Passing along this information from COLAGE about their 2009-10 Fellowship Program. Any questions, please contact them. (Info at bottom of post.)
In addition to the Fellowship below, COLAGE also awards four $1000 scholarships to children of LGBTQ parents. See their Web site for more details. The application deadline for the scholarships is May, 1, 2009, and for the Fellowship, April 17, 2009.
COLAGE Fellowship Program, 2009-2010:
Apply now to be a 2009-2010 COLAGE Fellow. The fellowship runs for 7-9 months between September 2009 and May 2010. Fellowships are full-time (35 hours per week) positions. Each fellowship focuses on a particular issue of critical importance to the COLAGE community. Ideal fellows are enthusiastic, young leaders who have an idea for a specific project that will further COLAGE’s community building and social justice mission. As a temporary member of the COLAGE staff team, fellows learn about movement building, national non-profit work including advocacy, research, community building programs, events planning, outreach, media, and leadership development. COLAGE will offer up to two fellowship positions for the 2009-2010 year.
About COLAGE:
COLAGE is a national movement of children, youth, and adults with one or more lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and/or queer (LGBTQ) parents. We build community and work toward social justice through youth empowerment, leadership development, education, and advocacy. Our national office is in San Francisco, CA and offers a unique opportunity to be part of a diverse, dynamic team.
Testimony from Monica Canfield-Lenfest, COLAGE KOT Fellow, 2007-2008. This has been a great opportunity to develop much-needed resources for people with transgender parents. When my dad started her transition ten years ago, I felt so isolated and longed for a resource for me. Thanks to this fellowship, that resource guide now exists. Doing a fellowship at COLAGE allowed me to build upon my community organizing skills and to profoundly expand the breadth of my work in the movement. During Monica’s fellowship with COLAGE, she conducted assessment with youth and adults who have one or more transgender or gender variant parents which informed the development of programs such as the KOT Online Community and resources such as the KOT Resource Guide. Monica also provided media interviews and public testimony, presented at national and regional conferences, and planned events catering to the KOT community.
What Can I Work On As a Fellow?
COLAGE’s priority focus areas include:
- Organizing and program development for COLAGErs who are transracially adopted;
- Policy work and community organizing around safe schools for students with LGBTQ parents;
- Organizing and program development for COLAGErs who were born through donor insemination;
- Resource and program development for low-income COLAGErs, families and communities;
- Projects that further our commitment to racial and economic justice.
Possible projects include:
- Assessment of a specific group of COLAGE constituents through research and evaluation;
- Development of model policies;
- Creation of resource materials;
- Organizing of a specific subset of COLAGE constituents (for example, youth who were transracially adopted) and/or through a specific medium (for example, Web 2.0 social networks);
- Mobilizing the COLAGE base to take action regarding legislative initiative/s and policy work;
- Coalition building with other organizations and individuals to seed collaborative projects;
- Creative expression and visibility resource project development.
Preferred qualifications
- Significant knowledge and/or experience with youth who have LGBTQ parents
- Outstanding interpersonal skills, ability to cultivate relationships with a variety of people; must have demonstrated cultural competence in working with diverse populations, including communities of color, adoptees, LGBTQ persons, persons of varying ages, socioeconomic backgrounds, health status and abilities;
- Commitment to diversifying organizations and building anti-racist and multicultural alliances;
- Experience working with and planning events for youth and/or families;
- Excellent oral, writing, research, listening, and organizational skills;
- Computer literate (especially on PC’s), knowledge of Office 97/2000, Salesforce, HTML, social networking, and desktop publishing programs a plus.
- Self-motivated, flexible, and full of initiative.
- People with LGBTQ parent/s.
Requirements
- Must be 18 or over.
- Undergraduate degree or equivalent life/work experience.
- Must be LGBTQ-positive.
- Must be willing to work out of our San Francisco, CA office.
COLAGE is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. People with LGBTQ parents and people of color especially encouraged to apply.
Compensation
Fellowship participants receive an hourly stipend ($11- 15) which will depend on the experience of the candidate and length of the fellowship. Benefits include holiday, sick and vacation days as well as professional development opportunities and training. This temporary position does not include health coverage.
How to Apply: Application Due Date is April 17th
Please mail, email, or fax us the following information:
1. Your resume;
2. A cover letter sharing your interest in working for COLAGE and qualifications for this fellowship;
3. A project proposal of 2 pages maximum giving an idea of what constituency or issue you would want to focus your Fellowship on and ideas you have for the project. Your proposal does not have to include a definite work plan, rather ideas about what issues, communities and projects would inspire your work as a COLAGE fellow.
Please address your application materials to COLAGE Fellowship Program. All applications and proposals are due April 17th, 2009 (postmark date).
We expect to identify our fellow by May or June 2009. The fellowship will begin as early as September 2009 and run for 7-9 months.
Need more info? Want to apply?
COLAGE, 1550 Bryant Street, Suite 830, San Francisco, CA 94103
phone: 415-861-5437 fax (415) 255-8345
meredith@colage.org www.colage.org
