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Seeking future leaders

Are you a young Christian professional between the ages of 25 – 34?

Seeking answers to questions of faith, vocation, leadership, and public life

You’re in the right place. 

Apply Today

Equipping emerging leaders for vocation and public life.

Would you leap at the opportunity to be mentored, connect with fellow emerging leaders, and engage questions that will guide the rest of your career?

Cardus NextGEN Fellows Program is offering a year-long fellowship that seeks to equip emerging leaders with the resources they need to excel in their own spheres of influence.

Apply Today

Icon vocation

A vocation is more than a job. What is your calling?

Icon leadership

An open and ordered world needs leaders.Where are you called to serve and lead?

Icon faith

Understanding the world as God’s creation changes everything. What is your part in God’s plan for a more flourishing world?

Icon public life

Faith, leadership, and vocation are building blocks of a more just and equitable society for all. Where are you called to engage?

NextGEN Program Features

The Cardus NextGEN Fellows Program provides a supportive learning community for young leaders to develop their spiritual and intellectual growth.

  • All-expense paid travel across Canada + a stipend of $1,000
  • Exclusive sessions with leading Christian academics and authors
  • One-on-one mentorship & a curriculum of readings for a year
  • Connections with fellow emerging leaders

What to Expect?

Every group of Fellows takes part in a one-week seminar in Ottawa which focuses on the Christian perspective on social and political matters, and they also attend four weekends in various locations across Canada, in addition to regular Zoom Connects with guest speakers to chat about vocation, leadership, faith, public life, and public policy.

Program Overview

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Meet the Recent Fellows

Each year, twelve young, Canadian, Christian leaders are selected to join the NextGEN Fellows Program. NextGen is a year-long, leadership development opportunity for those aged 25 – 34 created and run by think tank Cardus. The NextGEN fellows will explore the relevance and resources of the Christian faith for their vocations and for public life today.

Current CohortPast Alumni

Next GEN 2022 23 alumni

Applications are Open!

The Fellowship year runs from May to March. The year includes four weekend-long events, one week-long seminar in Ottawa, and monthly Zoom Connects.

Fellows also arrange to meet once a month with their mentors via phone, Zoom, or in person.

Applications are being received now for the 2025 – 26 class with a deadline of April 30, 2025. The NextGEN Fellowship is open to Canadian residents, ages 25 – 34 (as of April 30, 2025), who can commit to the year-long participation requirements of the Fellowship program.

Important Dates

Schedule for 2024 – 2025

Applicants will need to be able to commit to the following schedule in addition to virtual gatherings. Complete schedule →

  • NextGEN Weekend 1: July 12 – 13, 2024 in Hamilton, ON
  • Cardus NextGEN September Seminar: September 15 – 21, 2024 in Ottawa, ON
  • NextGEN Weekend 2: November 8 – 9, 2024 in Calgary, AB
  • NextGEN Weekend 3: January 17 – 18, 2025 in Vancouver, BC
  • NextGEN Weekend 4: March 21 – 22, 2025 in Halifax, NS

Past Speakers & Faculty

Each year, NextGEN fellows attend talks and participate in exclusive sessions with a variety of leading Christian academics and authors.

Natasha Robinson

Natasha Sistrunk Robinson

Author, A Sojourner’s Truth: Choosing Freedom and Courage in a Divided World

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Leonie Herx

Associate Professor and Division Chair, Palliative Medicine, Queen’s University School of Medicine

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Fr. Deacon Andrew Bennett

Director, Cardus Religious Freedom Institute

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Jonathan Chaplin

Author, Faith in Democracy: Framing a Politics of Deep Diversity (2021)

Vince Bacote

Vincent Bacote

Director, Center for Applied Christian Ethics, Wheaton College

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Janet Buckingham

Author, Fighting Over God: A Legal and Political History of Religious Freedom in Canada

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Brian Bird

Assistant Professor, Peter A. Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia

04 15 21 Ashley Berner

Ashley Berner

Director, Institute for Education Policy, John Hopkins University

04 14 21 Derek Schuurman

Derek Schuurman

Author, Shaping a Digital World: Faith, Culture, and Computer Technology

Rob Joustra

Robert Joustra

Associate Professor, Politics and International Studies, Redeemer University

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Ellen Roderick

Co-Director, Diocesan Centre for Marriage, Life and the Family (Archdiocese of Montréal)

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Elizabeth Oldfield

Director, Theos (UK)

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Peter Jon Mitchell

Program Director, Cardus Family

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Andrea Mrozek

Senior Fellow, Cardus Family

Jessica Joustra

Jessica Joustra

Co-editor (with Robert Joustra) of Calvinism for a Secular Age: A Twenty-First Century Reading of Abraham Kuyper’s Stone Lectures (2021)

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Matthew Kaemingk

Author, Christian Hospitality and Muslim Immigration in an Age of Fear; Scholar-in-Residence, Max De Pree Center for Christian Leadership

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Albertos Polizogopoulos

Partner, The Acacia Group, Constitutional and Religious Freedom Litigation
(† May 2024)

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Ray Pennings

Executive Vice President, Cardus

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Brian Dijkema

President — Canada, Cardus

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Katherine Leary Alsdorf

Founder, Redeemer Center for Faith and Work

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Michael Van Pelt

Chief Executive Officer, Cardus