Application Deadline: May 15 2015
The Open Society Youth Fellowship supports young activists and organizers as thought leaders and allies in crafting solutions and new youth-focused approaches to open society challenges.
Youth Fellows should take advantage of the considerable intellectual and logistical resources of the Open Society Foundations and expect to contribute meaningfully to the Foundations’ thinking in return. While fellows will work outside of Open Society Foundations core offices, they will liaise with the Open Society Youth Exchange to identify opportunities for both in-person and virtual engagement with Open Society staff and partners.
The Youth Exchange will work with each individual fellow to identify additional opportunities for the fellow to learn from and collaborate with staff and partners through site visits, speaking engagements, and other fora.
- All applicants should be under the age of 30.
- While the Open Society will consider applicants who are currently employed by a civil society organization or university, they will request additional information to confirm that the individual is acting on their own in regards to their proposed project, and that their current employer is flexible with their independent role as a Youth Fellow.
- The Youth Exchange accepts proposals from anywhere in the world, with a particular interest in proposals from the global south.
- Applicants should possess a deep understanding of their particular field and a record of successful movement-building initiatives, innovative project management experience, and/or experience in research/tools development.
- Applicants must be proficient in spoken English.
Fellowship applications should relate to at least one of the following areas of work:
- youth mobilization and innovation in traditional human rights movements (i.e., the LGBTQ rights movement, disability rights, women’s rights, drug policy reform, etc.)
- youth participation and civic engagement particularly around elections
- youth-led movements
- youth-led work in the field of justice (for example, policing, pretrial detention, incarcerated youth, or alternative sentencing)
- youth tactics in advocacy and awareness raising (for example new media, arts activism, peer-to-peer networks, etc.) around human rights issues
- youth in closed or transitional societies
- Fellows will receive a stipend of $35,000–50,000 depending on experience and current income
- . The fellowship will also cover some travel and project costs related to the fellows’ work to be discussed.
Selection and Notification Cycle
- Applications due: May 15, 2015
- Applications review: May/June 2015
- Applicants notified of their status: late June 2015
- Short-listed applicants invited for an in-person, Skype, or telephone interview: by July 1, 2015
- Fellows notified: late July 2015
- Fellows announced: early August 2015
- All interested applicants should complete the online application form and submit supporting materials for consideration.
- Applicants may submit a project proposal or other materials in a language other than English, as long as they also submit an English translation.
- Certified translations are strongly recommended.
- Download the Application Guideline
For More Information:
E-Mail: youth.exchange@opensocietyfoundations.org
Visit the Official Webpage of the Open Society Youth Fellowship 2015