Climate Parent Fellowship
Climate Parent Fellowship
Across the world, parents, grandparents, and caregivers are taking climate action to protect the kids they love, children everywhere, and our shared home. The Climate Parent Fellowship aims to support parent-led, intergenerational, and family-centered climate engagement work.
The Fellowship is open for NEW applications from Monday 31 July 2023 with applications closing on Friday 22 September 2023 at 11.59 ET. The Fellowship is a year-long program. We are now recruiting for our 2024 cohort, which will commence in early 2024.
Fellows receive training, mentorship, and a part-time stipend, which aims to make their climate organizing work more sustainable. This Fellowship is an opportunity to be part of a supportive and diverse peer-to-peer learning network. Most Fellows are focussed on parent-led climate engagement but this Fellowship is also open to non-parent applicants who are focussing on engaging people across generations.
UN Public Service Awards 2024 (UNPSA)
Fellows are people who are playing a significant role in the climate parent movement or are developing a new idea or concept with potential to strengthen intergenerational climate organizing. We encourage applications from parents, grandparents, carers and anyone working on intergenerational and family-friendly climate organizing. Our selection criteria gives more details on what we are looking for in our Fellows and who is eligible to apply. Read the selection criteria for the Fellowship here.
Apply for the Fellowship here. You can view the questions here to help you prepare. We only accept applications via the application portal.
We will host information sessions, so that people can find more about the Fellowship on 9 August at 2pm UTC and 13 September at 10pm UTC. Register for the sessions here. The sessions will be recorded and links uploaded here.
More information on Climate Parent Fellowship
When is the deadline for Fellowship applications?
The Fellowship is open for applications from Monday 31 July 2023 with applications closing on Friday 22 September 2023.
We strongly encourage people leading parent-led, family-focused and intergenerational work on climate action to apply here: link to application portal.
When will you have interviews and select candidates?
We anticipate interviewing candidates in October-November 2023 and making final decisions in December 2023. New Fellows will be announced publicly in early 2024 with the program commencing then too.
When will the Fellowship start and how long will it run?
The Fellowship is a year-long program and will commence in early January 2024.
Do I need to be a parent to apply?
No. Applicants must be over 18 years old but in addition to parent-led climate organizers, we will consider all applicants working on intergenerational and family-friendly climate organizing. For example, some of our previous Fellows have been youth working across generations to catalyse climate action.
We expect a majority of Fellows selected will be parents or grandparents.
Is this Fellowship right for me? Can you tell me who is your ideal candidate?
The Climate-Parent Fellowship is intended to support people who are working on parent-led, intergenerational, and/or family-focused climate engagement and organizing. We strongly encourage people to apply if they are already doing work in this area or if they have an idea for a new project that would help catalyze climate action across generations.
Our ideal candidate would be an inspiring organizer, activist, or leader who is already engaged in developing new ideas or leading organizational strategy, is highly collaborative, and does not have access to existing funding sources. We are interested in Fellows engaging in a range of climate engagement and movement strategies: creative (storytelling, film, blog, podcast, book, social media, etc), school campaigns, legal strategies, sustainable behavior programs, grassroots/community organizing, corporate focussed strategies, and others.
We encourage applications from parents, grandparents, carers and anyone working on intergenerational and family-friendly climate organizing. For example, some of our previous Fellows have been youth working across generations to catalyse climate action, although the majority have been parents, and we expect this to be the case with the 2024 cohort.
Candidates from all countries are eligible to apply. We particularly welcome applicants from diverse backgrounds and from communities most impacted by climate change or impacted by other kinds of environmental, social, and economic injustice. At least half of the Fellows appointed will be from the Global South. We’d also encourage applications from people with diverse backgrounds, identities and abilities in the Global North.
This Fellowship is an opportunity for individuals; it is not open to group applications. Where there are several people from a single group or organization interested in the Fellowship we highly encourage groups to discuss, select and nominate one person per organization.
Can more than one person from a group or organization apply?
Where there are several people from a single group or organization interested in the Fellowship we highly encourage groups to discuss, select and nominate one person per organization and for it to be made clear in the application form that this group discussion has taken place.
If more than one person from a single group applies it must be clear in the application how their work is differentiated and the role they are playing; if that is not clear, the selection team may revert to groups to help us identify the best candidate to progress.
How many people will be selected for this cohort?
The final number of Fellows will be determined in part by the applications we receive but we estimate that we will select around 12 Fellows. At least half will be from the Global South.
Do I need to speak English?
Yes, currently the Fellowship monthly meetings and mentorship sessions are run in English and you need to have enough English to be able to participate in these. However, many Fellows and many of the team and trainers supporting the Fellowship will not be native English speakers so we would encourage people to apply if you think your English may be sufficient.
The application process is also in English, but applications will be judged on the ideas and potential contribution to the community, not on the accuracy of spelling/grammar.
Is there anyone you will not fund through this Fellowship?
We won’t fund individuals who:
- Are not focused on climate-parent organizing, intergenerational, and family-focused climate organizing.
- Are already working for a well-funded organization or have access to major funds and resources. If your group or organization has 2 (or 3) full time employees working on parent-led climate engagement this Fellowship is probably not for you.
- Are not currently working in partnership or collaboration with others at the local, national, and/or international levels.
- Can’t commit time to developing their group, organization, project, or idea throughout the year, and to participate in the global cohort activities.
- Are primarily focussed on lobbying – we can fund advocacy and if lobbying is one aspect of your work that is not likely to cause an issue but due to funding restrictions we cannot support work that is primarily focussed on influencing specific legislation.
What will Fellows receive as part of the Fellowship?
Selected Fellows will be awarded a stipend to help carry out their work for this 12 month Fellowship program.
The grants will range from $15,000 – $20,000 USD. It is important to note that Fellows will be responsible for paying national taxation after they receive the funding and that for some Fellows receiving this stipend may affect, for example, benefits they are eligible for. The stipend will be issued in four payments.
Fellows will have access to peer-to-peer learning, monthly training/discussion sessions, communications support, and some 1:1 mentoring.
Can you tell me more about what is expected of Fellows?
The Fellowship does not come with a job description – this is funding to support Fellows to do their own work. We expect Fellows to spend time further developing their existing idea/group/organization/project or working to launch their new project.
Fellows will also be expected to actively participate in monthly online training and community building sessions and use the skills gained for the benefit of others in their community. They will also be expected to help build the Fellowship community, by providing peer-to-peer support to other Fellows and by actively participating in discussions.
Fellows are expected to engage in assessment of the Fellowship by providing input and feedback (short report and surveys) about their experience of the program. They also consent to have their stories shared on Our Kids’ Climate website and social media.
At the end of the Fellowship we will ask Fellows to tell us how their work has progressed over the year.
Can you tell me how to learn more about the Fellowship?
We will be having two information sessions ahead of the application deadline where those interested in the Fellowship can ask questions and find out more. The information sessions will be held on 9 August at 2pm UTC and 13 September at 10pm UTC. Register for the sessions here. The sessions will be recorded and links uploaded to this website.
If you have further questions about the Fellowship and application process, please email juliana@ourkidsclimate.org with the subject “Applying for Climate Parent Fellowship”. Please make sure to read all the documents available before sending any question and allow two working days for us to get back to you.
Can you tell me more about the selection process and how it works?
Applications will be evaluated on how closely the candidate meets the Fellowship criteria. We advise you to read these criteria closely and ensure the answers in your application show how you meet these criteria.
Applications will be assessed by the Fellowship team and by a 5-person Selection Committee; this will not be exactly the same committee as in previous years as we are making changes to our selection team. Once this year’s Selection Committee is confirmed we will share their details here. This will be a team with diverse international experience of climate organizing and engagement. In cases where Selection Committee members are already working closely with an applicant, the Selection Committee member(s) will recuse themselves from decision making.
What is the difference between the Microgrants and the Fellowship programs?
The Fellowship is a year-long program to support individuals.
This program supports the leadership development of people who are leading parent-led, intergenerational, or family-centered climate engagement work through their organizations and networks. The Fellows receive a stipend to support their climate organizing for a year. They also take part in community building sessions/training throughout the year to strengthen their leadership and organizing skills. The Fellowship also creates a peer-to-peer learning network.
The Microgrant program provides funding for projects and actions.
These may be carried out by an individual or a group and the kinds of projects and actions can be very varied.The work will be parent-led, intergenerational, or family-centered climate engagement work. You will need to provide a budget and report on the success of your project. Find out more about the Microgrant Program here.
I applied previously, should I apply again?
Yes, we would encourage you to apply again and look forward to hearing how your work has progressed and what you are now focused on.
There is high demand for Fellowship spaces. We have received many brilliant applications including from people who would have been fantastic Fellows but who we were not able to offer a space to in cohort 1 or cohort 2. The criteria for the Fellowship has changed a little this year, we suggest you look at it carefully.
This year we will have a new selection team so please assume that the team reviewing your new application has no previous knowledge of your work and ensure your new application refers to how you fit the new criteria as this is how your application will be judged.
What is the difference between the Microgrants and the Fellowship programs?
The Fellowship is a year-long program to support individuals.
This program supports the leadership development of people who are leading parent-led, intergenerational, or family-centered climate engagement work through their organizations and networks. The Fellows receive a stipend to support their climate organizing for a year. They also take part in community building sessions/training throughout the year to strengthen their leadership and organizing skills. The Fellowship also creates a peer-to-peer learning network.
The Microgrant program provides funding for projects and actions.
These may be carried out by an individual or a group and the kinds of projects and actions can be very varied.The work will be parent-led, intergenerational, or family-centered climate engagement work. You will need to provide a budget and report on the success of your project. Find out more about the Microgrant Program here.
How is this project funded?
We are grateful to our incredibly supportive funders who have offered direct support for this Fellowship project – Equation Campaign, UMI Fund, NorthLight Foundation, and Bernard Van Leer Foundation. Without their support this Fellowship would not be possible and we have appreciated their feedback, encouragement and partnership on this project.
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