APA Congressional Fellowship

Fellows spend one year working on the staff of a member of Congress or congressional committee. Activities may involve drafting legislation, conducting oversight work, assisting with congressional hearings and events, and preparing briefs and speeches. Fellows also attend a two-week orientation program on congressional and executive branch operations, which provides guidance for the congressional placement process, and participate in a yearlong seminar series on science and public policy issues. The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) administers these professional development activities for the APA fellows and for fellows sponsored by over two dozen other professional societies.

APA will sponsor a congressional fellow for a one-year appointment beginning approximately August 30, 2027. The APA fellowship is open to all full APA members. Stipend for this fellowship is $93,750. In addition, the fellowship provides reimbursement for health insurance coverage and a $3,500 stipend for professional development.

To learn more about the fellowship experience please watch the 2021 presentation video:

APA Convention Fellowship Presentation 2021opens in new window

For questions, contact Ben Vonachen, APA Advocacy Office.

A prospective fellow must:

• Demonstrate excellence in scientific and/or professional psychology.
• Demonstrate knowledge of policy issues.
• Have a strong interest in applying psychological knowledge to the solution of societal challenges.
• Be able to work quickly and communicate effectively on a wide variety of topics and be able to work cooperatively with individuals with diverse viewpoints.
• Commit to working full-time in an in-person office environment in Washington, D.C. with a schedule to be determined by their respective congressional office placement. Fellows may not pursue concurrent professional employment or volunteer opportunities that conflict with the schedules set by their congressional office placements.

An applicant must:

• Have a doctorate in psychology (from an APA accredited doctoral program and internship, if in the area of professional psychology) or related field by the application deadline.
• Be a psychologist, a member of APA (or applicant for membership), and a U.S. citizen.

A special exception is made for current psychology interns who may apply with certification from the director of training in their doctoral program that they have met all but the internship requirement for their doctoral degree by the application deadline.

Applicants may also simultaneously apply for APA’s Goldman Congressional Fellowship, Springfield LGBTQIA+ Congressional Fellowship, and Executive Branch Science Fellowship.

A complete application must include the following:

• A completed online application: Submitting the application will require uploading and submitting the following materials electronically:
  1. Detailed curriculum vita providing information about educational background, professional employment and activities, professional publications and presentations, public policy and legislative experience, and committee and advisory group appointments;
  2. Statement of approximately 1,000 words addressing the applicant's interests in the fellowship, career goals, and what the applicant can contribute to and learn from the fellowship experience; 
  3. A letter of recommendation to be uploaded and submitted by a recommender: Letters should specifically address the applicant’s ability to serve successfully on Capitol Hill as a congressional fellow. Applicants are responsible for forwarding the recommendation submission form to their recommenders.

For more information about the fellowship, please contact: Ben Vonachen, Congressional Fellowship Advocacy Office.

Current fellows

2025-26

Natalie Anumba, PhD, ABPP, is a 2025-26 APA/AAAS Congressional Fellow. She is working in the office of U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) on the Health and Disability Policy team. She is a licensed and board-certified forensic psychologist who has worked in outpatient, correctional, courthouse, academic, and hospital settings to provide mental health evaluations, violence risk assessment, and expert witness testimony. As co-director of the Law and Psychiatry Program at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, she engages in mentoring, clinical supervision and education, leadership in professional societies, and public education.

Molly Below, PhD, MPH, is the 2025-26 Springfield LGBTQIA+ Congressional Fellow, a position funded by the American Psychological Foundation for psychologists with an interest in LGBTQIA+ health and civil rights policy. She is working as a health policy fellow in the office of Senator Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts). Just prior to entering fellowship, Molly ran a private practice while completing a master of public health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Before this she worked in the VA Boston Healthcare System for a decade. There she worked in residential and outpatient settings treating substance use and co-occurring disorders and addressing social issues such as homelessness. Her most recent role at VA was as program manager for the TRUST House, an all-women’s CWT/TR focused on assisting female-identifying Veterans in their mental health recovery and transition into housing, employment, and social support networks. She earned her doctoral degree at the University of South Florida in Tampa. She is a past co-chair of the Psychologists in Public Service (APA Division 18) Policy and Advocacy Committee.

A large focus of Molly’s work at VA was on integration of social support and services with mental health treatment. Her transition from the VA toward policy was inspired by recognition of social and structural barriers to health that exist for low income and minoritized groups and limitations of mental health care in this context. Molly has a strong interest in social policies that impact health and well-being across the lifespan with a goal of improving health equity for marginalized groups. She is committed to taking public health and human rights approaches to her work, hoping to promote solutions that improve well-being for all and prioritize the needs of those at greatest risk of poor mental health outcomes.

Rubi Gonzales, PhD, is a 2025–26 APA/AAAS Congressional Fellow working in the office of Congresswoman Summer Lee (D-Pennsylvania-12). Gonzales is a dedicated leader committed to advancing equity, driving policy reform, and creating systemic change. As a scholar and advocate, she is passionate about translating research into real-world impact, and she regularly engages with the media to ensure her work informs public conversations and reaches the communities it is meant to serve.

Before beginning her fellowship, Gonzales was a T32 postdoctoral fellow at Washington University in St Louis School of Medicine. She also served as a policy fellow with the American Civil Liberties Union, where she helped develop a toolkit to support students affected by the school-to-prison pipeline in Missouri and contributed to legislative efforts that expanded expungement opportunities for more than 500,000 Missourians. She has served as vice chair of the Grants and Finance Committee at the National Science Policy Network, chaired the Mentoring Committee for the First-Generation Executive Council at Washington University in St Louis, and currently serves on the Early Career Psychologist Committee at the American Psychological Foundation. In addition, she is certified in conflict mediation and has received diplomacy training through the Meridian International Center. Gonzales’s work is driven by a deep commitment to advancing equity and confronting structural inequities at their roots. She leads efforts to build more just communities, bridge research and policy to shape impactful solutions, and empower others to lead transformative social change.

Steven W. Kasparek, PhD, is the 2025–26 Jacquelin Goldman Congressional Fellow, a program funded by the American Psychological Foundation that supports psychologists in applying their expertise in child development to bridge psychological science and federal policymaking. Steven is serving in the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance with the Democratic Health Team, which is led by Ranking Member, Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon). In this role, Steven supports legislative and oversight efforts for major federal healthcare programs—Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and the Affordable Care Act—as well as prescription drug pricing, telehealth, mental health, and reproductive health.

Steven joined the fellowship shortly after earning his doctorate in clinical psychology from Harvard University and completing his predoctoral residency at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. His research, supported by the NIH, NSF, and the American Psychological Foundation, among others, investigates how early-life stress alters brain, social, and emotional development, shaping risk and resilience for mental and behavioral health problems. He has authored more than 20 peer-reviewed articles in leading scientific journals, presented widely at national and international conferences, and received numerous honors and awards for his scholarship and advocacy. Clinically, he has trained across the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, Massachusetts General Hospital, McLean Hospital, and Boston University’s Child Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders, conducting assessments and delivering gold-standard interventions for youth and adults with PTSD, anxiety, substance use disorders, and mood disorders, among others. Steven has also applied data science to evaluate healthcare policy, inform product strategy, and derive user analytics in industry settings. As an educator and advocate, he has taught evidence-based stress management courses at Harvard, cofounded national equity initiatives to support underrepresented students in higher education, and continues to integrate research, clinical expertise, and policy engagement to advance equitable mental health care.

Former fellows

2024–25

• Erica Eisenman, PsyD, Jacquelin Goldman Congressional fellow
  Representative Jennifer McClellan (D-Virginia)
• Mary A. Fernandes, PhD, APA/AAAS Congressional fellow
  Senator Tina Smith (D-Minnesota)
• Aaron D. Hunt, PhD, Springfield LGBTQIA+ Congressional fellow
  Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Illinois)

2023-24

• Tiffany Chenneville, PhD, Springfield LGBTQIA+ Congressional fellow
  Senator Ron Wyden, D-Oregon
• Janice Lepore, PsyD, Jacquelin Goldman Congressional fellow
  Senate Committee on Finance
• Agnes M. Varghese, PhD, APA Congressional fellow
  Representative Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Delaware

2022–23

• Malcolm Woodland, PhD, Jaquelin Goldman Congressional fellow
  Representative Federica Wilson, D-Florida
• Erika Fountain, PhD, Congressional fellow
  Senator Ron Wyden, D-Oregon

2021–22

• Erika Felix, PhD, Congressional Goldman fellow
  Senate Special Committee on Aging
• Shahana Koslofsky, PhD, Congressional fellow
  Representative Robin Kelly, D-Illinois