Mycelia Fellowship 2026: $2,000 Stipend for Storytelling, Arts & Humanities Practitioners in the United States
Are you a storyteller, researcher, artist, writer, or movement builder working on an ongoing project focused on ethical storytelling, community narratives, arts, humanities, or digital power? The Social Resonance Lab (SRL) is inviting applications for the inaugural Mycelia Fellowship, an eight-week opportunity designed to help practitioners deepen, document, refine, or expand work that is already underway.
The fellowship will select two fellows, each receiving a $2,000 stipend, direct advising from the Social Resonance Lab team, and opportunities to share their work with a wider community of practitioners and the public.
Application deadline: September 13, 2026, at 11:59 p.m.
About the Mycelia Fellowship
The Mycelia Fellowship is built around the idea that stories function like mycelium—the interconnected fungal networks beneath a forest that connect, nourish and influence the wider ecosystem.
Similarly, stories rarely remain with their original creators. They are adapted, shared, interpreted and transformed as they move between people and communities. The fellowship explores the ethical responsibilities involved in this process, including questions around attribution, power, representation and community accountability.
Rather than supporting projects that are only at the idea stage, the fellowship is specifically designed for individuals who already have active storytelling or arts-humanities projects and want to strengthen, document, scale or extend their existing work.
Fellowship Benefits
The selected fellows will participate in an intensive but lightweight eight-week programme running from November 1 to December 31, 2026.
Each fellow will receive:
- $2,000 stipend
- Direct advising from the Social Resonance Lab team
- Project management support
- Evaluation and learning support
- Communications and design expertise
- Community-storytelling guidance
- Opportunities to share work and insights with practitioners and the public
- Participation in a collaborative fellowship cohort
The programme will be conducted remotely and will include a virtual kickoff, semi-regular check-ins and public-facing presentations.
Required Fellowship Deliverables
Selected fellows will be expected to contribute to the wider Social Resonance Lab community through three main activities.
First, each fellow will produce one written piece for the SRL Substack, allowing them to share their ideas and learning with a broader audience.
Second, fellows will participate as guests in an episode of SRL’s upcoming podcast series on ethical storytelling.
Third, fellows will co-lead a workshop, including a 30-minute presentation about their work followed by dialogue with other practitioners and members of the public.
These activities are intended to turn individual fellowship work into knowledge that can contribute to wider conversations around ethical storytelling.
Thematic Tracks
Applicants must identify which of two thematic tracks best aligns with their existing project.
Track A: Arts as a Civic Tool
This track supports projects that use art, storytelling and humanities practices as forms of civic participation.
Potential projects may involve creative approaches to local issues, community engagement, digital campaigns and artistic responses to ongoing forms of injustice, resistance and social change.
Track B: AI & the Digital Landscape
This track focuses on how digital technologies, algorithmic systems and emerging technologies influence storytelling, collective memory and political agency.
Examples include digital archives, oral-history projects, community-led data preservation, counter-surveillance documentation and creative platforms that help communities maintain narrative autonomy in digitally controlled environments.
Who Is Eligible?
The Mycelia Fellowship is open to United States residents only, with activities based within the United States or its territories.
Applicants should already be active in storytelling or arts-humanities work grounded in intersectional practice. The fellowship is particularly interested in strong writers, skilled researchers and movement builders who demonstrate creativity, leadership, community awareness and a track record of execution.
Applicants must also be able to file a W-9 form and receive stipend payments through a domestic U.S. bank account.
Projects will be assessed based on creativity, leadership, evidence of previous or ongoing execution, understanding of the Social Resonance Lab research agenda and alignment with one of the two thematic tracks.
Key Dates
The application period opened on August 31, 2026, and closes on September 13, 2026.
Following the application period, applications will be reviewed from September 14–27. Interviews are expected in late September and early October, with final selections announced on October 23, 2026.
Fellow onboarding will take place on October 27, followed by the fellowship period from November through December.
How to Apply
Interested applicants should carefully review the full programme overview and complete the official Mycelia Fellowship application form before the deadline.
Deadline: September 13, 2026, at 11:59 p.m.
The programme is particularly suited to practitioners who are already developing meaningful storytelling, arts, humanities or digital-community projects and are ready to strengthen their work through financial support, expert advising, visibility and collaborative learning.
For eligible U.S.-based practitioners, the Mycelia Fellowship offers a valuable opportunity to explore how ethical storytelling can build empathy, trust, community accountability and lasting social impact.
APPLY HERE
Join Our WhatsApp Community
Disclaimer: Remote Job Opportunities (RJO) is not the organization offering this opportunity. For any inquiries, please contact the responsible organization directly. Please do not send your applications to RJO, as we are unable to process them. Due to the high volume of emails we receive daily, we may not be able to respond to all inquiries. Thank you for your understanding.
Booking Professional Career Coaching
