E2 1 Hotels Fellowship 2027: A $10,000 Grant and a Year of Mentorship for U.S. Advocacy Entrepreneurs Advancing Clean-Economy Climate Policy

E2 1 Hotels Fellowship 2027: A $10,000 Grant and a Year of Mentorship for U.S. Advocacy Entrepreneurs Advancing Clean-Economy Climate Policy

Most climate funding rewards technology: a better battery, a cheaper solar panel, a smarter grid device. The E2 1 Hotels Fellowship rewards something different and often underfunded — advocacy. It backs people who believe the biggest lever on climate is not a new gadget but a better argument, a smarter campaign, or a coalition that finally moves a policy. If you are an early- or mid-career professional with a concrete plan to shift climate policy in a way that is good for both the economy and the environment, this fellowship gives you $10,000, a year of structured support, and direct access to a national network of business leaders and policy experts to make that plan real.

The program is run by E2 (Environmental Entrepreneurs), a nonpartisan network of business leaders, investors, and professionals who advocate for policies that are good for the economy and the environment. E2 is affiliated with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), and fellows draw on staff from both organizations. The fellowship is sponsored by 1 Hotels, a sustainability-focused hospitality brand, and has run for several cohorts. The 2027 cohort is the cycle now open for applications, with fellows working from January through December 2027.

What the Fellowship Offers

The fellowship functions like an incubator for a single advocacy project. Rather than funding a general course of study, it asks you to bring a defined problem and a plan, then supports you for a year while you execute it. The core benefits are:

• A $10,000 project grant. This is seed funding to launch or accelerate your advocacy project. It is meant to move a specific campaign, piece of research, or organizing effort forward within the 12-month fellowship year.
• Mentorship from E2 and NRDC staff. Fellows receive guidance on what E2 calls nonmarket strategy — the advocacy, communications, and coalition work that shapes policy outcomes — alongside practical business and strategy mentoring.
• Membership in E2’s Emerging Leaders Program. This connects fellows to E2’s broader community and its programming, including monthly webinars featuring business leaders and lawmakers.
• Access to a national business network. E2 members span industries and states. Fellows get introductions and a platform to present their work to people who can amplify or act on it — including, in some cases, lawmakers and industry decision-makers.
• Media exposure and press opportunities. E2 regularly places op-eds, reports, and member voices in national and regional outlets, and fellows can benefit from that visibility.

The program is deliberately light-touch on your calendar. It is virtual and part-time, requiring roughly 10 hours of work per month over the year. That structure is designed so that working professionals and graduate students can participate without stepping away from their jobs or studies.

Key Details at a Glance

Note that the priority deadline and final deadline come from E2’s application materials; the September 15, 2026 date is the firm final deadline. Applying by the earlier priority date is a good idea where possible, since it can signal seriousness and give reviewers more time with your materials.

Focus Areas: Where Your Project Should Fit

E2 selects roughly six fellows a year, and it looks for projects across the areas where its policy work concentrates. In recent cycles those have included:

• Clean Economy — broad economic arguments and campaigns tying climate action to jobs, competitiveness, and growth.
• Clean Energy — renewable power deployment, grid modernization, and the policies that speed them.
• Food and Agriculture — sustainable and regenerative agriculture, food systems, and related policy.
• Building Electrification and Performance — efficiency standards, electrification of heating and appliances, and building codes.
• Transportation Electrification — electric vehicles, charging infrastructure, and clean transportation policy.
• Clean Water — water quality, infrastructure, and conservation.

A strong application does not just fall into one of these buckets; it advances E2’s reach within it. E2 has noted a preference for location-specific projects in regions where it operates, and for projects that expand its footprint into new geographies. If your work targets a particular state legislature, a regional utility commission, or a local coalition, say so plainly — geographic specificity is an asset here, not a limitation.

Who Should Apply

This fellowship is built for a particular kind of person: the advocacy entrepreneur. You do not need to have founded a company, and you do not need to be building a product. What you need is a project that uses communication, research, or organizing to change climate policy, and the drive to carry it through a year of independent work.

Eligible applicants include:

• Founders and entrepreneurs whose work has an advocacy or policy dimension.
• Researchers who want to translate their findings into policy impact.
• Community organizers and campaigners building coalitions or public pressure.
• Communications and media professionals with a climate policy project.
• Current graduate students interested in climate advocacy and clean-economy solutions.

You must be based in the United States and be a U.S. citizen, permanent resident, or hold valid U.S. work authorization. You must be an early- or mid-career professional — this is not a senior-executive program, nor is it aimed at undergraduates. And you must be able to sustain a part-time commitment of about 10 hours a month across the full year.

The fellowship is a good fit if you already have a clear idea and mostly need funding, mentorship, and a network to execute it. It is a weaker fit if you are looking for a full-time salaried position, a large operating grant for an organization, or a traditional academic fellowship. The $10,000 is project seed money, not a living stipend.

Eligibility Requirements in Detail

To be considered, you should be able to confirm each of the following:

• You are an early- or mid-career professional or a current graduate student.
• You are based in the United States.
• You are a U.S. citizen, a lawful permanent resident, or you hold valid work authorization in the U.S.
• You have a defined advocacy project connected to clean energy, the clean economy, food and agriculture, buildings, transportation, or water.
• You can commit to a part-time, virtual fellowship running January through December 2027, at roughly 10 hours per month.

Because eligibility rules can be refined between cycles, confirm the current requirements on the official page before you invest time in the application. If any detail on this page differs from E2’s own materials, treat E2’s page as authoritative.

Application Process and Required Materials

The application is submitted through E2’s Submittable portal, linked from the official fellowship page. Based on E2’s published guidance, you should be prepared to provide:

• A resume. A concise professional history that shows your relevant experience in advocacy, research, organizing, communications, or entrepreneurship.
• A project pitch. This is the heart of the application. It should clearly state the advocacy challenge you are tackling, make the economic case for your solution, and lay out a 12-month implementation roadmap. In other words: what is the policy problem, why does solving it help the economy as well as the environment, and exactly how will you spend the fellowship year moving it forward?
• A letter of support (recommended). A letter from a community or business partner who can vouch for your project and its local relevance strengthens the application, even where it is not strictly mandatory.

Give yourself real time on the project pitch. Reviewers are choosing only about six fellows, and the pitch is where you either convince them that your idea is fundable and achievable or lose them to vagueness. Anchor it in a specific policy target — a bill, a rule, a public utility decision, a procurement standard, a permitting bottleneck — rather than a general aspiration to “raise awareness.”

What Reviewers Are Looking For

E2 is a business-and-economy-focused network, so the strongest applications frame climate action in economic terms. Selection tends to favor projects that show:

• A clear, specific advocacy target. Reviewers want to see the exact policy lever you intend to move, not a broad theme.
• A credible economic case. Explain how your solution creates jobs, saves money, strengthens competitiveness, or reduces risk. This is what distinguishes an E2 project from a general environmental campaign.
• A realistic 12-month roadmap. Break the year into concrete milestones. Show that $10,000 and roughly 10 hours a month can actually deliver the outcomes you promise.
• Local grounding and partnerships. Projects tied to a specific place, with named partners or coalitions, tend to be more convincing than national abstractions.
• The applicant’s ability to execute. Your track record — even a modest one — should make it believable that you will finish what you start.

Timeline and What to Expect

The application window is open now. The priority deadline is August 15, 2026, and the final deadline is September 15, 2026. The fellowship year runs from January through December 2027. Because the program is virtual and part-time, you can plan around your existing work — but the year will demand steady, self-directed progress rather than a single burst of effort. Fellows are expected to keep their projects moving month to month, participate in the Emerging Leaders Program, and use E2’s network and webinars along the way.

Selection details and interview steps are handled through the Submittable process; watch your email and the portal for any requests for additional information after you submit.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Pitching awareness instead of action. “Educate the public about clean energy” is not a fundable advocacy project here. Name the policy you want changed and how you will change it.
• Skipping the economic argument. E2’s entire identity is economy-and-environment. An application that ignores jobs, cost, or competitiveness misreads the audience.
• An unrealistic roadmap. Promising a statewide legislative win in 12 months on 10 hours a month will read as naive. Scope your milestones to what the grant and time actually allow.
• Being geographically vague. Reviewers value location-specific projects. “Somewhere in the U.S.” is weaker than a named state, city, or utility district.
• Waiting until the final deadline. Applying by the priority date gives your materials more attention and leaves room to fix problems.
• Treating $10,000 as a salary. This is project seed funding. Budget it toward the work — outreach, research, materials, events — not your living costs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this a full-time job? No. It is a part-time, virtual fellowship of about 10 hours per month over 12 months, designed to fit alongside a job or graduate studies.

Do I need to have started an organization? No. Founders, researchers, organizers, and communicators are all welcome. What matters is a defined advocacy project, not a company.

Can international applicants apply? You must be based in the United States and be a U.S. citizen, permanent resident, or hold valid U.S. work authorization.

How much money do fellows receive? Each fellow receives a $10,000 project grant.

How many fellows are selected? Approximately six per cohort.

What does the money have to be used for? It is seed funding to launch and advance your advocacy project during the fellowship year. Direct it toward the work in your roadmap.

When does the program run? January through December 2027.

How to Apply and Official Links

Read the full program description and start your application on the official E2 fellowship page: https://e2.org/fellowship/. The application itself is hosted on E2’s Submittable portal, which is linked from that page. Before you begin, confirm the current deadlines, eligibility rules, and required materials directly on E2’s site, since program details can change between cohorts.

If your work sits at the intersection of climate policy and economic opportunity — and you have a specific campaign you are ready to push for a year — the E2 1 Hotels Fellowship offers a rare combination of money, mentorship, and access aimed squarely at advocacy rather than technology. Prepare a sharp, locally grounded project pitch with a credible economic case, apply by the August 15, 2026 priority deadline if you can, and give yourself the strongest shot at one of the roughly six 2027 spots.