FELLOWSHIPS

THE WORLD’S FIRST INTERNATIONAL FELLOWSHIP FOR ALL THOSE WORKING ACROSS THE EVENTS AND FESTIVAL INDUSTRY

CEF’s Fellowships provide a simple yet robust way to recognise your individual professional achievement, aligned to our ‘Professional Excellence Framework’ (EF-PEF) and ‘Professional Standards’.

Successful applicants are awarded the use of “post-nominal letters” across all five Fellowship “Levels” outlined below (letters after your name to indicate a professional honour by a recognised institution).

FELLOWSHIP LEVELS

  • Individuals at the start of their professional journey in events and festivals, including current students who are actively developing their knowledge of the field and early-career professionals who support day-to-day tasks that assist their team, organisation, and immediate stakeholders.

    Successful applications are awarded the post-nominal letters: CEF-AF.

  • Emerging professionals whose work is increasingly operational and occasionally strategic. They are developing a clear professional identity and specialism, demonstrating competence, reliability, and growing leadership capability. Their work creates measurable short-term value for wider audiences, and they begin to influence processes and colleagues beyond their immediate team.

    Successful applications are awarded the post-nominal letters: CEF-F.

  • Experienced professionals operating at a senior operational or strategic level, managing complexity and delivering medium- to long-term outcomes. They are recognised as experts and mentors within their organisations or networks, critically evaluating information to inform decision-making and practice. Their work demonstrates sustained impact across multiple projects, programmes, or organisations.

    Successful applications are awarded the post-nominal letters: CEF-SF.

  • Leaders with significant strategic and systems-level responsibility who influence the direction of the industry at a national level. They shape policy, professional standards, and innovation, creating long-term value and measurable impact on national systems or standards. Their work involves complex stakeholder engagement, evidence-based decision-making, and cross-sector leadership.

    Successful applications are awarded the post-nominal letters: CEF-NF.

  • Global leaders whose work is fully strategic, complex, and transformational in scope. They advance the events and festivals profession internationally through thought leadership, research, and cross-border collaboration. Their work shapes global standards, policies, and practices, creating enduring value for the profession and society at large.

    Successful applications are awarded the post-nominal letters: CEF-IF.

TAKE OUR QUICK QUIZ TO FIND YOUR FELLOWSHIP LEVEL

TAKE THE QUIZ AND GET YOUR SCORE!
Total Score Indicative Fellowship Level
30–54 Associate Fellow (AF)
55–84 Fellow (F)
85–109 Senior Fellow (SF)
110–129 National Fellow (NF)
130–150 International Fellow (IF)

APPLY TO BECOME A FELLOW

ASSOCIATE FELLOW

FELLOW

SENIOR FELLOW

NATIONAL FELLOW

INTERNATIONAL FELLOW

DOWNLOAD THE APPLICATION guide
APPLY ONLINE

CEF FELLOWSHIP PROCESS - STEP BY STEP

Step 1 - Take the Fellowship Quiz to indicate what Fellowship you might be.

Step 2 - Review the ‘Professional Standards’ to get a detailed understanding of what we are looking for at each level.

Step 3 - Read through the 'Use of Evidence to Support Fellowship Applications’ section on the Fellowships page.

Step 4 - Download the Application Guide, which provides all the fields you need to complete for the official online application.

Step 5 - Gather everything you need, then apply online.

Step 6 - Your application will take 10 working days to review and evaluate, and you will receive one of the following decisions:

- ‘Approve’: you will be immediately awarded the Fellowship level, complete with an official digital certificate, badge to share via networks, and the legal use of post-nominal letters for your fellowship level.

- ‘Amend’: you are required to make content and/or level amendments, and we will reevaluate your application, before making an accept decision.

All Fellowship applications must be supported by robust, well-structured evidence that substantiates the applicant’s claims and demonstrates clear alignment with the Professional Standards and Fellowship criteria. Evidence should combine both quantitative and qualitative materials to provide a comprehensive picture of professional competence, impact, and progression. Examples include:

·       Quantitative data – measurable indicators such as KPIs, performance metrics, evaluation results, project budgets, audience or participant figures, funding secured, resource efficiencies, or sustainability outcomes.

·       Qualitative narratives – reflective accounts, personal statements, peer or stakeholder testimonials, case studies, evaluation summaries, or examples of lessons learned that demonstrate depth of understanding and professional growth.

·       Supporting documentation or artefacts – professional outputs such as project plans, reports, research publications, evaluation frameworks, presentations, press or media coverage, event collateral, or evidence of accreditation or certification.

·       Professional examples of policy and practice – evidence showing leadership, innovation, collaboration, and sectoral impact, such as contributions to organisational change, industry standards, national programmes, or international initiatives.

·       External recognition – awards, citations, invitations to speak, advisory roles, or appointments that acknowledge professional standing and influence.

Together, these forms of evidence enable applicants to demonstrate their capability, credibility, and impact across the event lifecycle and to provide a transparent and verifiable basis for Fellowship assessment.

USE OF EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT FELLOWSHIP APPLICATIONS

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs)

  • CEF Fellowships are a professional recognition system aligned to CEF’s Professional Excellence Framework (EF-PEF) and Professional Standards. They recognise individual achievement across professional practice (what people do and deliver) and professional values (how people act, lead, and influence).

  • There are five levels:

    • Associate Fellow (AF): early-career/student; supports day-to-day delivery and development

    • Fellow (F): emerging professional; increasingly operational leadership and some strategic contribution

    • Senior Fellow (SF): established leader; manages complexity and delivers sustained outcomes

    • National Fellow (NF): national-level leader; shapes policy, standards, or innovation nationally

    • International Fellow (IF): global leader; shapes international standards, practice, and discourse

  • Successful applicants may use:

    • CEF–AF

    • CEF–F

    • CEF–SF

    • CEF–NF

    • CEF–IF

    These are professional distinctions, not academic qualifications.

  • Eligibility is based on whether an applicant can evidence alignment to the Professional Practice Map (across the event lifecycle) and the Professional Values Map (seven values domains), at the level they are applying for. The framework is designed to be relevant across diverse roles, event types, and contexts.

  • CEF Fellowship recognises professionals working across the full events and festivals ecosystem, including (but not limited to) event owners, organisers, agencies, venues, local authorities, suppliers, consultants, freelancers, academics, and sector leaders. Eligibility is determined by professional contribution and impact, not job title or employment type.

  • Yes. The framework is intentionally sector-agnostic and applies equally to sport, cultural, business, community, and hybrid events. Applicants should focus on evidencing how their work aligns with the Professional Practice Map and Values Map, regardless of sectoral boundaries.

  • Applicants should use the Fellowship Diagnostic Quiz to self-assess and identify an indicative level. They should then review the level descriptors to confirm their scope, autonomy, complexity, influence, and impact match the intended level.

    Example: Someone who leads multi-partner delivery and embeds evaluation across programmes is more likely to align with SF than F.

  • No fixed thresholds apply. While indicative experience ranges are provided for guidance, Fellowship level is determined by scope, complexity, influence, and impact, not time served.

    Example: A professional with fewer years’ experience but national-level influence may be eligible for NF.

  • CEF maintains a Register of Fellows. Fellowship status can be verified via the register or by confirmation from the CEF Secretariat. Only individuals in good standing may use post-nominal letters.

  • Impact is understood as the scale, reach, and durability of professional contribution:

    • AF/F: team, project, or organisational impact

    • SF: organisational, multi-project, or regional impact

    • NF: national systems, policy, or sectoral impact

    • IF: international standards, collaboration, or global discourse

    Applicants should make this scaling explicit in their evidence.

  • The diagnostic quiz is a self-reflection tool, not an assessment. Applicants should use it as guidance and then review the detailed Fellowship descriptors. Where there is a mismatch, applicants should apply for the level that best aligns with their evidence and demonstrated impact.

  • It assesses capability across the event lifecycle phases:

    • Strategising & Bidding

    • Planning

    • Delivering

    • Evaluating

    • Legacy (“golden thread”)

    Progression reflects a shift from contributing to tasks (AF) to shaping systems, standards, and strategy (NF/IF).

    • Respect, Equity + Inclusion

    • Innovation, Curiosity + Creativity

    • Collaborative + Collective Responsibility

    • Leadership, Adaptability, Agility + Resilience

    • Evidence-Based Learning + Continuous Improvement

    At higher levels, expectations move from “demonstrating” values to embedding and shaping culture, standards, and practice.

    • Artefacts (plans, reports, evaluation frameworks, publications, presentations, media coverage)

    • Recognition (awards, advisory roles, speaking invitations)

  • Evidence is expected in two main sections:

    • Evidence against each lifecycle phase (role, outcomes, supporting evidence)

    • Evidence against each values domain (practice examples, supporting evidence)

    A short summary (max 300 words) should also explain the overall quantitative and qualitative evidence set.

  • External endorsements are not required for Associate Fellow.
    For other levels, applicants may include up to two endorsements (max 250 words each) from peers/supervisors/partners who can validate impact, leadership, and professional standing.

  • AF, F, and SF applications are reviewed and approved by a trained CEF Assessor, using the standards-based scoring system (practice + values).

  • NF and IF follow a two-stage process:

    • Stage 1: provisional review by a trained CEF Assessor

    • Stage 2: final review and ratification by an Expert Panel composed of existing National and International Fellows

  • Assessment uses two parts:

    • Professional Practice Map: one overall score (7 to 35) based on the dominant level of practice

    • Professional Values Map: seven items scored (1 to 5 each), total 7 to 35

    These combine into a total out of 70.

  • Two measures are used:

    Primary: Overall Percentage Score (OPS)

    • 0–36%: AF

    • 37–56%: F

    • 57–72%: SF

    • 73–86%: NF

    • 87–100%: IF

    Secondary: Raw total score (out of 70)

    • 7–14: AF

    • 15–28: F

    • 29–42: SF

    • 43–56: NF

    • 57–70: IF

    Awards are confirmed when the applicant aligns with a single level across both measures and meets performance floors.

  • The framework identifies common patterns such as:

    • Strong practice evidence but weak values evidence (or vice versa)

    • Insufficient recency (majority of evidence older than 5 years)

    • Impact is predominantly local when applying for NF/IF

    • Limited triangulation (claims not supported by data/artefacts)

  • Applicants receive one overall practice score for the level at which their professional practice is most dominant. This allows specialists (e.g., evaluation leads, delivery directors, planners) to be assessed fairly alongside those working across multiple phases.

  • All applicants receive structured feedback including:

    • A summary of performance against Practice Map and Values Map

    • Strengths and development areas

    • A concise gap analysis aligned to the next level descriptors

    • Suggestions for progression planning, supported by a CEF Professional Development Plan (PDP)

  • Yes. Fellowship is designed as a progressive framework. Fellows are encouraged to reapply when their role, influence, and impact align with a higher level, using feedback and progression planning as guidance.

  • Successful applicants receive:

    • An official digital certificate

    • A digital badge (shareable on LinkedIn, email signatures, websites)

    • Use the designation exactly as issued (e.g., CEF–SF)

    • Use is permitted on professional materials (CV, bios, email signature, profiles)

    • Must not be used to imply institutional or political affiliation, or for commercial endorsement

    • Continued use requires being “in good standing” (including ethics, CPD requirements, and renewal obligations)

  • CEF maintains a public Register of Fellows for verification.
    Misuse (or use while not in good standing) may lead to suspension or withdrawal of the right to use post-nominals, including where:

    • Fellowship lapses/expires/resignation occurs

    • There is professional misconduct

    • Evidence was false or misleading

    • CPD/ethical/membership obligations are not met

    In such cases, the individual must remove the designation from public/professional materials.

  • Systems-level leadership refers to influencing structures beyond individual projects, such as policy, funding models, governance frameworks, professional standards, or sector capability. This is particularly relevant at NF and IF levels.

  • Robust evidence is:

    • Relevant to the claimed Fellowship level

    • Clearly linked to outcomes and impact

    • Supported by more than one source (triangulated)

    • Recent (normally within the last five years)

    Weak evidence typically relies on assertion without corroboration.

  • The majority of evidence should normally fall within the last five years. Earlier career achievements may be referenced for context but should not form the core of the assessment unless they continue to shape current systems or practice.

  • Yes. Applicants may request a review where there is evidence of procedural error or misapplication of standards.

  • Applicants may provide redacted documents, summaries, or reflective narratives supported by non-sensitive corroboration (e.g. public outcomes, evaluation findings, or endorsements). Assessors are trained to handle sensitive material appropriately.

  • CEF uses trained assessors, standardised scoring frameworks, calibration processes, and (for NF/IF) expert panels. Conflicts of interest are actively managed to ensure fairness, transparency, and consistency.