CFM Foresight Scholarship Application

The American Alliance of Museums will award the CFM Foresight Scholarship to support participation in the University of Houston's Foresight Certificate program on August 10-14, 2026. The 5-day, project-based, face-to-face program covers the basics of understanding, mapping, and influencing the future using a combination of lectures and small-group exercises. The scholarship covers tuition, housing, and a $1,100 stipend to cover travel and per diem.

Please complete and submit this form by 11:59pm ET on Friday, May 29, 2026, if you would like to be considered for the scholarship. All application decisions will be announced by Friday, June 19.

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants must:

• Currently work in a museum of any kind (using AAM’s broad definition that includes zoos, botanical gardens, art centers, historic houses, etc.), a museum-related business, or an ally institution (see below). If you are an independent consultant, a majority of your work must be with museums.
• Be a mid-career professional, having worked in the museum sector for 6 - 20 years.
• Be an individual member of the Alliance, or employee of a member organization: museum, industry partner, or ally (museum service organizations, professional training programs, colleges/universities, government agencies and other nonprofit organizations that work for the success of museums.).
• Be able to commit to the full certificate program, including all required pre-work, the full 5-day program, and completion of the post-program assignment.
• Commit to being involved in CFM projects, for example, writing about your experience in the course, subsequent project, and experiences implementing the training at their organization; serving as an advisor to future initiatives.
• Reside in the United States.

Please prepare an essay to attach to this application, no longer than 500 words, addressing the following questions:

• How do you anticipate applying what you learn in the course to your work? 
• What are three trends you think will deeply impact the work of museums in the coming decade?

Please note: All essays submitted must be original to the author. Submissions may not be generated by artificial intelligence. If the submission has been substantively assisted by artificial intelligence (including large language models or similar technologies), the applicant must disclose this use and provide appropriate attribution within the work. Failure to do so will result in the scholarship review committee rejecting the application.

Please solicit a letter of support (one page max)

• If you work in a museum, business, or ally organization, this letter should be from a leader in your organization. If you are the CEO/director of a nonprofit, this can be from someone on your board of trustees. The letter should recommend you as an applicant and explain how the organization would make use of the knowledge you gain in this training.
• If you are a consultant, this letter should come from a recent museum client or colleague. This letter should recommend you as an applicant and explain how their organization might benefit from your ability to incorporate foresight into the services you provide.