About the Fellowship Program
Launched in 2005, the Draper Hills Summer Fellowship on Democracy and Development Program (DHSFDD) is a three-week academic training program that is hosted annually at Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law. The program brings together a group of 25 to 30 mid-career practitioners in law, politics, government, private enterprise, civil society, and international development from transitioning countries. This training program provides a unique forum for emerging leaders to connect, exchange experiences, and receive academic training to enrich their knowledge and advance their work.
For three weeks during the summer, fellows participate in academic seminars that expose them to the theory and practice of democracy, development, and the rule of law. Delivered by leading Stanford faculty from the Stanford Law School, the Graduate School of Business, and the departments of economics and political science, these seminars allow emerging leaders to explore new institutional models and frameworks to enhance their ability to promote democratic change in their home countries.
Guest speakers from private foundations, think tanks, government, and the justice system provide a practitioners viewpoint on such pressing issues in the field. Summer Fellows also visit Silicon Valley technology firms such as Benetech, Google and Twitter to explore how technology tools and social media platforms are being used to catalyze democratic practices on a global scale.
The  program is funded  by the generous support from Bill and Phyllis Draper and Ingrid von Mangoldt Hills.
Ibrahima Amadou Niang (Senegal ’18)Â
Orginally from Senegal, Ibrahima Amadou Niang is the head of the Open Society Initiative for West Africa’s Guinea country office and a creative activist, researcher and published author.Â
ElsaMarie D’Silva (India, ’17)
ElsaMarie D’Silva is an Indian gender activist. She is the founder and CEO of Red Dot Foundation (Safecity) and the president of Red Dot Foundation Global.Â
Svitlana Zalischuk (Ukraine, ’11)Â
Svitlana Zalischuk talks about these issues in her country from her perspective as a member of the parliament with CDDRL Mosbacher Director Francis Fukuyama.Â
How To Use The Application System
The Draper Hills Summer Fellows program uses the WizeHive application system to manage all incoming applications. This system is widely employed by other fellowship programs and should be easy to use. Here are some guidelines to take note of when using the application system:
- You can save your work at any time and return to the form at your convenience. You do not need to complete the application form in one sitting. It is strongly suggested that you save your work often by clicking on the “Save Draft” button at the end of the page.
- Once you submit your application form you can no longer return to make any changes. Please review all your work before clicking the “Submit” button at the end of the application form.
- The system will notify you by email during the following stages in the application submission process:
1.    When your application form has been received.
2.    When letters of recommendation have been submitted on your behalf.
3.    Once your application file is complete with a minimum of two letters of recommendation.
We encourage all applicants to review the eligibility and selection criteria, along with the application instructions in detail before submitting the application. The application guidelines are a valuable resource and outline the process in great detail. Please read the contents of the guidelines in their entirety before beginning the application process.
CDDRL invites emerging political, civil society and business leaders from transitional countries to apply to participate in its 15th annual Draper Hills Summer Fellowship on Democracy and Development from Sunday, July 14, 2019 to Friday, August 2, 2019. Deadline for the application form and two letters of recommendation is 5:00pm PST on Monday, December 10, 2018.
Please refer to the FAQ section for questions you may have regarding the application form before contacting the program team. If there are any questions or difficulty with the application not addressed in the guidelines, please email: summerfellows@stanford.edu.
About Our Draper Hills Summer Fellows
The Draper Hills Summer Fellows alumni network includes 350 alumni from 82 developing democracies worldwide. Their professional backgrounds are as diverse as the problems they confront in their home countries, but the one common feature is their commitment to building sound structures of democracy and development. The regions of Eurasia, which includes the former Soviet Union and Central Asia, along with Africa, constitute almost half of our alumni network. Women represent 46 percent of the network and the program is always looking to identify strong female leaders working to advance change in their local communities.
Previous Draper Hills Summer Fellows have served as presidential advisors, senators, attorneys general, lawyers, journalists, civic activists, entrepreneurs, judges, think-tank directors, and influential members of the international development community. The program is highly selective and receives hundreds of applications each year.
Please see the “alumni” section on our website for a complete listing of program alumni and to read their bios. Click here to view alumni interviews and to watch them present their work in TED-style talks.