02/21/2017
Fellowship opportunity from CoFED (Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive):
APPLICATION HERE: http://www.cofed.coop/racial_justice_fellowship
Basic Background
Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive, or CoFED, is a national network and training program that supports students to develop food cooperatives on college and university campuses. We are seeking applicants for our inaugural Racial Justice Fellowship, created for young people (age 18-30) who practice transformative leadership to innovate and impact racial justice and community ownership in the food system. We define transformative leadership as the power of individuals to practice self-awareness, (un)learning, and antioppression in community with others to achieve collective liberation. Anyone can apply, and priority will be given to applicants who are people of color, Native, working class, LGBTQ2S, people with disabilities, immigrants, formerly incarcerated, people with dependents, women and returning students.
Fellowship Project
We invite applicants to propose Fellowship Projects that advance racial justice and community ownership in the food system. All forms of expression are welcome, and there is no one “type” of project we are looking for. To build a community owned food system, it’ll take everyone with each of our unique gifts and talents. We need folx who can bring people together and folx who can balance budgets, folx who can dream big and folx who can sweat the small details. We need creatives, artists, healers, storytellers, strategists, researchers, entrepreneurs and more to make magic. That’s why we operate from a place of love for people and are looking to support Fellows to express who they are through their Fellowship Projects. For example, if you’re a photographer, you might propose taking photos for a workerled food justice campaign; if you’re a chef, you might propose hosting weekly dinners where you and your guests cook with ingredients grown by local farmers of color. Fellowship Projects must be completed within 10 weeks in the summer of 2017. Exact start and end dates are up to the Fellow.
Fellowship Award
Fellows receive:
$5,000 stipend
Full scholarship to Summer Co-op Academy* (worth an estimated $2,000) that includes:
Transportation to and from Academy location
All housing, food, and transportation during the Academy
Leadership coaching
Technical assistance
Networking opportunities
The project stipend will be paid in 4 installments over the project period.
*CoFED’s Summer Co-op Academy (SCA) is a weeklong cooperative business boot camp for collective liberation and transformation. Fellows must be available to attend SCA, Aug 7-13, 2017 at the Highlander Center in New Market, TN. At SCA, Fellows are invited to share their project and also learn/teach business tools and concepts, including the business model canvas.
Fellowship Timeline
*All dates are in 2017
Feb 1 Applications open
March 15 Applications due
April 1 Invitations to interview sent out
April 15 Fellowship notifications sent out
Summer Fellows begin their projects
Aug 7-13 Fellows attend Summer Co-op Academy
Sep 1 Fellows write a project reflection for CoFED’s blog
Selection Process
CoFED’s Co-Directors will select 2 Fellows based on applicants’ commitment to and vision for racial justice and community ownership in the food system. All applications will be considered carefully, with some applicants invited to interview and submit letters of support. If you are not invited to interview or selected, we’d be happy to provide feedback upon request.
Application Process
To apply, please answer the questions below in a word document no more than 2 pages long. The word document should include your name and contact information clearly stated at the top. Email your application with subject line “Racial Justice Fellowship” to [email protected]. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Who are you? What do you want us to know when reviewing your application? If you prefer, you can answer this question in any medium, for example, poems, photos or links to videos, music, websites, dances or other things you’ve created. 200 words max.
Why do you want to be a CoFED Racial Justice Fellow? 300 words max.
Please describe your proposed Fellowship Project. How would your project impact racial justice and community ownership in the food system? 300 words max.
What does racial justice and community ownership in the food system mean to you? 300 words max.
How would this fellowship help you build and practice transformative leadership? 200 words max
We support Fellows to drive projects that advance racial justice and community ownership in the food system.
