The Young Organizers training fellowship is a mentorship program that emerged from Hero Emerging Amongst Teens (HEAT) which was founded in 2010. NC HEAT was a youth-led organization which utilized peer education and organizing campaigns to advocate for organize towards youth liberation. The training fellowship aims to continue nurturing that mission by investing in the leadership development of high school aged youth.

The curriculum is broken into seven sessions with the fellows spending about one month on each session with the last session entailing reflection and application in order to cultivate everything they have learned into a framework to continue their organizing and activist goals after the fellowship has ended. For the first six sessions, the curriculum is split between enrichment and self-study. That is, each session focuses on a specific organizing method paired with a theme revolving around self-evaluation to work on being the best forms of ourselves we can be. The fellows will participate in two or three engagements that compliment the topic of each session(readings, movies, trainings, art etc.)

Framework

The curriculum is broken into six units and the fellows will spend about two months on each unit. The last session will entail reflection and cultivating their new knowledge into a framework to continue their organizing and activist goals after the fellowship has ended. For the first six sessions, the curriculum is split between enrichment and self-study. That is, each session focuses on a specific organizing method paired with a theme revolving around self-evaluation to work on being the best forms of ourselves we can be. The fellows will participate in two or three engagements that compliment the topic of each session (readings, movies, trainings, art etc.)

This is a paid fellowship and each fellow will receive $1,000.

Commitments & Expectations

  • Participate in approximately 200 hours of leadership development (in-person meetings 2x/month)
  • Attend 2 mandatory enrichment retreats (beginning and end of fellowship retreat)
  • A deep commitment to the completion of this fellowship