The Journey Fellowship for New Professionals in Youth Work is a year-long program for early to mid-career youth workers.  Fellows in this program are full-time youth workers, normally in the first ten years of their career in youth work.  The New Professionals Fellowship comes alongside leaders who are working to establish and grow their careers in the field.

For Both Fellowships— each year up to 30 leading youth workers are nominated and selected to create a learning community and attend four in-state retreats to invest in their own personal growth and professional development. The intention is to help transform the profession and field of youth work by grounding leaders in who they are, building a professional community, and inspiring the beliefs of those who dream and do on behalf of young people.  Fellows from all programs join the larger community of fellows who are students, practitioners and leaders in Indiana and beyond.

Special Note Regarding Covid-19–During our 2020 & 2021 program years, we have responded creatively to the challenges of the pandemic so that we can continue providing meaningful experiences of professional development and personal growth for the Indiana youth work field. Changing public health situations may require the 2022 program to replace some in-person experiences with online programming in order to prioritize the health and safety of everyone involved. However, in all possible instances, The Journey will continue to take place “in-person” with observation of masking and social distancing as appropriate. Our current policy for all in-person retreats is to require fellows and staff to provide either proof of full vaccination OR a negative COVID test from within the previous 72-hours. Any changes to requirements or procedures throughout the year will be communicated in as timely a manner as possible.