in honor of the gift by Marilyn Woodhouse.

The curriculum for the 2025-26 Woodhouse Public Policy Fellowship will focus on the question, “What is conservatism?” Fellows will explore post-war conservative thought and how thinkers like F.A. Hayek, Russell Kirk and Frank Meyer attempted to resolve the tensions between freedom and order in public policy. The program will place a particular emphasis on the post-war conservative philosophy of fusionism and its relationship to both the American Founding and contemporary policy challenges. The Fellowship runs from September 2025 to May 2026.

The goal of the Fellowship is to provide events that allow young professionals to foster strong connections with peers working in public policy while building an understanding of the principles of fusionism through deliberation and debate. Fellows will participate in academic discussion sessions while networking with key public policy leaders, academics and journalists.

I’ve participated in several public policy adjacent fellowships, and the experience The Fund for American Studies’ Woodhouse Public Policy Fellowship offers is by far the most impressive of the bunch.” – Joseph Pitts, 2024-25 Woodhouse Fellow 

2025-26 FELLOWSHIP CURRICULUM

The Woodhouse Public Policy Fellowship offers a unique blend of networking, professional development, and rigorous academic discussions. The 2025-26 curriculum includes:

• Monthly Discussions: Engage with public policy experts, academics, and political leaders in Washington, D.C., on topics including F.A. Hayek’s “The Constitution of Liberty,” the political philosophy of William F. Buckley Jr. and Wilhelm Röpke’s “Humane Economy.”
• Fall Retreat: Travel to Mecosta, Michigan, to delve into the American political tradition at the ancestral home of Russell Kirk. Discussions will focus on Kirk’s influential work, “The Roots of American Order,” exploring his perspectives on order and virtue in American society.
• Spring Retreat: Visit the halls of liberty in Philadelphia to examine the enduring relevance of The Federalist and Anti-Federalist Papers in debates surrounding the American republic.

Join us to deepen your understanding of the conservative intellectual tradition and its application to current policy challenges, and to build lasting connections with fellow professionals dedicated to shaping the future of public policy.

The TFAS Public Policy Fellowship, unlike other professional development programs offered in D.C., is particularly excellent at forming true community and offering real mentorship.” – Kayla Bartsch, 2023-24 Woodhouse Fellow 

APPLICATION DETAILS

Please contact Hannah Florence, program manager for continuing education, at hflorence@tfas.org with any questions. All applicants must:

• Live and work in the field of public policy in the Washington, D.C., area
• Be professionals committed to the principles of limited government
• Commit to attending the monthly evening sessions (Tuesdays 6:30-8:30 p.m.) as well as the weekend fall and spring retreats

The Fellowship is designed for young professionals with up to ten years of experience. Graduate students may apply, but preference will be given to those currently working in the field of public policy.

2025-26 SCHEDULE

Orientation & Welcome Reception
Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025
6-8:30 p.m.

Opening Speaker Event
Friday, Sept. 19, 2025
4-6:00 p.m.

Fall Retreat
Oct. 16-19, 2025
Location: Russell Kirk Center, Mecosta, Michigan

Winter Retreat
Date TBD
Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Monthly Speaker Events
Nov. 18, 2025
Dec. 9, 2025
Jan. 13, 2026
March 10, 2026

Closing Dinner
May 12, 2026