Droves of early-career professionals have emerged from the Congressional Fellows Program, started by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF) in 1986 to increase opportunities for young leaders eager to get their start on the Hill.
Over the past 40 years, the network of skilled legislative interns — incubated during the nine-month program for emerging Hill staffers — has grown into a talent pool of more than 8,000 who are working from the U.S. Capitol to the White House, as well as making waves across the nation and world.
Alumni roles after the program range from policy analysts to lobbyists and leaders within local and congressional offices, in addition to the State Department and other critical areas tied to the legislative branch.
“The fellowship was designed to put brilliant Black people committed to policy in the rooms where decisions about our lives get made, so that all of us, including Black same-gender loving people, can get free,” said former CBCF fellow David Johns, who now serves as executive director of the National Black Justice Collective (NBJC). “I am evidence that it works.”
The former CBCF fellow, who was appointed the first executive director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans by President Barack Obama — a role he held from 2013-2017 – said his internship opened his eyes to opportunities through exposure and distinct expertise.
“I came to Washington in 2006 as a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Fellow, placed in the office of the late Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.), a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus,” Johns told The Informer. “That year taught me how policy actually gets made and who it gets made for, and everything since has been built on it — the Senate HELP [Health, Education, Labor and Pension] Committee, the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans, and now the National Black Justice Collective.”
‘The Responsibility That Comes with Having a Seat at the Policy Table’
Twenty years since Johns was a fellow, young professionals coming through the program have shared the same outlook on the program as one that fosters excellence through experience.
Since its inception, the Congressional Fellows Program has expanded to include the John R. Lewis Social Justice Fellowships, which allow two select interns to work as legislative aides before conducting research on behalf of the Center for Policy Analysis and Research.
Desha Holden-Nelson interned with Rep. Nikema Williams (D-Ga.) this year as one of the social justice fellows and published research on how new requirements for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), commonly known as food stamps, will impact Black families across the country.
“As someone committed to advancing health equity and strengthening Black families, having the opportunity to work within the federal policy process allowed me to see firsthand how decisions made in Washington can shape the lives of families and communities across the country,” Holden-Nelson told The Informer. “My work focused on child welfare, maternal and child health, and family policy, giving me the opportunity to contribute to legislative and policy efforts while bringing a community-centered perspective to the issues before Congress.”
Although the internship is officially over, Holden-Nelson said the lessons she’s learned have been invaluable.
“What I will carry with me most is the responsibility that comes with having a seat at the policy table,” she continued. “My fellowship affirmed my belief that policy is not simply about legislation — it is about people, families, and the conditions that determine whether communities can thrive.”
While Holden-Nelson worked to unveil disparities in health and food legislatively, Tyler Johnson served as an intern focused on the influence of deepfake technology in Rep. Valerie Foushee’s (D-N.C.) office.
Deepfake technology uses artificial intelligence to create hyper-realistic fake images, videos, and audio by superimposing or generating human likenesses and voices. It often mimics Black voices or faces online and across social media.
The North Carolina congresswoman celebrated Johnson’s hard work and contributions while also highlighting the importance of the fellowship program overall.
“I have been lucky enough to have the opportunity to host a member of the Congressional Black Caucus fellows program, and I can wholeheartedly say that she was an incredibly impactful and critical part of my team,” Foushee told The Informer. “Their fellowships help ensure that our office is providing services and supporting legislation that are aligned with the needs of our local community, while also providing opportunities to students who may not have had the access to an internship program otherwise.”
Fighting for the Fellowship Amid Pushback
Alphonso David, president and CEO of the Global Black Economic Forum, can also testify to the value of the fellowship, having seen fellows from the program transition into the broader workforce full time.
“The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation has spent decades doing something that is both simple and powerful: creating pathways for talented people to learn, lead, and gain access to institutions where Black voices have historically been underrepresented,” David said.
His comments come as the CBCF faces a lawsuit from the American Alliance for Equal Rights and Defending Education, which claims that the CBCF, a nonpartisan nonprofit, is discriminating against non-Black students by funding Black and African American students pursuing undergraduate, graduate, or doctoral degrees through its Spouses Education Scholarship.
David said the legal battle is an attempt to remove access to education while the American Alliance for Equal Rights and Defending Education says CBCF is discriminating on the basis of race in turn violating Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866.
“We are seeing a broader campaign use litigation and political pressure to make scholarships, fellowships, and other opportunities more difficult and more expensive to sustain — even when the facts do not support the claims being made,” David, who is serving as co-counsel defending CBCF, told The Informer. “The lawsuit challenging CBCF’s 2026 Spouses Education Scholarship is a clear example. The scholarship is open to qualified applicants of all races, no recipients had been selected when CBCF moved to dismiss the case, and two of the three students cited by the plaintiffs did not submit completed applications.”
For David, the value of the fellowship makes the fight incredibly important.
“If organizations can be forced to spend their resources defending themselves against injuries that never occurred, the lawsuit itself becomes the punishment — and ultimately it is students, fellows, and future leaders who lose opportunities,” he said.
