The FAO Schwarz Fellowship at 826 Boston
Boston, Massachusetts
826 Boston is a nonprofit writing, tutoring, and publishing organization where students in grades K-12 and beyond can share their stories, amplify their voices, and develop as leaders in school and in life.
APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED.
About the Fellowship Positions
This year, 826 Boston will host two Fellows in different roles in the Boston location. Each position is unique.
Interested candidates may apply to one or both of these positions.
The FAO Schwarz Fellow (Publishing)
The FAO Schwarz Fellow (Publishing) ย will provide individualized writing support across 826 Boston’s programs and develop processes and tools to provide more students with access to 826 Bostonโs publishing program and expand the program’s array of print and digital publications.
Direct Service
The Fellow will provide individualized writing support across 826 Boston’s programs and develop processes and tools to provide more students with access to 826 Bostonโs publishing program and expand the program’s array of print and digital publications.
The Fellow will provide individualized writing support across 826 Bostonโs programs by:
- Working with K-12 students to brainstorm, draft, and revise their pieces for publication, ensuring studentsโ authentic voices are centered throughout the writing process. Projects focus on a range of genres and topics, such as personal narrative, creative short story, identity-based poetry, and more.
- Facilitating a program-based student editorial board, a paid student leadership opportunity, to drive the creative direction of book projects.
- Building on their publication management work by supporting (year one) and leading (year two) a program-based publishing project. The Fellow will assist with writing workshops, facilitating the student editorial board, spearheading the book making process, including an opportunity to showcase student work.
Strategic Project
The FAO Schwarz Fellow will develop processes and tools to provide more students with access to 826 Bostonโs publication program and to expand the array of 826 Bostonโs print and digital publications. The Fellow will:
- Expand the reach of student voices across the city, creating more opportunities for students to authentically share their stories through in-person and digital platforms. The Fellow will explore multimedia opportunities for collaboration between 826 Boston and other community organizations. In the second year, the Fellow will focus on fostering new and existing relationships, while strengthening neighborhood connections.
- Collaborate with the Publishing Manager on the production of the Young Authorsโ Book Project. The Fellow will engage key stakeholdersโcommunity partners, designers, copyeditors, photographers, and moreโin developing an original and creative publication.
- Collaborate with the Publishing Manager to maintain a multimedia catalog of publishing resources, helping 826 Boston teams produce publications with deeper student engagement. Lead the development of additional resources, as to be determined by program need.
The FAO Schwarz Fellow (Data & Evaluation)
The FAO Schwarz Fellow (Data & Evaluation) will provide individualized writing support across 826 Boston’s programs and enhance and expand the suite of program assessment tools utilized by 826 Boston to more meaningfully measure how studentsโ skills develop during their tenure in 826 Boston’s programs and and increase the organizationโs ability to communicate its impact.ย
Direct Service
- Work with K-12 students to strengthen their academic writing assignments, ensuring students meet project requirements as outlined by their classroom teachers. Projects span all content areas, from humanities to STEM.
- Work with K-12 students to brainstorm, draft, and revise their writing for publication and personal creative projects, ensuring studentsโ authentic voices are centered throughout the writing process. Projects focus on a range of genres and topics, such as personal narrative, creative short story, identity-based poetry, and more.
- Develop (year one) and lead (year two) workshops focused on the competencies measured through the annual 826 National Writing Assessment to strengthen existing and add new tools to studentsโ writing toolkit.
Strategic Project
The 826 Boston Data and Evaluation FAO Schwarz Fellow will enhance and expand the suite of program assessment tools utilized by 826 Boston to more meaningfully measure how studentsโ writing, creative-self expression, and leadership skills develop during their tenure in our programs; add to a culture of continuous growth and learning among program staff; and increase our ability to communicate our impact to external audiences.ย
- Manage all program engagement data utilizing the cloud-based software Salesforce, ensuring accuracy and usability.
- Implement the annual 826 National Writing Assessment, a matched pre/post timed writing evaluation administered to over 500 students across all 826 Boston in-school and out-of-school programs.
- Collaborate with the Senior Director of Impact on executing years two and three of the multi-year, alumni-focused mixed-methods outcome study, which will evaluate the longer-term outcomes defined in 826 Bostonโs Intended Impact and Theory of Change: that students gain the tools they need to pursue future education and employment opportunities of their choosing and serve as leaders within their communities.
- During year two, develop and lead training modules for new and tenured program staff to increase fidelity of data collection processes, use of program outcome measurement tools across sites, and understanding of how to utilize data to improve student outcomes.
LOCATION: Boston, MA
WEBSITE: 826boston.org
FOUNDED: ย 2007
STAFF: 40
Applications are now closed.
HOW TO APPLY
Applicants must be college seniors at accredited four-year colleges or universities at the time of application and be eligible to work in the United States for the duration of the two-year Fellowship.
You may apply for more than one Fellowship. Consider the details of each Fellowship described below when you begin your application.ย
For more about what we are seeking, visit the application overview at this link.
The deadline to apply is February 1, 2026, at 9:00 pm ET. Host organizations will select applicants for interviews and make their decisions by the end of April 2026. Fellowships begin in the summer of 2026.
Learn more about 826 Boston by visiting their website.
A Closer Look
About 826 Boston
ABOUT US
826 Boston is a nonprofit writing, tutoring, and publishing organization where students in grades K-12 and beyond can share their stories, amplify their voices, and develop as leaders in school and in life. Our services are structured around the understanding that great leaps in learning can happen with individualized attention and that strong writing skills are fundamental to future success. With this understanding in mind, we provide after-school tutoring, field trips, creative writing workshops, in-school Writersโ Rooms, college essay assistance, help for English Language Learners, and in-depth publishing projects. Each of our free programs seeks to empower students to express their ideas effectively, creatively, confidently, and in their individual voices.
LEADERSHIP
826 Boston is led by a senior management team of four. Executive Director Corey Yarbrough brings 15 years of social justice and education leadership to 826 Boston, including experience as a school administrator. He obtained a certification from the Massachusetts Institute for Community Health Leadership with a focus on racial equity in public health. 826 Bostonโs board of 16 is led by an executive committee of five. The board meets quarterly as a body and more often as committees.ย
GOALS
Our goals for the next three years include doubling the number of Writersโ Rooms in Boston Public Schools and growing by more than 30% to serve more than 5,000 students by FY29.ย
Impact
Our Impact
OUR REACH
For the 2024-2025 school year, we served more than 3,800 students through high-dosage programs and provided more than 24,000 hours of tutoring and writing support to students in Boston Public Schools.
RESEARCH
From 2016-2020, 826 Boston engaged in an external, mixed-methods process and outcome study of the Writersโ Room program. The study was conducted in partnership with Northeastern Universityโs Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy, and sought to answer the question of whether students who frequently participated in the Writersโ Room program developed stronger academic writing skills and increased confidence in their writing.
That study demonstrated a positive effect of the Writersโ Room over the four years a student attended the host school, as well as a higher positive effect in those students who received more programming hours. The majority of students started with negative perceptions of writing in 9th gradeโonly 24% thought of themselves as writers. However, by 12th grade, the majority of students (53%) identified themselves as writersโa 30% gain over four years.ย
A QUALITATIVE PERSPECTIVE
The study provided the springboard to qualitative research and information-gathering at the Writersโ Rooms in Boston and in San Francisco. The collected work created the basis for the Hearst Foundation-funded Writersโ Room Impact Guide, which now serves as a model for other cities considering implementing a Writersโ Room model.
OUTCOMES
Through annual end-of-program surveys, 826 Boston measures program outcomes based on feedback collected from teachers and students. Based on data collected from the 2024-2025 school year:
- 94% of students felt their thoughts and opinions were valued when working with 826 Boston
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- 100% of teachers believeย 826 Bostonโs Writersโ Rooms supported curriculum and instructional goals
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- 95% of teachers note that students were more confident with their writing
- 94% of students felt their thoughts and opinions were valued when working with 826 Boston
Further, 826 Boston utilizes an annual writing assessment, developed in partnership with 826 National and The National Writing Project. This matches pre- and post-writing sample assessment measures studentsโ writing proficiency along six domains (content, structure, voice, sentence fluency, diction, conventions) and creative expression along three domains (originality, elaboration, appropriateness).
During the 2024-2025 school year, 93% of students of students who participated in the writing assessment demonstrated gains across one or more measured competencies.
Policies
NONDISCRIMINATION POLICY
All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.ย ย
826 Boston provides reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities at every stage of the application process. Disclosing a disability or requesting a need for accommodations is a separate process from admissions and will have absolutely no bearing on a candidateโs application status. 826 Boston will make every effort to meet your request, but specific requests are not guaranteed. If you need to request an accommodation, please contact Director of Program Supports, Catherine Gomez, at Catherine@826boston.org.
Compensation & Benefits
COMPENSATION
Fellows who start their Fellowship during the summer of 2026 will receive total compensation of approximately $110,000 (Boston & New York) plus benefits over the two-year Fellowship.
+ $52,000 in year one (includes $2,000 start of Fellowship bonus)
+ $58,000 in year two (includes $3,000 end of Fellowship bonus)
+ Entry-level benefits from the host organization
+ Professional development & leadership training
BENEFITS
- Health insurance
- Dental insurance
- Vision insurance
- Paid time off
- Paid sick leave
- Retirement plan
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For general questions about compensation, please see the Fellowship FAQ.ย
Typical Work Schedule
Both the Publishing and Data and Evaluation FAO Schwarz Fellows will work Monday through Friday, selecting from one of the following three eight-hour schedules:
- 8:00 AM – 4:00 PM
- 8:30 AM – 4:30 PM
- 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
FAO Schwarz Fellows will work at least two days in person from their designated office spaces, increasing to three or four days when necessary to complete tasks associated with their direct service and/or special projects.ย