Criteria
Our criteria clarify what we seek in your application, help you assess your alignment with our values, and prepare you to demonstrate the criteria in your application.
There is neither a typical nor a prototypical Knight-Hennessy scholar. Each cohort is diverse by design; no two candidates are equally strong across all criteria, and you may demonstrate different strengths in different ways. As we evaluate and select Knight-Hennessy scholars, we look for evidence of three criteria:
1. Independence of Thought
We seek visionary thinkers who are curious, open-minded, analytical, eager for cross-cultural perspective, and genuinely excited to boldly and creatively address our world’s important challenges.
- Demonstrates intellectual ability and clear thinking
- Communicates clearly based on reflection and introspection
- Seeks out new knowledge, perspectives, and experiences
- Makes sense of ambiguous circumstances
- Generates ideas to solve problems
2. Purposeful Leadership
We seek courageous leaders who are ethical, decisive, resilient, driven to achieve meaningful results, and motivated to inspire others to effect positive change at scale.
- Achieves impactful results
- Confronts challenges with courage, persistence, and resilience
- Includes and inspires others to effect change
- Makes decisions in accordance with values
3. Civic Mindset
We seek collaborative community members who are humble, empathetic, trustworthy, oriented to act in service of others, and deeply passionate about contributing to the greater good.
- Demonstrates humility, kindness, integrity, and accountability
- Makes a habit of serving and helping others
- Thoughtful and considerate of others’ perspectives
- Embraces difference and celebrates diverse opinions and experiences
- Strives to make our world a better place
We find evidence of these selection criteria throughout your application and, if you are invited to participate, in your video statement and during the Finalist Experience. We look forward to getting to know you, including what you have done, who you are now, and what you aspire to do in the future.