About
The Democracy Fellowship program brings together a diverse set of leaders—elected leaders, former government officials, policymakers, advocates, nonprofit leaders, and journalists—for in-depth analyses and stewardship of institutional reforms. Fellows leverage the expertise from their fields and passion for a particular area of government effectiveness to a community of students, faculty, and practitioners with similar passions and the resources to effect change.
Program details
The Democracy Fellowship is an annual, non-residential program for pre-eminent leaders in their fields. Fellows are chosen for their breadth of experience, depth of expertise, and degree of passion for the health of our democracy and strength of its institutions. During their year-long tenure at the Center, Fellows engage in numerous activities organized around a unifying theme and develop programming that corresponds to CEG's three key areas of focus—ideas, education, and engagement:
2024 Democracy Fellows
We are thrilled to announce the 2024 cohort of Democracy Fellows! Read the full announcement.
The 2024 CEG Democracy Fellows are:
Brenda Abdelall: Former Assistant Secretary of Partnership and Engagement at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security*; former Chief of Staff in the DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties; former Instructor at the University of Michigan Law School.
Trevor Potter: President and Founder of Campaign Legal Center (CLC); former Republican Chairman of the Federal Election Commission; general counsel to John McCain’s 2000 and 2008 presidential campaigns.
Omar H. Noureldin: Civil rights lawyer, law professor, and media commentator, currently Senior Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice*; former Lecturer in Law at the USC Gould School of Law; former litigator at Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP.
Amy Gardner: National Reporter on The Washington Post's Democracy Team; former Deputy National Politics Editor at The Washington Post; member of The Washington Post staff that won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for their ongoing coverage of the events surrounding January 6, 2021.
Donald K. Sherman: Executive Director and Chief Counsel for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW); former Chief of Staff and Senior Counsel for Oversight and Investigations in the Office of General Counsel at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; former Special Assistant to the President for Racial and Economic Justice.
*Affiliation for identification purposes only, participating in a personal capacity.
Upcoming events for UChicago students
Fellow programming will begin on October 23rd with Amy Gardner’s appearance at “Presidential Elections & The State of Our Democracy,” an election-focused panel event hosted by CEG and Chicago Public Media as part of the Democracy Solutions Project. Register here.
Past cohorts
Learn more about previous cohorts of CEG Democracy Fellows here.