Trailblazer Fellowship

Established in 2022, our Trailblazer Fellowship allows previous grantees who are currently in 8th - 12th grades to apply for a second grant to fund a dream or get a head start on their road to independence, college, and career.

Preview the application

  • Eligibility

    You could be eligible for a Trailblazer Fellowship if you're:

    • A previous ABF grant recipient who has completed your original ABF grant activity at the time of your application

    • A resident of Minnesota

    • In high school (8th-11th grade) in the 2026-27 school year.

      There are no citizenship requirements.

      You cannot apply if a family member is a current staff or board member of the Ann Bancroft Foundation.

  • Phase 1

    The application focuses on short-answer questions about the applicant, their grant activity, and their identified mentor. We want to hear about your bold dream and why you want to participate in the Fellowship, your experience with the initial grant from ABF, what you are proud of yourself for, your mentor and relationship, a community issue you care about, and advice you would give to your younger self.

    Applications are closed. Applications will open again in spring 2027.

  • Phase 2

    In this phase, the identified mentor will have some short-answer questions to complete about the applicant, and candidates will complete a 15-minute interview with two ABF staff members. Applicants will be asked about what they hope to gain in the fellowship experience, a time when they took a difficult action, supporting a peer, working in group settings, and strengths and growth opportunities. 

    After the interviews, the final Fellowship cohort will be selected.

Learn more about our 2025-2026 class of Trailblazer Fellows.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

As one of the few girls taking engineering electives in high school, my voice is often ignored. Now I have learned the importance of being treated as equal.
Trailblazer
When a girl has confidence, everything is possible.
Ann Bancroft
Founder & Director Emerita
At the core of our mission lies an unshakeable belief in the potential of girl-identifying youth across our state. We firmly hold that the power to create change resides within every girl, and our role is not to manufacture that power but to provide them with the tools and opportunities to harness it.
Ethelind Kaba
Executive Director