This opportunity is intended for leaders with a proven track record of accomplishment and influence in their field, and for whom a Bellagio residency will accelerate progress on an important project.
Strong applicants will be forward-looking with a history of advancing breakthrough ideas or actions. They should be curious, collegial, and collaborative—open to giving and receiving feedback from fellow residents.
We recommend reviewing the residency program Expression of Interest and application before you take the pre-application questionnaire to familiarize yourself with the questions and better understand what is required of applicants.
For additional information, see the Application Rules & Guidelines and the Evaluation Rubric.
Eligibility criteria are set forth in Section 2.A of the Residency Program Terms & Conditions. They include that officials of the United States government as defined by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, individuals who have had a residency at the Bellagio Center within the last five years, individuals who have had two prior residencies at the Bellagio Center, and related parties of The Rockefeller Foundation are not eligible to apply.
Individuals who have applied in the past but were not selected for a residency may apply again. For more information on eligibility, please see the Application Rules & Guidelines and Residency Program Terms & Conditions.
Officials of the United States government are not eligible for a residency. Former employees of the United States government may be eligible, subject to review by the Rockefeller Foundation's legal team. Non-U.S. citizens employed by a foreign government may be eligible, subject to review by the Rockefeller Foundation’s legal team.
Returning applicants are welcome to reapply. We strongly encourage you to submit an updated application.
Former residents must wait at least five years before applying. Individuals may not be awarded more than two residencies in their lifetime.
There is not a specific level of seniority or years of work experience required for the residency. However, given the importance of demonstrating significant professional accomplishment and influence in one’s field, applicants with ten or more years in their field tend to be more competitive than applicants who are at an earlier stage in their career.
The Rockefeller Foundation releases an annual open call for residency applications. If you would like to be notified when the next open call for residency applications begins, sign up here and be sure to check the Foundation’s website for updates.
All residency projects must satisfy the requirements for charitability set by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, which include such things as provision of relief to the poor, advancement of education or science, preservation of the natural environment, or promotion of social welfare.
Guidance around charitable purpose is provided in Section 4 of Application Rules & Guidelines and on the Residency Program Terms & Conditions. When presenting your project, please be sure to clearly articulate your project’s charitable purpose, including who will benefit from the project and how that benefit will be accomplished through your work.
Books and literary projects may be offered for sale, but the resident should be the author and retain the intellectual property rights to the manuscript as an author. Projects solely for the commercial benefit of a for-profit organization and owned by that organization are not eligible.
The writer or filmmaker can generally receive royalties for their work, provided that they retain ownership of the intellectual property they generate and that the material they produce is publicly released. If films or other media projects are planned for commercial distribution, we will ask the creators to explain how production and dissemination of the project would not be possible without support through the residency. The content must be educational, add value to public knowledge regarding the issues addressed in the work, and include considerations, ideas or other concepts that go beyond what is being currently published in mainstream media. The Foundation may also require a plan for public dissemination that ensures the piece is accessible to a target audience or the general public at low or no cost.
The creation of art can itself have a charitable purpose, and we welcome residents who are applying to improve or enhance their literary, artistic, musical, scientific, or teaching talents. You do not need to sell your work and donate to charity to satisfy the charitable criteria, but we expect you to share your art with a broad audience for their education.
Projects cannot have a primary purpose of generating profit or providing a for-profit company with a service or benefit. Every project must result in a public benefit that outweighs any private benefit, so the charitable impact of the work must result in a benefit to a disadvantaged group or other charitable outcome that outweighs an incidental commercial benefit. When presenting your project, please make sure that you are clearly articulating the direct and significant charitable benefit of the work you will be doing, including who will benefit from the project, and how that benefit will be accomplished through your work.
Projects that build upon existing programs from an applicant’s place of employment are allowed. However, if the applicant works for a for-profit company, the project must be independent from the duties of the paid job function and have an independent charitable purpose.
Each applicant can only submit one Expression of Interest and – if invited – one application. Applicants will be invited based upon the proposal outlined in their Expression of Interest; applicants must thus focus on the same project across both stages of the process.
The Bellagio Residency Program accepts applications from teams of two people working on a collaborative project. When applying as team, please adhere to these guidelines.
Applicants must have a specific project they want to advance during the four-week residency.
Projects should be bold and compelling, with significant positive social impact and breakthrough potential. Projects can include scholarly research, applied practice, or a work of art. There should be a specific output or deliverable that is meaningfully advanced during the residency period and likely to be highly influential. Projects should be timely and well-suited to benefit from the unique cross-cultural, cross-disciplinary environment of the Bellagio residency. Please visit The Rockefeller Foundation’s website for more details on the projects and themes of most interest for the 2026 open call.
Note that projects that require access to specialized equipment, offsite excursions off the grounds, or access to research libraries are not a good fit for this program. Residents must bring any materials needed for their project with them to the Bellagio Center.
Please be sure to review the full Residency Program Terms & Conditions and the Evaluation Rubric for more information on how projects will be evaluated.
Applicants must select one of the following project types that best describes their residency project:
For information about our themes, visit the Rockefeller Foundation website. As part of the Expression of Interest, you will be asked to select one theme that best aligns with your project. If your project relates to more than one theme, select the one that is the strongest fit. If your project does not favor one theme more than another, select General Open Call. You may also describe how your project relates to more than one theme in your Expression of Interest.
Depending on your responses to the pre-application questionnaire, you may receive a results screen with an invitation to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) for the residency. Please save the results screen at the end of the questionnaire for reference (print to PDF) and also bookmark the URL you receive.
We recommend reviewing the residency program Expression of Interest and application before you take the pre-application questionnaire to fully understand what is required of those who are encouraged to submit an Expression of Interest, and those who are invited to submit a full application.
For all EOI-related questions, please email bellagioapplicant@rockfound.org and note: Access to the Expression of Interest form should not be shared with other potential applicants – only those who are deemed eligible through the pre-application questionnaire are allowed to complete the EOI.
If you do not receive an invitation to submit an EOI, your responses indicated you are not a good fit for the program at this time.
The application includes narrative questions where you will be asked to describe your professional background, your proposed project, and its intended social impact. Invited applicants must also submit a brief video and curriculum vitae or resume.
These deadlines are firm – we strongly encourage invited applicants to register and begin your online application as soon as possible – and at the latest by Thursday, May 29, 2025 – to allow yourself time to respond to all the requirements and address any technical issues that may arise.
Expressions of Interest (EOI) will be evaluated according to the following four core criteria: (1) Expertise and Influence, (2) Clarity, (3) Thematic and Strategic Alignment with The Rockefeller Foundation, (4) Impact.
The Rockefeller Foundation will review EOIs and a selection of candidates will be invited to submit a full application. Applications will undergo an administrative review for completeness and compliance with the application requirements. Applications that pass administrative review will move to our Expert Panel for evaluation.
We strongly recommend reviewing the Evaluation Rubric before you apply. The Expert Panel will evaluate your application on the following criteria: (1) Impact; (2) Clarity; (3) Expertise; and (4) Influence.
Based on the results of the expert panel review, a subset of applicants will be invited to interview with The Rockefeller Foundation staff and will be given instructions on how to collect references from the two individuals identified in their application. The expert panel will conduct their work over the summer and we anticipate sending interview requests in September 2025. Interviews will be conducted through a video conference call.
All applicants will receive an update on the status of their application in the fall. Applicants who are selected for a residency will be notified before the end of the year.
Please review the Timeline for more information.
Due to the high volume of applications received, we cannot provide feedback on any individual application.
Please review Section 6 of the Application Rules & Guidelines (also section 8 of the Residency Program Terms & Conditions) for additional information on intellectual property.
Each application should reflect the anticipated ownership, use, and licensing of any Intellectual Property Rights. The use and licensing of intellectual property rights of the applicants who are selected for the Residency Program will be subject to the terms of the Resident’s Agreement. By applying for the Residency Program, you represent and warrant that all of your application content constitute original work created solely by you, that you own all intellectual property rights in and to all of the application content, and that no other party has any right, title, claim or interest in any of the application content, except as expressly identified by you to us in writing in your application.
Please see Section 5 of the Application Rules & Guidelines (also Section 3.B of the Residency Program Terms & Conditions) for video requirements. The video is an opportunity for you to introduce yourself and your project vision in a manner that is different from the written narrative. It will not be evaluated for production quality but will be considered alongside the written narrative when applying the evaluation rubric. You’ll note that no element of the rubric refers specifically to the video. Reviewers will be asked to consider your application in its entirety when applying the dimensions, so the video is just one component of your overall submission.
Each application must include a brief video of no more than 90 seconds that introduces you, your project, and why now is the ideal time for a Bellagio residency. Your video should not be professionally produced – an informal video created on a smartphone is expected.
Here are the video guidelines and instructions to upload your video to YouTube.
After the selection process concludes and you have been notified of your application status, we recommend deleting your video or changing the video setting to private in YouTube.
For those who need technical support, you can contact us.
Please see Section 5 of the Application Rules & Guidelines (also Section 3.C of the Residency Program Terms & Conditions) for CV requirements. Each application must include a CV or resume of no more than five pages that follows these guidelines.
Please see Section 5 of the Application Rules & Guidelines (also Section 3.D of the Residency Program Terms & Conditions) for reference requirements. Names and affiliations for two references must be submitted as part of the application (see Section E. Other Materials). References should be individuals familiar with the applicant’s work and capable of providing insights into the merits of the proposed residency project.
Please note that references will not be contacted until the interview stage. If selected for an interview, applicants will be asked to submit two references. Applicants selected for interview can also notify us at that time if there are changes with the references.
All applications and accompanying materials must be submitted in English. If your CV or resume is fully translated into English, it is fine to leave organization names and other items that have no direct translation in the original language. This provides consistency across all entries during our evaluation process and reduces the risk of misinterpretation or translation errors. You may leave organization names and other items that have no direct translation in the original language. Please note that projects conducted in languages other than English are allowed; however, applicants must be able to speak about their project in English, which is the common language of the program.
Projects that are not in English are allowed. However, applicants must be able to speak about their project in English, which is the common language of the Bellagio Center and Residency program.
We understand that projects may shift and evolve over time. If you are selected for a residency and your project outputs or other key project components have changed, you must inform the Bellagio program staff and they will evaluate whether the changes are acceptable.
If you are accepted for the Residency Program, you retain all right, title and interest in any inventions, software, works of authorship or other Intellectual Property Rights you develop, invent, create, or acquire during your participation in the Residency Program remains with you, subject as may be set forth in the Resident’s Agreement between you and The Rockefeller Foundation.
For all questions regarding the Expression of Interest (EOI), email bellagioapplicant@rockfound.org.
All residencies are four weeks to ensure consistency across each cohort. Applicants who progress to the interview stage will be invited to indicate which dates are preferable for their potential residency. While we do our best to accommodate individual date preferences, the Bellagio Center has limited capacity each month and residency dates will be assigned based on Bellagio Center availability.
Residents can bring a spouse or partner to join them for all or part of their residency. We are not able to accommodate children, other family members, or friends. Note the program does not pay for spouse or partner travel.
If awarded a residency, you will receive four weeks of room and board at the Bellagio Center in Lake Como, Italy. This includes meals, a private studio for working, access to laundry facilities, and ground transportation to/from the Center upon arrival and departure. Travel funding to and from your home country is also available. Residents can also bring a spouse or partner to join them for all or part of their residency. Note the program does not pay for spouse or partner travel.
English is the official language of the program. Many residents speak multiple languages but are encouraged to speak English as the common language to help facilitate community interaction and engagement.
All applicants who are accepted into the Residency Program shall enter into a Resident’s Agreement directly with The Rockefeller Foundation.
The two programs are quite different. The residency program is designed to support individual leaders to advance a specific project during their four-week stay. As part of the residency, individual residents also participate in a vibrant community with fellow residents.
Convenings are typically five days long and can accommodate groups of up to 22 participants. They are led by a convening organizer and designed to achieve a goal that requires the coming together of a specific group of stakeholders. Convening applications are available on The Rockefeller Foundation website starting in mid to late spring each year. To be alerted when convening applications become available, sign up here.
Please visit our website to learn more about the Foundation’s focus areas and grants program.
