Deadline: 26-Jun-22
The Bertha Foundation is excited to announce the launch of the fourth Bertha Challenge: an opportunity for activists and investigative journalists to spend a year working on one pressing social justice challenge and to deliver a body of work at the end of the Fellowship year.
The fourth Bertha Challenge is calling for activism and investigative journalism projects that will take a sharp and penetrating look at food in all its complexity and interconnectedness.
The Bertha Challenge recognizes that investigative journalists and activists have distinct roles. This Challenge will offer the opportunity to engage with the complexity of the food systems while strengthening relationships through shared work. Bertha Fellows will be expected to explore new ways of working collaboratively and outside their traditional silos while maintaining their integrity and autonomy.
- How is the relationship between politics and profit contributing to the degradation and loss of their freshwater and oceans, tar and what can be done to ensure equitable – access and protection of these finite resources for people and planet ?
Successful applicants will receive non-residential paid Fellowships and project budgets to work independently and together to:
- Investigate the causes of and solutions to the annual Bertha Challenge question
- Amplify their findings to a wider targeted audience
- Connect with diverse stakeholders for information, support and sustainable impact
Benefits
Fellowships offered:
- Income for each Bertha Fellow for one year, not exceeding USD $64,900 and commensurate with the applicant’s current or equivalent salary at the host organization ideally a media outlet for an investigative journalist and an NGO, community organization or social movement for an activist
- A Project Fund of up to USD $10,000 for each Bertha Fellow to produce their final projects that respond to the question posed by the Bertha Challenge, and that is directed towards a specific audience. This could be a series of articles, videos, podcasts, games or drama productions, for example. Joint activist and journalist applicants will have the option to pool their project funding to produce projects on a larger scale
- Access to a Connect Fund of up to USD $5000 specifically designed to encourage collaboration between Fellows
- Regular online discussions with topics on a range of issues from current debates around food to methods of investigation, methods of communicating findings through news media, storytelling, popular education and more
- Peer and mentor support in the form of regular virtual check-ins with Bertha staff and a cohort of Bertha Fellows
- Network development through the global cohort of Bertha Fellows and exposure to relevant partners within and beyond the Bertha network, including their legal partners in the Bertha Justice Network
- A global con vening of Bertha Fellows at the start of the Bertha Challenge, and invitations to join alumni convenings after the end of the Fellowship year.
Eligibility Criteria
- Bertha strives to select an inclusive and representative cohort of Bertha Fellows that celebrates diversity.
- Bertha Fellows will be selected on individual merit but also on their complementary skills to the cohort, their existing and/or proposed networks and prospects for long-term impact of their work.
- Applicants may come from and work in any country, but to ensure that this cohort of Bertha Fellows is able to be fully participatory, they require all applicants to be proficient in spoken and written English and able to deliver their final work in English.
- Activist Criteria
- At least five years’ experience working with activists, social movements, grassroots and community organizations, social justice organizations or campaigns.
- Strong connections to a diverse range of groups working in support of climate and ecological justice in the fellow’s city, country or region including with social movements, community organizations, NGOs, academics, journalists, progressive government officials etc.
- Experience in developing organizing tools or popular educational products and materials including training courses, publications, pamphlets, films, podcasts, arts, theater productions, etc.
- Experience in using research, media and the law in advocacy.
- Affiliation to an appropriate host organization to amplify work produced during the Bertha Challenge.
- Investigative Journalist Criteria
- Mid-career journalists with at least five years’ experience, a track record and passion for doing investigative journalism
- Strong interest and experience in producing work on the Bertha Challenge question and a proven ability to work with affected communities, social movements, community organizations, NGO’s, academics, scientists etc.
- Investigative journalism and research ability, a comprehensive understanding of the political landscape concerning the subject matter, an understanding of the law(s) and political structures determining policy direction and power
- An ability to work independently
- Affiliation to an appropriate host media organization that will publish/broadcast work produced during the Bertha Challenge.
For more information, visit https://berthafoundation.org/story/bertha-challenge-2023/