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A Year that Shapes You For Life

Discover what’s possible when passion meets purpose. As a Bezos Scholar, you’ll gain the tools, mentorship, and inspiration to turn bold ideas into lasting impact and step into a legacy of leadership.

Join a Global Cohort of Changemakers

As a Bezos Scholar, you belong to a cohort of fellow dreamers and doers. Each year, students and educators from across the US and Africa come together to learn, grow, and make lifetime connections.

The Journey At a Glance

  • Apply: Students and their nominated educators begin the journey by submitting an application that highlights their leadership, passion, and potential.
  • Selection & Onboarding: The Selection Committee reviews applications, and selected Scholars are announced to the public.
  • Aspen Trip: Scholars and educators kick off the year with an immersive week at the Aspen Ideas Festival, meeting global leaders and dreaming about ways to make a change in a beautiful setting nestled in the mountains.
  • Training: Scholars meet virtually to build skills in leadership, collaboration, and project design while strengthening the cohort community.
  • Project Launch: Each Scholar team develops and launches a Community Change Project that addresses a need in their community with support and seed funding.
  • Alum: After the program year, Scholars join our global network of alum who continue to mentor, collaborate, and meaningfully contribute to society.

Being a Bezos Scholar gave me the courage to believe in myself and my ideas. It’s powerful to know the program supports young people and that there are people who truly believe in me and my work.

Joel Baraka
2016 Scholar

Gain a Global Perspective

Since 2011, a team of Bezos Scholars is selected each year from the Africa Leadership Academy (ALA) in South Africa. This partnership deepens the Scholar experience, fostering cross-cultural collaboration, leadership development, and lasting connections among young changemakers.


The 2025 ALA Scholars

Elevate Your Point of View in Aspen

The Bezos Scholars year kicks off in June with an all-expenses-paid trip to the Aspen Ideas Festival. At 8,000 feet above sea level, Scholars participate in seven action-packed days of workshops and experiences, including Scholar-exclusive trainings with some of the most provocative writers, artists, entrepreneurs and leaders shaping the world today.

Stories about the Scholar experience in Aspen

Abundance in Aspen

Six Scholars and Educators reflect on a transformative week in Aspen—where courage, connection, and curiosity shaped their perspectives and inspired lasting change.
Read More

Learning by Doing: Community Change Projects

Community Change Projects are core to the Scholar experience and part of what sets this leadership experience apart. Every Bezos Scholar implements a project to raise awareness and mobilize action to address a need in their hometown. Scholars build a youth-led team to support their project. Projects are designed with sustainability in mind; many past projects still operate today.

See all Community Change Projects

Applications Are Now Closed

Applications for the 2026 Bezos Scholars Program are now closed. Meet the 2026 Scholars and explore the young leaders and educators driving change in their communities.