2026 CEL Emerging Leaders Fellowship applications are due by May 1, 2026.

Please email cel@ncte.org with questions.

The Emerging Leaders Fellowship Program (ELF) provides leadership support, mentoring, and networking opportunities for early career leaders of language arts programs at the K–university levels.

This program works with new leaders to:
* build the leadership capacity of emerging literacy leaders;
* assist in the development of essential skills necessary for success in key leadership positions;
* access timely information regarding literacy education and student learning;
* facilitate change in schools and in professional communities; and
* encourage interaction among leaders as members of a leadership group shaping the field of English education.

This program invites beginning leaders to collaborate with a mentor from a community of highly experienced English leaders and scholars whose own work can be enriched through engagement with new ideas and school contexts.

Fellows and mentors meet during the CEL Annual Convention in November and continue their work throughout the following year. Fellows and mentors receive complimentary CEL Annual Convention registration for the second year of their participation.

Please complete this form to apply to CEL’s Emerging Leadership Fellowship Program by May 1, 2026.