Apply for Our Inaugural MFH Creator Fellowship

Investing in Missourians who are building community and telling important stories across the internet.

Missouri Foundation for Health is launching a six-month paid fellowship for Missouri-based content creators who want to dig deeper into the issues shaping life in their communities and share what they learn with a broader audience. From August 2026 through January 2027, fellows will receive a monthly stipend, expert training, and a built-in community of creators working toward the same goal: helping Missourians understand and advocate for the resources and services that everyone needs to live healthy and thriving lives. That includes topics such as access to food, health care, affordable housing, good jobs, safe communities, and clean air and water. It also could be related to structural barriers like racism and discrimination, which impact health and well-being in deep ways.

This is an opportunity to grow your skills, connect with leaders and advocates across Missouri, and contribute to a statewide conversation that deserves more of the spotlight.

Who Are We Looking For? We’re looking for Missouri-based creators who bring both passion and purpose to the table. If you’re producing original content through social media, videos, podcasts, or other platforms and your work touches on (or could start to feature) what people in your community need to live full, healthy lives, this fellowship is for you.

We are interested in a diverse set of perspectives and content approaches. People from across industries and expertise areas are encouraged to apply, like journalists, artists, filmmakers, stay-at-home parents, chefs, farmers, teachers, social workers, mental health professionals, medical providers, community advocates, youth advocates, sports and fitness experts, and many more.

Strong Candidates Will:

  • Have a personal or professional connection to the issues shaping health and well-being in Missouri. This could mean lived experience with health inequities, work as a community advocate, or simply a demonstrated commitment to telling stories that matter to your community.
  • Produce consistent, authentic content that resonates with their audience(s). We’re looking for creators whose followers engage, comment, and share.
  • Show engagement with and understanding of their audience. We care more about genuine connections than follower counts. Creators with smaller but highly engaged audiences are just as welcome as those with larger followings.
  • Demonstrate a commitment to growing their platform and their impact over time.
  • Bring a distinctive voice or perspective that adds something to the conversation about what Missourians need to thrive.

We’re committed to building a cohort that reflects the full diversity of Missouri. This includes creators with current or past experience in a variety of industries and areas of expertise, and creators of different ages and backgrounds from across the state.

What Fellows Receive:

  • A spot in the inaugural MFH Creator Fellowship
  • $2,500/month stipend for six months, recognizing that creating quality content takes real time, skill, and commitment
  • Monthly expert training sessions covering important topics that affect all Missourians and content creation skills-building
  • Access to our community of fellow creators and connection to MFH partner organizations and community leaders
  • In-person gathering with the full creator cohort and MFH leadership at MFH’s campus in St. Louis (travel and lodging costs covered)

As a Fellow, You’ll:

  • Create and share each month about the issues shaping health and well-being in Missouri and grow your audience and impact in the process
  • Contribute to a growing statewide conversation about what Missourians need to live healthy, thriving lives in cities, suburbs, and rural communities alike
  • Participate in monthly 90-minute to two-hour virtual training sessions
  • Engage with the creator community between sessions
  • Attend one in-person gathering with the cohort at MFH’s campus in St. Louis

APPLY NOW

Applications close on July 3. We’re looking forward to hearing from you.

For questions about the fellowship, please contact creators@mffh.org.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Six fellows will be selected for this inaugural year.

This fellowship is focused on the things we know people need to live healthy, full lives and the barriers that get in the way. That includes topics such as access to food, health care, affordable housing, good jobs, safe communities, and clean air and water. It also could be related to structural barriers like racism and discrimination. If your content explores, even tangentially, what communities across Missouri need to thrive, you should consider applying.

Not necessarily. Some of the most powerful storytelling about community wellbeing comes from creators whose primary focus is food, culture, environment, parenting, local community, etc. If your work touches on the factors that shape whether people in Missouri can live healthy, thriving lives and you’re interested in learning more, we want to hear from you.

Fellows should expect to spend roughly 10 to 15 hours per month on fellowship activities. This includes creating and posting content regularly, attending a monthly training session (90 minutes to two hours), and staying engaged in the online creator community. The fellowship is designed to fit alongside your existing work, not replace it.

We’re committed to building a cohort that reflects the full diversity of Missouri. Our goal is to bring together creators who will both benefit from and contribute to the fellowship, building a dynamic group eager to learn from one another and make an impact across the state.

Monthly training sessions will focus on two areas: the issues shaping community health in Missouri and creator skills. On the issues side, sessions will cover topics like maternal health, rural health care access, racial justice, mental health, food and nutrition, environmental health, and the broader systems and policies that shape whether people can stay healthy. On the creator skills side, sessions will address topics like content planning, platform strategy, ethical AI use, storytelling, and sustaining your work without burning out. Trainers will include MFH staff and network partners, community advocates, researchers, and national experts.

We’re looking for creators who bring both passion and purpose to the table. Strong applicants will:

  • Have a personal or professional connection to the issues shaping health and wellbeing in Missouri
  • Produce consistent, authentic content that resonates with their community
  • Show real engagement with their audience. We care more about genuine connection than follower count
  • Demonstrate a commitment to growing their platform and their impact
  • Bring a distinctive voice or perspective that adds something to the conversation about what Missourians need to thrive

All fellows must be at least 18 years old.