Create A Fellowship

We offer invitational fellowships to encourage cutting-edge work on pressing issues of our time.

You can establish a fellowship to honor an important writer or loved one, or to promote new work in a particular subject or genre.

To initiate a fellowship, we request a minimum commitment of three years, or $22,500. You can also endow an on-going fellowship for $150,000 (or more), ensuring a lasting impact. We invite you to click on any of the fellowships listed below to learn more about the donors, honorees and fellows.

To discuss creating your own fellowship, contact Mesa Refuge Executive Director Kamala Tully.

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Current Invitational Fellowships

Indigenous Knowledges Holder Circles

The Indigenous Knowledges Holder Circles offers a unique opportunity for (elder) language keepers and knowledge holders and (younger) knowledge learners to convene, exchange ideas, rejuvenate, and build meaningful connections. This project aims to share knowledge, culture and Indigenous language across generations in a sanctuary space. The project offers circles at Mesa Refuge. First, three knowledge […]

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    Leading Edge Fellowship

    Leading Edge Fellows are progressive movement leaders who are pursuing bold visions for change for Black communities and communities of color. Their work is supported by several foundations including the Rosenberg Foundation. Kendra Fox-Davis, Chief Program Officer at the Rosenberg Foundation, established this residency soon after she visited Mesa Refuge in 2022. Kendra said, “Our […]

    • 2023: Cat Brooks, Shimica Gaskins, Chaney Turner, Malkia Devich Cyril

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    Manzanita Fellowship for Racial, Economic and Environmental Justice

    The Manzanita Fellowship for Racial, Economic and Environmental Justice supports visionaries working at the intersections and edges of racial, social, and environmental justice who use their creative energy as writers, journalists, playwrights, and more to help catalyze a better future for all. Manzanita Fellows are selected by Mesa Refuge staff and alum Anna Lappé. The author or […]

    • 2023: Lyla June Johnston

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    Toby Symington Sacred Advocacy Fellowship

    The Toby Symington Sacred Advocacy Fellowship supports those writers who are advocates of truth and equity— who feel a deep connection with the sacred and who apply the wisdom at the core of the major spiritual traditions to the cause of social, ecological, and geopolitical justice. The fellowship looks to support, in particular, women who […]

    • 2023: Gwen Mitchell

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    Jennifer Egan Creative Approaches to Mental Health Fellowship

    A generous donor created this fellowship in Jennifer Egan’s honor. Jennifer has chosen to direct the fellowship toward supporting writers in any genre whose work meaningfully addresses the struggles of the mentally ill. A journalist as well as a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, Jennifer has written for the New York Times Magazine about self-injury, opioid addiction, […]

    • 2023: Susannah Dainow
    • 2022: Jono Oliver 

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    The May and Jack Elinson Public Health Fellowship

    This fellowship honors the legacy of public health advocates May and Jack Elinson. May Elinson served as a public health nutritionist in the Prenatal and Family Planning Clinic at Martland Hospital in Newark, New Jersey (now the NJ College of Medicine). With compassion and skill, she helped high-risk mothers provide a healthier diet for themselves […]

    • 2023: Josephine Ensign
    • 2022: Marielena Hincapie

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    Judith Tannenbaum Teaching Artist Fellowship

    Judith Tannenbaum was a Bay Area writer and teacher who was a national leader in the field of community arts. In addition to publishing numerous books of poetry, memoir, and creative writing curriculum, Judith worked passionately to train over one hundred teaching artists to work in community settings (prisons, libraries, schools) to encourage a writing practice […]

    • 2023: Duane Horton
    • 2021: Perla Yasmeen Meléndez

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    Peter Barnes Long-Form Journalism Fellowship

    The Peter Barnes Long-Form Journalism fellowship was created to honor Mesa Refuge founder Peter Barnes. A journalist and writer for much of his life, Peter wrote for Newsweek and the New Republic and developed a deep appreciation for long-form journalism.

    • 2022: Maya Dusenbery
    • 2021: Jeanne Carstensen

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    Refuge for Activists Fellowship

    In these times, an ongoing, steady effort by activists of all kinds has become critical. Refuge for Activists is our first residency dedicated to supporting those who need a place where they can recharge their batteries before returning to the world with renewed focus and resilience.

    • 2023: Erika Allen, Ayana Zaire Cotton, Karla Monterroso
    • 2022: Shorlette Ammons, Dara Cooper, Navina Khanna

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    Michael Pollan Journalism Fellowship

    The Michael Pollan Journalism Fellowship supports emerging journal­ists in print and other media who offer thoughtful coverage of con­nections between humans and nature.

    • 2022: Alice Driver
    • 2021: Geeta Maker-Clark

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    Human Rights Cohort

    The Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley School of Law partners with the Mesa Refuge to create the Human Rights Fellowship, in which fellows are selected to participate in a two-week writing retreat at Mesa Refuge.

    • 2022: Mara Kardas-Nelson, Natalie Cadwalader-Schultheis, Bhavya Joshi
    • 2021: Audrey Taylor, Cortelyou Kenney, Suzanne Caflisch

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    Marion Weber Healing Arts Fellowship

    The Marion Weber Healing Arts Fellowship supports writers working as healing artists or in the healing arts fields.

    • 2023: David Fenster, AriDy Nox, Rob Chaney, Redwing Keyssar
    • 2022: Amanda Mei Kim, Nina Gheihman, Yeva Johnson, Peter Gleick, Tara Duggan, Vanessa Daniel, Helen Whybrow, Julia Harte, Teresa Jordan , Clayton Aldern 

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    West Marin Community Fellowships

    The West Marin Community Fellowships support the creative projects of people nominated by West Marin’s rich network of non-profit organizations.

    • 2023: Dewey Livingston, Elia Haworth, Theresa Harlan
    • 2020: Molly Parent, Todd Plummer, Bonnie Guttman

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