Social Change Fellowship Applications Open for our 2025 Cohort
What is the Social Change Fellowship?
Leadership for Democracy and Social Justice is pleased to launch the 2025 Social Change Fellowship. This year-long program begins in January of 2025 and concludes in December 2025.
The Social Change Fellowship is for passionate CUNY undergraduate students who seek training and support to become leaders for social change. Fellows might be interested in any social justice issue – everything from racial justice to climate justice; LGBTQ+ rights to labor rights; economic inequality to reproductive freedom. The fellowship will provide intensive in-person training and special courses, professional development, mentoring, stipends, and paid internships. Applicants must be CUNY undergraduate students who will be either Sophomores, Juniors, or Lower Seniors in the Spring 2025 semester.
Final Application Deadline: October 15, 2024
Program Design:
The Social Change Fellowship will provide special in-person training in the forms of day long retreats. The retreats will be monthly and held on Saturdays for the Spring 2025 semester. In the summer, fellows will have an opportunity to dedicate their time to a paid internship and gain experience by working at one of our partner organizations. Monthly Saturday day long retreats will resume with the start of the Fall 2024 semester. Instructors for the retreats are seasoned social justice leaders and practitioners in the field with years of experience in the work.
Fellows are required to take two academic courses, one in Spring 2025 and Fall 2025. Each course will count for 3 credit bearing courses throughout their time in the fellowship (6 credits in total). The courses will be in person at The City College of New York (CCNY). If you are not a CCNY student and are selected to be part of this fellowship program you must go through the ePermit process and adhere to all the guidelines and deadlines to successfully register for the required course for the Spring of 2025 and again for the Fall of 2025.
The options for the academic courses are as follows
Spring 2025 - Social Change in U.S. History - Wednesdays 2:00 pm-4:30 pm (Spring 2024) - in person at The City College of New York.
Fall 2025 - Fellows will have an option take one of the following seminar courses:
Option 1
Option 2
*Fall 2025 courses day and times: CUNY has not finalized the Fall academic 2025 calendar however anticipate that the course times for these courses will be during the day throughout the school week and in person around the same time as the Spring course, this is tentative. Please note that both academic courses are credit bearing and fellows will receive credit for taking the course in the Spring 2025 (3 credits) and Fall 2025 (3 credits).If you are interested in the Social Change Fellowship make sure to keep these class times open when it comes to registering for your courses for the Spring 2025 and Fall 2025 semesters.
Fellowship Orientation - Exact location: TBD, but in New York on Thursday, January 16, 2025
2025 retreats - Exact location: TBD, but in New York, NY.
Saturday and Sunday, February 8 - 9, 2025 - Retreat Opening Weekend
Saturday, March 8, 2025
Saturday, April 12, 2025
Saturday, May 10, 2025
Saturday, May 31, 2025
Saturday, July 19, 2025
Saturday, September 13, 2025
Saturday, October 18, 2025
Saturday and Sunday, November 8-9, 2025 - Closing of the retreats
Paid Internship: A paid, full-time (32 hrs/week) 10 -week internship in the Summer of 2024 with a host partner organization focused on social justice work. There will be monthly virtual touch points that are to be scheduled closer to the start of the internship.
Mentorship and Career Coaching from our Career Empowerment Mentors. With experience in racial justice, immigrant rights, education reform and LGTBQ rights, to name a few, the career empowerment mentors will ensure Social Change Fellows have access to the resources they need to thrive in the field of social justice and movement building.
Career Development Services: Access to a suite of career development workshops facilitated by a cadre of trainers who center equity and liberatory practices.
Alumni Services: Participants will have access to and be part of a growing alumni network. Leadership for Democracy and Social Justice aims to have ongoing and robust engagement with alumni through private platforms, events, and ongoing programming throughout their careers.
Fellows will receive up to $1,000 stipend in both the Spring 2024 and Fall 2024 semesters, and a $6,250 stipend for the 10-week summer internship, dependent on program attendance and participation. All components of the fellowship listed above are mandatory. LDSJ will cover fellows’ tuition costs for the required year-long course for both semesters if they do not receive financial aid to cover the required course.
Join an Info Session to learn more about the Social Change Fellowship
We are hosting virtual information sessions for potential applicants on:
Can’t make it to either session? Please reach out to Ricardo for any questions or concerns
Ideal candidates for the Social Change Fellowship are:
Current undergraduate CUNY student (full time or part time) who is interested in social justice but is unsure where to start.
Have limited experience but want to develop a career in a field of social justice. Experience can include volunteering, working or organizing in movements or organizations.
Interested in social justice issues such as: labor, racial justice, climate justice, gender justice, LGBTQ+ rights, health, economic inequality, among others.
Looking to get hands-on work experience in the social justice field through a paid internship.
Experienced working within social justice movements or organizations, whether as a volunteer or activist or in a paid position, and want to know more about pursuing this as a career pathway.
Able to fully commit to ALL components of the fellowship
Eligibility and Requirements:
Must be a current undergraduate CUNY student who will be either a Sophomore, Junior, or Lower Senior when the fellowship starts in the Spring semester of 2024 with a minimum of 2.5 GPA (we do not take into consideration your GPA as part of our selection process)
Can be either a full time or part time student but must be able to take one of the required year long courses which lasts through the Spring and Fall semesters for the fellowship. Please note that through this fellowship you will receive credit for both semesters for the year-long course. The course will be in person at The City College of New York (CCNY).
If you are not a CCNY student and are selected to be part of this fellowship program you must go through the ePermit process and adhere to all the guidelines and deadlines to successfully register for the required course for the Spring of 2025 and again for the Fall of 2025.
Must attend all in person retreats (dates listed above).
Must be available to participate in a paid, full-time (32 hrs/week) 10-week internship in the Summer of 2025.
Must be available to attend other Career Empowerment workshops and a number of one on one meetings with instructors and staff throughout the course of the Fellowship.
You can be a Social Change Fellow regardless of immigration status.
LDSJ will only cover up to $866.25 per semester for the cost of the required courses needed for the fellowship if you do not receive Financial Aid or private scholarships that cover your tuition in full.
Application Process:
Applicants selected for interviews will be notified via email. Interviews will be held via Zoom in _________ . Any applicant selected for an interview must submit a form indicating their organization’s support for their participation in the program by ___________. Invitations to join the cohort will be sent via email in early November.
*Please note that these dates are subject to change, and we will communicate with applicants in the event that any of the above dates change.
“I have learned so much about the tools I have to impact my and my organization’s
sustainability. I also realized how much power I have to influence these practices within my organization.”
“I came into this fellowship doubting my leadership and was focusing my time on improving the infrastructure and operations of the organization without the connection to organizing, power
and strategy. I feel better prepared and confident in bringing this back to my organization.”