Sponsors may support a maximum of two (2) applicants per year. Fellows must be in good standing as outlined in the Academy bylaws (see Article III: Section 7 for full details) to be eligible to sponsor an applicant. Dues for the current year (2025) must be paid to sponsor an applicant. Please note that Fellows who have not met this requirement will not appear to the applicant as an eligible sponsor to select within the application portal. It is important to make sure that the Academy has your most up-to-date email address on file. Should you have questions about your dues or email address on file, please contact Claire Holland at cholland@aannet.org. 

Please note, the changes to the Sponsor requirements below were approved by the Academy Board of Directors in August 2023: 

At least one sponsor must be a Regular Fellow who, according to Academy bylaws, holds membership in an American Nurses Association (ANA) Constituent/State Nurses Association (C/SNA) as a full C/SNA ANA member or direct ANA membership through the individual member division of ANA. 

A maximum of one sponsor may be a Regular Fellow who is member of a National Nurses Associations (NNA) that is listed as a member organization of the International Council of Nurses (ICN), if applicable. Should the Sponsor reside in a country without ICN membership exceptions can be made on case by case basis.

Additionally, according to the Academy’s bylaws, Honorary Fellows and Fellows currently serving on the Fellow Selection Committee may not sponsor applicants. And applicants may not be sponsored by members of the Academy’s Board of Directors.

It is the responsibility of both sponsors to:

• Only support individuals they believe are truly ready for Fellowship.
• Work collaboratively with the applicant and other sponsor to assure coherence and completeness of the application.
• Know the candidate's work well enough to speak to the candidate's contributions so as to enhance the Fellow Selection Committee's understanding of the candidate.
• Assure that remarks of both sponsors substantiate the candidate's contributions so as to advocate for and advance the application.
• State the capacity in which they have known the candidate and how long they have known them. Note: The Academy blinds the sponsor information to eliminate possible unconscious bias in the review process. In drafting your sponsor statements, please refrain from including personal information that would identify yourself such as titles, roles, or identifying data.
• Comment on their unique contributions as well as the impact or the potential impact of those contributions.

Applicants are responsible for inputting your sponsor statement into the application portal. Sponsors will need to collaborate with the applicant to share their statement, this can be facilitated via email, Microsoft Word, Google docs, etc. Each sponsor should address the following in their statement: 

• Please verify and amplify the applicant's statement, citing evidence of significant and sustained contributions and the impact or potential impact of those contributions. Consider the Criteria for Selection of Fellows in your statement, basing your comments on their professional background and how they can help advance the mission of the Academy (500-word limit). 

Sponsors are required to review and sign their Sponsor Statement in order for the applicant to complete their submission. This is the same process as in prior years, however, the procedure for sign off is required through the Academy's application portal.

The applicant will enter in their sponsor statements on behalf of the sponsors and select their sponsor names within the application portal. This will populate the sponsors’ email addresses and the applicant is able to easily click a button to send a request for the sponsor to check their sponsor statement. The sponsor will receive an automated email message to their email address on file with the Academy, which will include a link for sponsors to securely review and sign their statement. Sponsors will be able to view their statement, the applicant’s statements and the other sponsor’s statement by clicking the secure link within the sponsor request email message. Sponsors will not be able to edit the statement on this secure webpage, this is a “read-only” view. Should the sponsor need to make any edits, as in year’s past, they will need to work directly with the applicant to make those changes prior to submission. 

The sponsor request email message will be sent from “American Academy of Nursing” (AANinfo@aannet.org) with the subject line: “<Applicant Full Name> has Requested you Review and Verify your Statement for their 2025 Fellowship Application”. Within the email, click on the link that says, click here to review and sign your statement, which will take you to a secure webpage where you can do a final read through of your statement. You will then electronically sign your statement. Scroll to the bottom of the page to click “Save.” Note that the applicant cannot submit their application for review until you complete this step. Should you not receive the request to review and sign your statement, the applicant can resend the request and the Academy staff can also assist. 

Additional information, including sponsor exemplars, is provided in the Fellowship Application Guide and Instructions.

Please contact Claire Holland, Member Engagement Manager, at cholland@aannet.org, with questions or for assistance.