Deadline: 19-Oct-22
The NDN Collective is accepting applications for Changemaker Fellowship.
The Foundation believe that the people have the creativity, innovation, and determination to build healthy, resilient futures; defending the homelands and rights, developing model regenerative Nations, and decolonizing and healing the communities and families.
Priorities
- Education and Building Skills: It is vital that Native leaders obtain the education and skills they need to be successful in implementing their work and vision. Each NDN Changemaker Fellow will engage in skills building or education experiences during the fellowship. This can range from pursuing formal education through a degree or certificate program, to specialized training in areas such as grant writing, facilitation, community engagement, etc. Each fellow will identify the skills he/she/they would like to develop over the course of the fellowship to contribute to their effectiveness as a leader.
- Healing and Wellbeing: Native leaders take on the pain and struggle of their communities, oftentimes at the expense of caring for themselves. The reality is that their own wellbeing is fundamental to sustaining their leadership and creating impact in the world. Therefore, each NDN Changemaker Fellow will commit to focusing on their personal physical, social, spiritual, and emotional wellbeing during the fellowship. Fellows will create a plan for how they will practice self-care and create a path forward for their individual wellbeing.
- Mentorship and Coaching: Mentorship and coaching are fundamental to the development of strong Indigenous leaders, and can lead to increases in goal attainment, wellbeing, and overall leadership effectiveness. Fellows will be required to engage with a mentor and/or coach of their choosing at least four times (once per quarter) during the fellowship. Mentors can range from an elder or spiritual leader from your community to a professional executive coach.
- Network and Community Building: To continue learning, growing, and creating social change, it is essential that Indigenous leaders have a strong community and network. Fellows will be required to work towards expanding their network and building a community of support around them during the fellowship. This will occur through reflections and information-sharing with other fellows and NDN staff, as well as networking and community building opportunities or conferences identified by each fellow.
Benefits
- Changemakers will therefore receive flexible cash awards of $75,000.00 USD to provide direct investment in the NDN Changemaker Fellows, their leadership development, and their work in their communities.
Eligibility Criteria
- This opportunity is open to Indigenous Peoples over the age of 18 who are working in the defense, development, or decolonization of their communities and Nations whose vision aligns with an honoring of: the interconnectedness of all things, Indigenous self-determination, and equity and justice for all people and the planet.
- NDN Collective defines Indigenous peoples as ethnic communities whose ancestry descends from the earliest, original inhabitants of a given region, in contrast to groups that have settled, occupied, and/or colonized the region more recently. The land on which we live and the natural resources on which we depend are inextricably linked to the identities, cultures, livelihoods, as well as physical and spiritual well being. We use Indigenous peoples with an “s” to recognize the diversity of individuals and groups that identify with the term, which has been distilled to a singular noun throughout history in an attempt to group the people together rather than recognize the differences and diversity. This is consistent with the UN Declaration on The Rights of Indigenous peoples.
- This 12-month Fellowship, slated to begin April 1, 2023, will be offered to 21 Indigenous Changemakers across the continental United States, Canada, Mexico, Islands of Hawaii, and the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Boriken/Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
For more information, visit https://grants.ndncollective.org/the-ndn-changemaker-fellowship/