Subject: Social Activism, Juvenile Justice, Civic Engagement
Deadline: Dec. 6, 2017 (letters of intent)
“The Soros Justice Youth Activist Fellowships, in partnership with Open Society’s Youth Exchange, will support outstanding individuals aged 18 to 25 to take on projects of their own design that address some aspect of the U.S. criminal justice system. Projects can range from public education and training, to grassroots organizing and policy advocacy, to social media campaigns and other forms of creative communications. Youth Activist Fellowships must be undertaken in partnership with a host organization.
We will consider projects that focus on one or more of our broad criminal justice reform goals: reducing the number of people who are incarcerated or under correctional control, challenging extreme punishment, and promoting fairness in our systems of justice in the United States. Whether it’s efforts to hold the police more accountable, to end the punishment and harsh treatment of youth who come into conflict with the law, to dismantle the barriers that people face following a period of incarceration, or to challenge harsh and punitive responses to drug use, there are countless ways to advance these broad goals.
However, we don’t have a defined list of topics or issues that we’ll consider. Instead, we expect applicants themselves to make the case that their projects have the potential to make an important contribution to a particular issue or in a particular place. In this way, the fellowships are designed to be flexible and open—a space for projects that build effectively on work that has come before, explore new and creative ways of doing things, take risks, offer new insights and perspectives on what we thought we knew, and teach us about what we don’t know but should.”
Funder: Open Society Foundations
Eligibility: “The Youth Activist Fellowship is likely a good fit for a range of people at different points in their activist lives, including but not limited to: people just entering the field following post-secondary education; people both working and attending college part-time; people who’ve had some relevant volunteer or internship experience; and people joining the activist world after some other type of life experience (e.g. post-incarceration). However, the ideal candidate will be someone who isn’t already deeply entrenched in a particular body of activist work or obviously in a leadership pipeline or on a clear path to further achievement and accomplishment. And while we don’t have a rigid cut off, in terms of the number of years of experience or types of experiences that would make someone “too experienced” for the Youth Activist Fellowships, those with more than two (2) years of full-time experience as an activist or advocate, as well as those who have completed or are soon to complete graduate school, are unlikely to be well suited for this fellowship. Applicants must be between the ages of 18 – 25.”
Amount: $52,500+
Contact: Link.
