Deadline: 12-Oct-20
The Rowan Institute is announcing the Grassroots Climate Leadership Awards of 2020 to uphold and celebrate public leadership that is stewarding a just and equitable climate transition.
Climate leadership has historically been dominated by a very narrow set of identities and perspectives, mainly from white scientists, business leaders and politicians from the global North. This narrowness of focus and gatekeeping produces a climate leadership community that lacks the lived experience, connection to place and community, and movement-building skills that are all necessary to effect change.
To support a restorative, reparative approach to public climate leadership, the Grassroots Climate Leadership Award will center and celebrate leadership from Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color.
This is a public award to uplift organizers, community leaders, scientists, and artists. The institute is specifically keen on recognizing and awarding new STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) leadership at the intersection of climate change, justice, and institutional change.
They recognize that transacting to disseminate an award fund is to step into that cultural gatekeeping role – and to do that they must be careful, transparent, and accountable here in order to not replicate the harmful and damaging practices of other gatekeepers. Our goal here is to lead with an alternative model of public accountability that does not transact in normative toxic gatekeeping behavior too often seen in the climate leadership spaces. They hope to use a power, resources, and platform sharing approach here, as an organization and as individuals, to center transformative leadership. As well, they intend to learn and iterate on this award process, with the goal of building more public-input and transparency into future award cycles.
To do so, they commit to:
- Separating the fundraising operations and organizational leadership from the committee processes to decide on the awardees.
- Deliberating and deciding upon the award within the awards committee only.
- Transparency in how funds are distributed and how fiscal oversight is occurring
- Limiting the labor necessary to submit an application package.
- Communicating that there are broad expectations for how the funds are to be spent by awardees.
Benefits
- Two $2,500 awards will be given to two individuals or community collectives.
- With permission from the awardees, Rowan Institute would like to publish short biographies or stories of the awardees.
- This is not a restrictive award and the funds can be spent in ways to best support the awardees work, life, health, and happiness.
- The Rowan Institute wants this award to support thriving individuals and communities.
Eligibility Criteria
- The Rowan Institute welcomes nomination of individuals and community collectives based in the United States to apply.
- Applicants are encouraged to self-nominate or to nominate an individual or organization who should be recognized and awarded here.
- The institute welcomes early career people and organizing collectives that are contributing to the culture, work, coalition building, and reparative approaches necessary for a just, intersectional transition.
For more information, visit https://www.rowaninstitute.org/leadership-award