Deadline: 21-Jan-23
The National Equity Atlas is officially accepting applications for its second cohort of fellowship program.
Through the National Equity Atlas Fellowship, the National Equity Atlas (a partnership between PolicyLink and the USC Equity Research Institute) will work with eight to 10 grassroots leaders of color to sharpen their data skills and produce new data visualizations, dashboards, factsheets, or other research products to strengthen their organization’s policy and advocacy campaigns.
Data disaggregated by race, gender, income, and geography are essential to advancing policies and solutions that confront structural racism, eliminate racial and economic inequities, and further racial equity. Yet, grassroots community-based organizations that are advocating for equity-focused policy solutions face significant barriers to effectively accessing, analyzing, and incorporating local data into their efforts.
Topics
Some key topics for their team in the next year include:
- Housing Justice and Equitable Development
- Workforce Equity and Economic Justice
- Water Equity/Environmental Justice
- Infrastructure Justice (including Transportation and Digital Equity)
- Criminal Justice and Community Safety
- Education Justice
What will the fellowship program include?
- During the first half of the fellowship, the program curriculum will focus on understanding how to use a research justice framework and skill-building in accessing public datasets, basic analysis, and data visualization. At the end of this training period, fellows will determine the type of data project they will undertake during the second half of the fellowship.
- In the second half of the fellowship, fellows will design and develop their data project to support their organization’s policy campaigns, with support from Atlas staff on research and data visualization. Curriculum topics during this period will include support on narrative framing and designing data products. Projects may include interactive dashboards, factsheets, maps, and other custom visualizations and products.
- At the conclusion of the fellowship, all fellows will prepare and present a webinar on their completed data project, which will be hosted on the Racial Equity Data Lab.
What will fellows gain from participating?
- Fellows will increase their skills in data analysis and visualization while producing data products to use in their equity campaigns. They will also network with other equity advocates across the country, participate in group learning sessions and one-on-one coaching sessions, and partner with Atlas team members and other PolicyLink staff on their projects.
- Organizations will receive a $7,500 stipend to support their fellow’s participation in the program. The stipend is given directly to each fellow’s organization as a general operating support grant. Fellows interested in learning Tableau will also receive support for accessing necessary Tableau licenses and receive training in building Tableau visualizations. Fellows will also receive technical assistance and support from Atlas staff.
Eligibility Criteria
- The fellowship is open to people of color who are currently employed by community-based organizations that are working to increase racial and economic equity by advancing policy solutions and systems-level transformation. Fellows do not need strong data skills or experience but should have basic data literacy, an interest in building their data capacity, and the ability in their current role to develop data analyses and products. This fellowship is designed for individuals in mid-seniority positions in their organizations who have the ability to self-manage aspects of their work and time.
- Applicants must be an employee of the affiliated community-based organization that they list in their applications. This could be on a full-time or part-time basis, as long as fellows can commit to the monthly time commitment of the program and have direct access to organizational staff to ensure their project and time in the fellowship are in alignment with the organization’s overall policy priorities and campaigns.
- Applicants must reside within the United States, and individuals of any immigration status are welcome to apply.
- They will prioritize organizations that are actively engaged with and accountable to the communities they serve and reflect as well as those that use power-building strategies for campaigns focused on systems and policy change.
- Individuals from government offices, higher education institutions, and philanthropic organizations are not eligible for this fellowship.
For more information, visit National Equity Atlas.