Youth Organizing Fellowship Application

Apply by May 24th for Americans United's first-ever Youth Organizing Fellowship—a paid opportunity to grow as a leader, build power with a national cohort of youth organizers, and advocate for religious freedom and the separation of religion and government.

Overview

The Americans United Youth Organizing Fellowship is an opportunity for young leaders from across the country to strengthen their organizing skills and lead the movement for separation of religion and government. This nation-wide cohort of ten young people (ages 18-25) will come from different backgrounds, be working on a variety of issues that intersect with separation of religion and government, and have shared values of religious freedom, equality, and social justice.

This Fellowship is right for you if you are directly or indirectly involved with and want to dive deeper into activism for separation of religion and government, to ensure religious freedom and freedom from discrimination. Applicants should be passionate advocates for the rights of LGBTQ people, religious minorities, the nonreligious, women, and communities of color. You might be advocating for campus, city, state, or federal policy change; building interfaith or cross-movement coalitions; or running programs to educate your peers. Maybe you run a faith-based or secular student group, work for an LGBTQ youth center, lead campaigns for social change, or play another leadership role in your community.

If you're applying for this paid Fellowship, you should be able to commit significant time to organizing with Americans United and be excited to work in collaboration with youth activists from across the country to lead AUs strategy for youth engagement. Fellows will receive skills training, a $900 stipend, and additional resources to organize in your community. Fellows must be able to attend a convening in DC and commit to the full year-long program (details below), including reliable access to the internet and video (at home, at school, or elsewhere), such as a smartphone or computer.

The Fellowship kicks off with a convening in Washington, DC (AU will cover the costs) during which Fellows will get to meet AU and each other, learn new skills, and strategize for the coming year. Then Fellows will continue to meet monthly by video for ongoing training and support. Fellows are expected to host at least one event in their community in partnership with AU. Fellows will receive a stipend of $900.