Deadline: 1-Dec-21
The Urban Justice Center (UJC) is inviting applications for Social Justice Accelerator (SJA) to shepherd new and early-stage social justice organizations through the challenges of developing a well-functioning operation, by bringing them into the UJC community, where they will be mentored by expert leaders in the nonprofit and entrepreneurial fields.
Individuals invited into the Accelerator will receive up to two years of concrete tools, support, and resources to help accelerate the growth of their initiatives. The SJA grows out of their decades-long history of incubating and supporting organizations that stand with marginalized communities, fight for inclusive communities, and push for transformative system-level change.
Through their Social Justice Accelerator, they bring regular classes of new fellows into the UJC fold, where they gain access to their resources, experiences, community, and infrastructure. This enables them to leap over the hurdles of being an early stage nonprofit and get directly to serving their constituency.
What they Provide?
- Fiscal Sponsorship: UJC will provide fiscal sponsorship for the two years of SJA participation, for initiatives that are not yet separately incorporated and/or do not have their 501c3 status.
Note: UJC does not provide funding as part of the SJA program.
- Back Office Support: Assistance setting up and maintaining your finance, payroll and benefits systems.
- Office Space: Free space to work in UJC’s downtown Manhattan office, including access to free printing, faxing, postage, office supplies, and conference rooms.
- Support Launching & Scaling: Hands-on coaching and training in core areas of organizational growth: fundraising and finance, strategic planning, board and staff development, and strategic communications.
- Access To An Extensive Network: Opportunities to connect with and learn from UJC’s extensive network of social entrepreneurs, sector leaders, mentors, advisors, and partners.
- Community: Participation in a curated community of founders, leaders and social justice advocates, as well as access to a wider ecosystem of social impact organizations.
Eligibility Criteria
- SJA welcomes a diverse pool of applicants representing a variety of backgrounds, communities, experiences and fields of practice.
- They are looking for both individuals and early-stage organizations (under 2-years old) that are based in NYC, although work can be targeted anywhere in the world. As they review applications, they will be reviewing for the following:
- A clear description of a specific social justice issue or problem being addressed
- A clear articulation of a vision for change.
- A clear description of the strategy or work planned/ being used to solve the problem.
- A budget as well as a demonstrated understanding of the timeline and resources required to launch and establish the initiative.
- If you do not already have secured funding to support the work, a description of your plans for securing funding necessary to establish the initiative.
- Projects do not need to be incorporated but should be prepared to incorporate and apply for their 501(c)3 within 2 years of entering the accelerator.
For more information, visit https://www.urbanjustice.org/get-involved/accelerator-program/