Obama Foundation Scholars: Columbia University

The Scholars program at Columbia University and the University of Chicago empowers individuals with a proven commitment to service with the tools they need to make their efforts more effective, to identify innovative solutions to complex global problems, and promote change through values-based leadership.

The program builds lasting relationships among emerging leaders who are committed to working together to solve the most pressing challenges of our time, thereby creating a global network that reaches across issues and borders.

The Obama Foundation offers a robust curriculum of leadership development, training, networking activities, and customized support throughout the academic year to help the Obama Scholars gain the real-world skills, tools, and experiences they need to expand the impact of their work when they return home. These experiences allow Scholars to gain insights from high-level leaders across sectors and from the wealth of knowledge across the network of Obama Foundation program participants while planning the way they’d like to reinvest their new skills, networks, and knowledge after they graduate from the program.

Foundation-led activities include both cohorts of Scholars, based at UChicago and Columbia, with the aim of creating a broader global community of practice for shared learning to both inform Scholars’ approaches to their own work and accelerate that work as they return to their communities after graduation. Each cohort’s experience is tailored to tap into the rich research ecosystems of these two world-class institutions and the cities where they are based, providing unique and immersive learning opportunities for Scholars in Chicago and New York City.

Key features include: 

1. Convenings - In-person gatherings in Chicago bring Scholars together during the program to build community, participate in skill-building workshops, and engage with local organizations advancing place-based change.
2. Workshops - Leadership Development Workshops and Conversations designed to improve Scholars’ ability to tell the story of their work, reflect and refine their leadership approach, and build sustained, personal resilience. Through a variety of virtual session formats, Scholars also hear about the innovative solutions coming from the Obama Foundation program participant alumni community and have conversations with high-level thought leaders across sectors.
3. Action Plans - Development and refinement of an action plan that draws on their experiences throughout the program, centered around their initiative of focus and their future vision for their work.
4. Networking - Connections across the growing alumni community, the Foundation facilitates direct connections between current Obama Scholars and prior cohorts, based on their issues of focus.
5. Coaching - Tailored support including an executive coach and strategic communications and fundraising experts to aid Scholars in their action plan development, and their own progression over their leadership journey.

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More about the Columbia Program

Applications for the 2025-2026 Obama Foundation Scholars Program at Columbia University are now closed. Please follow along on social media to be notified when the 2026-2027 application becomes available in Fall 2025.

In addition to the programming offered through the Obama Foundation, and conducted with their counterpart Scholars cohort, Obama Foundation Scholars at Columbia University participate in an immersive program on Columbia’s campus that brings together academic, skills-based and experiential learning, designed by Columbia University in consultation with the Obama Foundation.

Obama Foundation Scholars at Columbia University are based at Columbia World Projects, an initiative that mobilizes the university’s researchers and scholars to work with governments, organizations, businesses, and communities to create tangible solutions to real-world issues. The program takes advantage of the unique opportunities for engagement that come with being at one of the world’s most important centers of research and residing in New York City.

The Obama Foundation Scholars program covers the following costs:

• Monthly stipend to assist with living expenses in New York City
• A furnished studio apartment within walking distance of Columbia University, if the program is able to convene in person
• All tuition and fees for up to four courses at Columbia University
• Basic medical, dental, and life insurance for the duration of the program in New York City, if the program is able to convene in person
• Air travel to and from home country and any program-related activities, if the program is able to convene in person

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