To apply, please submit an application form.

It’s only a few questions long and could take you less than 30 minutes.

We know you have a lot of other things on your plate today.

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Audio and Video submissions are neither expected nor required,

and will undergo the same review process and be held to the same standards as text-based applications.

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The 2026 FORGE Fellowship will accept 200 applications between August 4th, 25 ~ September 21st, 25, at midnight.

Only the first 200 applications received will be reviewed.

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To preview the application questions for offline drafting, click here.

 

FORGE Fellowship applications are first reviewed by a pre-screening panelist for completeness + cohesion,

and then by a panel of artistic and entrepreneurial professionals for scoring.

Interviews with Chie + Greg will be conducted with semi-finalists before final selections are made.

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To learn more about the panelist pre-screening and review criteria, click here.

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Questions about the FORGE Fellowship or the application process?

Start with the FAQ and watch our Q+A video,

then email chie@forgenyc.org, greg@forgenyc.org and/or contact@forgenyc.org.

To speak to Chie + Greg in real time, join us at a Fast Fuel or book a FREE 30-min consultation. 

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FAQ

 

Hey FORGE! What’s new with the Fellowship this year? 

You called it: we are always making small adjustments to the program to make it more accessible, useful, and fun! 

For 2026, we have five changes to report: 

1. The months we operate: more accessible dates!  

        For 2026, we are shifting the Fellowship to run from January to June (instead of May to October). We have 

        received feedback–and experienced ourselves–that trying to tackle + prioritize an intensive Fellowship over Summer is          tricky… especially for parents! We are looking forward to trying out a schedule that starts the calendar year off with a              bang and releases everyone alongside the school year. 

2. An application cap: more accessible process for our Panel!  

        For the past 5 years, our incredible panelists have reviewed between 178 - 357 applications, and offered beautiful                    feedback for each applicant, in the span of 4-6 weeks. They then have to choose only 30 applicants to send to                        interview. Y’all, it’s hard. So, to ease the work for our panelists AND keep offering you the feedback you have come to            know + love, we will be imposing an app cap of the first 200 received. Get those apps in early, friends! 

3. An added Panel step: The Pre-Screening Panelist! 

        After an incredible access brainstorm with Ashley J. Hicks, we will be further streamlining our Panel process 

        by adding a pre-screening step with a first round cut. While Greg + Chie have always pre-screened apps for 

        completeness, this new step will ensure our Panel can prioritize applications with the highest possibility of 

        success. To learn more about the panelist pre-screening + review criteria, click here.

4. More ways to apply: video apps!

        Also thanks to Ashley, FORGE is prioritizing options for applications this year. Do you feel more yourself on screen,                  rather than in words on a page? Submit a brief video or audio track instead. Answer all the same questions in a format            more accessible to you. 

5. Connect with more folks: The FORGE Together Discord server

        The FORGE Fellowship communications hub is now hosted on the same platform that welcomes our broader                          community: the FORGE Together Discord server. Each Fellowship cohort has their own private suite of channels                      alongside the “Commons” channels that are open to all friends, collaborators, and supporters of FORGE. If you’d like            to learn more about our Discord community, click here.

 

I’m not based in New York. Can I still apply? 

Absolutely! And we hope you will! The FORGE Fellowship is entirely online and open to engagement from anywhere in the world. All the Fellowship events are mandatory, but we will work with you to ensure that you have access in consideration of your schedule, time zone, and lifestyle. 

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Can you tell me more about the application process and timeline? 

Sure thing! After checking out our website, FAQ, and Q+A video, you will fill out our streamlined application (only a few questions!) by the application deadline. Your application will be read by a pre-screening panelist to ensure completeness + cohesion. Applications that pass our pre-screen will then go to a panel of professional makers and entrepreneurs that will choose semi-finalists for FORGE. Greg, Chie, and the panelists will then host group interviews with semi-finalists and send out invitations to join the Fellowship! The 2026 Fellowship will begin on January 5th and run until June 30th. 

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And if I’m selected, what happens during those six months?

In January, your FORGE Fellowship programming will officially begin!

While some opportunities may be geared towards recharging or resetting, the FORGE Fellowship is designed for intensive engagement during your six months with us.

You’ll have officially programmed touchpoints with FORGE twice per month, which will rotate between:

- consulting sessions with Chie + Greg + your Buddy,

- monthly seven-hour Fast Fuel Co-Working Micro-Retreats, 

- a Curated Conversation with a potential collaborator or mentor, tailored for you,

- and three-hour online events like Masterclasses, Intensives, and more.  

And for the full six months, you’ll have access to Chie + Greg as your personal coaches and cheerleaders, and all of FORGE’s resources ready to support you as you chart your course towards success. We will also pair you with a Buddy for extra accountability and conversation. We’ll expect you to show up for all our programmed touchpoints, and stay actively engaged with FORGE and your Fellowship cohort in between on Discord. Once your Fellowship wraps, FORGE encourages you to stay in touch and will work to keep you connected with the FORGE community.

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Tell me more about this “Buddy”? 

Our Buddy system is one of our favorite parts of the Fellowship. FORGE will assign you a Buddy (or Buddies) from within the cohort to serve as a learning partner, accountability partner, and general accomplice throughout the program. You will share consulting sessions, a discord channel, and a commitment to showing up for each other, in whatever manner you define together. We have seen Buddy pairs go on to create work together, continue to meet each other at Fast Fuel long after their Fellowship ends, and become lifelong champions of each others’ work. 

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What’s Discord? 

Whether you're an applicant, current or former Fellow, client, collaborator, Fast Fuel regular, general supporter, or plain ol' friend, FORGE Together is your space for sharing resources, getting the word out, and connecting with like-minded makers. Our community chat channel is always open, and we have dedicated channels for requests, resources, social justice engagement, and project promotion with weekly prompts. If you are unfamiliar with the platform, here is a Beginner's Guide to Discord, tips on How to Join a Server...and if you prefer video: How to Sign Up Step-by-Step. 

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I’m not making Theater… can I still apply? 

Please do! The FORGE Fellowship is for anyone with a creative spark looking for support. We’re into it if your vision is a book, a business, a burrito, or a better world. We want you to be engaging in your process and interested in developing your craft and process.

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I don’t know exactly what I’m making next year … can I still apply? 

Of course! This Fellowship exists to support your growth in craft, career, art, and life. This opportunity is focused on you as a maker, not on a specific project. We’re much more interested in how you make anything than what you’re currently creating. You don't need a project to apply; you and your process are the creations we are most interested in!

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Can I submit as a group, or just as myself? 

This Fellowship is intended for individual makers and small teams (of no more than three). Please note that we do not provide additional resources for additional participants (i.e. the same consultation time is available to an individual or a team of three, though your whole team is invited to attend + the same award of $500 is available to an individual or team, and you may split it up however you wish). 

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How many Applications + Fellows do you have in a year? 

In past years, we have received as many as 178 - 357 applications and created between 8 - 14 Fellowships. 

In 2026, The FORGE Fellowship will accept 200 applications and create 8 Fellowships (for makers or teams).

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How do you select your Fellows each year? 

The FORGE Fellowship Selection Panel is made up of professional makers and entrepreneurs with different backgrounds and skills. One panelist will always be a past panelist, so we can hold ourselves accountable to our own process. And one panelist will always be a past Fellow, so we can all benefit from an insider’s perspective. 

​First, the pre-screening panelist reviews all 200 applications for completeness + cohesion and makes a first cut. Then, the panel reviews the remaining applications, paying special attention to the application’s cohesiveness and fit, as well as the applicant’s perspective and need. Semi-Finalists will be contacted for an interview with Greg, Chie, and a panel member before Final selections are made. 

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And who is FORGE again?

FORGE is a creeative consultancy and arts service organization founded by Chie Morita + Greg Taubman with the mission of helping makers of all kinds forge paths toward success. Since 2015 we’ve been helping companies and individuals assess their missions, build their budgets, get organized, and plan for the future, as well as hosting retreats and events to support career growth. You can learn more about FORGE, Chie, and Greg here.

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What can you tell me about your Fellowship to set it apart from other programs that perpetuate systems that exploit and undervalue creative workers, especially those from historically marginalized groups. ?

We hear you, and we agree. The only real source of the institutional and systemic changes that are so urgently needed comes not from statements of desire or belief, but substantive action. FORGE has--and will continue to--put its values into action, specifically for the Fellowship in the following ways:

• We see the injustice inherent in the unpaid labor of filling out applications. We have made our application free and prioritized brevity in order to minimize the upfront investment of unpaid time. 

• We know that we carry internalized biases and preconceptions. We assemble a diverse, representative, and independent panel to review these applications, compensating the panelists for their time, and building a firewall between us and their decision-making process. 

• We value representation in the Fellowship cohort. We prioritize the inclusion of different life experiences and perspectives within the cohort.

• We recognize that the full complexity of being a person means navigating the overlapping demands of health, safety, family, community, and creativity, and we hold space for challenges and achievements Fellows face from within and beyond our program with kindness and care.   

• We understand that making an opportunity available is not enough; we must care for the safety and well-being of our participants. We aim to cultivate a welcoming and inclusive Fellowship by relying on our own training as space-makers and on curating the appropriate outside experts and workshop leaders for the cohort.

• We hold the line between collaboration and extraction; the Fellowship embraces peer-to-peer learning models like our Buddy system alongside our expert-led offerings. We match Buddies so that each participant has something to offer to–and something to learn from–their Buddies and the Fellowship cohort at large. There are no junior or senior Fellows. As we’re fond of saying: no one knows everything; together we know a lot. 

• We reject scarcity and the exploitation of artists and makers. We offer our entire suite of online resources and 30+ hours of personal real-time attention from Greg + Chie at no additional cost to the Fellows. Experts and workshop leaders who contribute to Fellowship programming are fully compensated for their services and time. Though we cannot at this time subsidize the technology or connectivity to take advantage of our resources, we intend the Fellowship to place no additional financial burdens on the part of the Fellows. Each Fellow currently receives $500 to use on their individual or collective creative process. As we source more funding for the program, we hope to grow this award.

• We are here to serve the Fellows through our tools and expertise; we do not view their identities, activities, and experiences as existing for our benefit. Other than the initial announcement of the accepted Fellows, we will not feature any Fellow or their work on our public platforms without prior informed consent from that Fellow. 

• We know we do not have all the answers and that we will always be learning. We empower and expect the Fellows and the community to hold us accountable to our values and standards, both through established systems of complaint and redress, as well as other public or informal forums. We will meet feedback with respect, humility, and curiosity, understanding that the person naming a harm bears no responsibility for further explaining that harm.

Ok, let’s say that, as a Fellow, I have super specific questions like “Can you look over my pitch deck?”...

That’s precisely what our work is dedicated to. We’d be happy to give you real-time feedback on a project at a Fast Fuel or during one of our consulting sessions, or asynchronously online. Your suite of resources will also include templates and ideation exercises to help you get a fresh perspective on your work. 

Ok, let’s say that, as a Fellow, I have super huge questions like “Does my art even matter anymore?!”...

That’s also precisely what our work is dedicated to. We know our Fellows are whole people, and we are always happy to dive into conversations no matter how dark, dreamy, or existential. 

I’m craving accountability, but I’m also afraid I might feel like I’m “failing” by missing deadlines or something like that. Can you speak to this? 

We hear you, friend. As much as we might want to, we won’t be able to conquer all our mean voices in six months. But, we can offer some tips and tricks to help. We will do our best to suggest actionable goals to conquer, ask about strategy when a list looks a bit too long, or help build measurable metrics for success. We will also encourage you to nap and be kind to yourself. Together, let’s make goals to “research and apply to one residency a month” instead of “apply to all the residencies so I can get some”. And let’s remember that while we encourage proactive work over reactive work, we know sometimes we will need to react. By building a more proactive process, let’s make more space for choice and grace. 

 

I’m having technical difficulties with your form. Can you help? 

• If you've drafted your responses in another file and are having difficulty copy-and-pasting, you may be running into a word count issue. Try eliminating any extra line breaks, and copying into a plain text program first. 

• Fill out the application in a single tab or browser window to ensure a complete submission; do not open multiple tabs or windows. The form may have difficulty recognizing characters outside of the English alphabet; please consider transliterating or linking to the language you’d like to share. 

• If you're still running into difficulties, you can email the full text of your application to contact@forgenyc.org. If you choose to email, please make sure your application is 100% complete (including the confirmations)--we want you to clear the pre-screening! 

• If your access needs would be better served through a different modality, we invite you to answer the application questions with a brief video or audio track.

 

I actually couldn’t find my question here. Can we talk? 

We’d be happy to talk more with you about the FORGE Fellowship, your projects, or your goals! If you would like to connect through words, you can email contact@forgenyc.org, greg@forgenyc.org and/or chie@forgenyc.org or join us on Discord. You can also watch our Q+A video which might offer some answers! And if you want to connect face-to-face, join us at a Fast Fuel or book a FREE 30-min consultation to ask us anything that’s on your mind. 

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Still have questions? Click below to watch our 13-minute Q+A Video!

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APPLICATION QUESTIONS

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* denotes required questions

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First order of business: 

• Today's date* 

• How did you hear about our Fellowship?* 

• Are you applying as a(n):

  • Small Team​

  • Individual Maker

• Have you applied for a FORGE Fellowship before?*

  • Yes

  • No

 

Now, tell us a little about yourself. 

• What’s your full name?*

• What are your pronouns?* 

• What is the best phone number for us to contact you?* 

• What is your email address?*

• Where are you in the world? (City, State, Country)*​

[For Small Teams:]

• Who else is on your team? (Name, Pronouns)

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Now let’s go a little deeper. 

Please respond as the prospective Fellowship recipient, whether that’s you, your team, or your organization. A consistent voice on this page will help us process your application. 

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• What's your (or your team's) mission statement?* (Limit 200 words) 

  • Your mission is the heart and soul articulation of who you are as a maker. FORGE loves mission statements that offer a tiny experience of what it’s like to work with you. Tell us WHY you make here. Save WHAT you make for the next question.

• What do you make?* (Limit 200 words)​

• What does a successful Fellowship look like to you?* (Limit 200 words) 

  • The easiest way to succeed is to define success. How would you determine the success of your FORGE Fellowship?

• How do you hope a FORGE Fellowship will impact your work, life, and process? (Limit 200 words) 

  • ​When you think beyond the Fellowship, how will you be changed?

• Of the following topics, which would you be most excited to learn about? (Please select 2) 

  • Mindfulness and Making Money  

  • Finance as Narrative: Budgeting Your Values 

  • Pitching from your Power 

  • Spacemaking for Collaboration and Growth 

  • Marshaling a Mission-Driven Team

  • Who’s in Your Crowd: Community Outreach and Market Development

  • Cash Flow Plumbing: Identifying and Building Funding Streams

  • Branding for the Arts 

  • Being an Artreprenuer: Tools for Starting and Managing a Small Business 

  • Practice What You Preach: Art as Social Justice 

  • Deciding/Preparing to Become A 501c3 

  • Anti-Racist Arts: Where To Begin and How To Stay Hopeful  

  • Boundaries for Abundance: How To Thrive By Saying “No.”

 

And finally, three last confirmations and a little bonus ​

• Having reviewed the Fellowship page on the FORGE website + Fellowship FAQ + Q+A video, I feel confident I understand the details of a FORGE Fellowship, and am ready to make the commitment from January 4th through June 30th if I am selected! If you need to take another look, open here in another tab.

• I understand that the FORGE Fellowship is a six-month-long engagement bookmarked by 14 points of contact and that my attendance at all of them and active participation in between are mandatory requirements to receive this Fellowship.

• I am ready to assert my value as a maker in new ways, arrive open to creative collision, and scout my expansiveness. 

• Anything else you want to tell us? 

  • Do you think we are missing a crucial detail? Tell us about it here! It might be an incredible story, a family recipe, or a special skill you bring to the table. Lay it on us!

 

To submit an audio or video application:

Please capture an audio or video recording (no longer than 5 minutes) of you answering all of the application questions above.

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REVIEW PROCESS + Panelist Criteria

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Our selection panels consist of three (3) to five (5) professional makers and entrepreneurs –chosen for their expertise, diversity in practice and medium, and accomplishments in their field– who will read applications, attend interviews, and help make final selections. One panelist will always be a past panelist, so we can hold ourselves accountable to our own process. At least one panelist will always be a past Fellow, so we can all benefit from an insider’s perspective, and one panelist will be our pre-screener. Chie + Greg will not serve as panelists but will help coordinate and conduct interviews, as well as make the final selections.

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1. Round One: Pre-Screening

   • One panelist will review all 200 applications for completeness + cohesiveness. All applications that pass the pre-screening process will be reviewed by the full panel. 

2. Round Two: Full Panel Review

   • Panelists will be asked to consider the application text only. They will not be asked to visit additional websites or social media channels, or consider materials beyond those submitted by the applicant. However, they may bring their personal experience to the table if they have any familiarity with the applicant or their work, after disclosing this experience with the panel. Panelists will select up to thirty (30) applicants to advance to Round Three, the interview. 

3. Round Three: Interview

   • Up to thirty (30) applicants will be asked to schedule an interview over Zoom. Our group interview process is mandatory to receive a FORGE Fellowship. Interviews will be scheduled for 45 minutes each, which includes time for finalists to ask FORGE any questions they may have. The panelists and FORGE will then select up to eight (8) Fellowship recipients.

 

In Round One, the pre-screening panelist will consider the following questions: 

• Complete Application: 

  • Has the applicant answered all the questions fully? 

• Program Fit: 

  • Is the applicant asking for what FORGE is offering?

 

After pre-screening is complete, all applicants will be notified if their application is continuing to Round Two. 

 

In Round Two, panelists will consider the following criteria: 

• Compelling Application: 

  • Does the applicant present a powerful mission or approach to their work that interests and excites the panel? Does the applicant define a clear “why” and show investment in their creative work? Do you get a little taste of what it would be like to work with them?

• Cohesive Application: 

  • Does the applicant’s medium, process, and curiosity fit their mission? Do you feel a strong investment from the applicant towards their stated measures of success? Does it all make sense as one package?

• Program Fit: 

  • Will a FORGE Fellowship contribute to the maker's professional growth and career advancement? Is FORGE offering what this maker needs at this time? Is the application maker-forward (rather than project forward)? 

• Unique Perspective:

  • FORGE is seeking Fellows with diverse backgrounds, lived experiences, and modes of expression. How will the applicant’s perspective contribute to the wider cohort? 

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In Round Three, semi-finalists will be interviewed in groups of 2 - 3 by Chie, Greg, and the panelists. Here is what we will be considering::

• Active Engagement:

  • How does the applicant make space for others and take space for themselves in digital space? Is the applicant prepared and present? 

  • Was the applicant able to keep their appointment, show up on time, or communicate promptly and clearly if not?

• Cohesive Application:

  • How does the applicant’s real-time vibe relate to their voice on the page?

• Program Fit: 

  • Does the applicant need what FORGE is offering at this time? Does the applicant have the bandwidth and availability to fully participate in the Fellowship? 

• Unique Perspective:

  • How will the applicant’s perspective contribute to the wider cohort? 

 

After selections have been made, all applicants not selected will receive written feedback from the panelists, via an email from FORGE. If you wish to discuss your application, interview, or feedback, please book a free 30-minute feedback session or visit us at Fast Fuel anytime! 

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FORGE pledged to add a cash award to the FORGE Fellowship by 2024. We are proud that Fellows each receive $500 to use on their creative process as they see fit. Finalists who do not receive a Fellowship will not receive an honorarium at this time.​​​​​

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2025 SELECTION Panel 

 

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