DEADLINE TO APPLY: APRIL 11, 2024
During May to September 2024, Seeds of Fire (SOF) will bring together an Advisory Committee of up to 5 youth (ages 15-26) to engage in the creation and implementation of a Participatory Action Research (PAR) process focused on existing and non-existing communal care systems, as an alternative to carceral systems.
This is a 5 month commitment to youth leadership development, researching & analyzing already existing communal care systems, and finding the gaps where we can create these systems. Each Advisory Committee member will work together toward a goal of creating *at least* 1 communal care system as an alternative to carceral systems. Advisory Committee members receive a total of $10,000 in educational stipends administered in two payments for their time as a Committee member.
Advisory Committee members will utilize Seeds of Fire’s podcast as the vehicle for participatory research methods.
Advisory Committee members will facilitate 1 workshop a month with the Seeds of Fire Fellowship. These workshops will reflect the work we are doing around PAR and each workshop will have a focus on one of Highlander’s six methodologies.
Being part of Seeds of Fire’s Advisory Committee will provide opportunities for each member to acquire a variety of skills, which include but are not limited to:
Applicants
Any person who lives in the South or Appalachia and identifies as youth (ages 15-26) are welcome to apply! Highlander strongly encourages applications from Black, brown, and indigenous people, women, TLGBQIA2S+ and gender variant/non-conforming folks, and working-class/cash poor people. People directly impacted by the criminal justice system are also strongly encouraged to apply.
Individuals accepted into the SOF Advisory Committee will be responsible for the following areas of work:
Areas of Work
Expectations
Committee Members will be expected to:
If you have any questions or concerns, please email:
Rosmery rosemery@highlandercenter.org and
Teddy teddy@highlandercenter.org
DEADLINE TO APPLY: APRIL 11, 2024
For May to September 2024, Seeds of Fire (SOF) will have a fellowship specifically for youth across the South, with a strong focus on youth in East Tennessee, occupied Cherokee and Yuchi lands, of up to 5 individuals.
Fellows will participate in SOF’s Strong Foundations curriculum, which will support young people in learning about their communities, how to organize their communities, and how to build their own solutions to the problems they see around them.
Fellows will also participate in The Greenhouse 101, a Healing Justice curriculum brought to SOF by Teddy, alongside the Strong Foundations curriculum. The Healing Justice curriculum will walk fellows through different methods for moving emotions, sustainability in organizing work, and more.
Each Youth Fellow will receive a $5,000 educational stipend at the completion of their time as a fellow. This is a 20 week (around 5 months) commitment over the summer to participate in two virtual-based educational curricula and an opportunity for project development at the end of the program.
Apply HERE!
Being part of Highlander’s Seeds of Fire East TN Youth Fellows program will provide opportunities for each member to acquire a variety of skills, which include but are not limited to:
Applicants
Any person who lives in East Tennessee, an area of occupied Cherokee, Yuchi, and other Indigenous lands, and is between 15-26 years old are welcome to apply!
Highlander strongly encourages applications from Black, brown, and indigenous people, women, LGBTQ+ and gender variant/non-conforming folks, working-class/cash poor people, and people directly impacted by the criminal justice system. Youth from Jefferson, Cocke, Hamblen, Knox, Sevier, and Grundy Counties are also strongly encouraged to apply!
Components of the Fellowship
Individuals accepted into the SOF East Tennessee Youth Fellowship will be responsible for the following areas of work:
Expectations
Committee Members will be expected to:
Curriculum Content
Fellows will receive a general outline of the online curricula upon acceptance.
For any questions or concerns, please email:
Rosemery rosemery@highlandercenter.org or
SOF Centers:
We believe that political education and analysis, through the lens of popular education, creates lifelong leaders and change makers who are able to critically examine issues while making connections between our work locally, regionally, nationally and transnationally.
The program often consists of youth and allies of different ages coming together for intergenerational programming. The allyship will involve adults supporting and challenging each other, while exploring how to best foster youth leadership and effective organizing.
Through popular education, participants will experience 3-way learning practices where they will become both educators and learners of collective knowledge, learning and teaching new tools, techniques and strategies that have made organizing successful. Using research, theater, games, art, music, history and collective wisdom, participants will get to generate new visions for the world they are trying to build.
In order to struggle and effectively envision a future for liberation, we will explore movements and organizing efforts happening across the world, often pulling from ancestral knowledge and wisdom.
Impact
History
For 18 years, Highlander’s Seeds of Fire (SOF) program has impacted and connected thousands of young people (ages 13 – 17) and their allies (ages 18 and up), bringing together emerging and experienced grassroots organizers and community leaders to build collective power and influence critical shifts in policy decisions and practice. We host, support and network intergenerational organizers from across the South to share their social justice work and to learn about Highlander’s methodologies. Together, they discuss the different issues in their communities, strategies to address these challenges and build relationships throughout their local community and the region.
The Seeds of Fire program has included the SOF camp, mini-camps, the Living Legacy Tour, SOF Advisory Committee, Greensboro Justice Fellows, Stay Together Appalachian Youth (STAY), and Supporting Emerging Appalachian Leaders (SEAL), as well as local internships. Now we host fellowships, cohorts, networks, as well as working individually with youth and their organizations!
1959 Highlander Way
New Market, TN 37820
(865) 933-3443
hrec@highlandercenter.org