Nominations Are Open for the Job Quality Fellowship Class of 2025-26: Fixing Work in the South

We are pleased to open our nomination process for a new cohort of the Job Quality Fellowship, hosted by the Aspen Institute’s Economic Opportunities Program (EOP). The Fellowship brings together leaders from differing lines of work who are working to expand the availability of better quality jobs. Our 2025-26 Fellowship class will convene job quality practitioners from the US South specifically.

Selected Fellows will work together from October 2025 to July 2026 to expand their networks and engage in peer learning, self-reflection, and strategic analysis that will support their work to improve job quality in the South. Through this cohort, we hope to uplift the efforts of forward-thinking job quality practitioners who can inspire others in the South and nationwide who are striving to bring about an economy that works for all.

Who Are We Looking for?

Our new class of Fellows will be made up of job quality practitioners who are taking action to address the needs of workers in the South by working to improve job quality and expand the availability of good jobs. For more information on job quality practices, please refer to this recent blog by Maureen Conway, “The Case for Creating a Job Quality Practice.” We aim to build a diverse class of leaders from labor unions, small business development organizations, worker centers, workforce and economic development entities, advocacy organizations, organizations focused on employee ownership, legal and human rights organizations, and other practitioners and experts who are tackling job quality issues that limit human flourishing in the South.

Nominees for the fellowship are required to be living and working on job quality in the South.

Why Focus on the South?

At EOP, we define good jobs as those which provide economic stability for workers and their families, economic mobility, and respect and a voice in their workplaces. Unfortunately, while the South has seen significant economic growth in recent decades, too few workers share in the benefits. Compared to the rest of the country, the South has high rates of poverty, poor health, shortened lives, and other negative outcomes among working people and families — outcomes that are often a direct result of poor job quality. The minimum wage in most Southern states is $7.25 an hour, and earnings in nine states are well below the national median, even when adjusted for cost of living differences. We at the Economic Opportunities Program know through our work there are a number of organizations and leaders in the South using innovative strategies to address these challenges and create an economy built on dignity and shared prosperity.

By investing in improving the quality of all jobs — and not simply focusing on moving workers into the few good jobs that currently exist — we can bring about an economy where all work is valued and no one lives in poverty.

Nomination and Application Process

The form to nominate one or more leaders for this program can be found here. Individuals may nominate themselves. Based on information from the nomination form, eligible nominees will receive additional information and an application for the fellowship. Please click here for answers to our most Frequently Asked Questions.

• The deadline for nominations is Wednesday, May 14, at 10:00 p.m. EDT.
• The deadline for applications — when forms are completed by nominees — is Sunday, June 22, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. EDT.

Informational Webinar

On Tuesday, May 6, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern time, we will host an informational webinar about the Job Quality Fellowship. In addition to providing an overview of the nomination and application process, we are pleased to welcome two Job Quality Fellows to this conversation — Bo Delp, executive director of the Texas Climate Jobs Project — and Neidi Dominguez, founding executive director of Organized Power in Numbers — who will share their experience as members of the Fellowship. We will leave plenty of time for your questions at the end.

What is the South?

The Economic Opportunities Program recognizes that there is no single standard for what constitutes the South. The US Census defines the region generally as the following:

• Alabama
• Arkansas
• Delaware
• Florida
• Georgia
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Maryland
• Mississippi
• North Carolina
• Oklahoma
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Virginia
• Washington DC
• West Virginia

The Council of State Governments follows the Mason-Dixon line as a guide, but it excludes Washington DC, Maryland, and Delaware from its definition while including Missouri. It is not our aim to limit Job Quality Fellowship applicants to one definition or the other. Rather, we welcome all those who see their work as contributing toward job quality improvements in the  South.

We are grateful to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Surdna Foundation, Prudential Financial, and the Gates Foundation for their generous support of this work.