Ford Foundation

Program Summary

The New Voices National Fellowship Program is a capacity-building and leadership development grant program that assists nonprofit organizations and professionals entering fields related to human rights social justice. Official sponsored program areas include international human rights, women's rights, reproductive rights, racial justice, HIV/AIDS and migrant and refugee rights.

Prospective Fellows identify an appropriate nonprofit organization at which they would like to work given its mission and their own personal mission. Sometimes a nonprofit organization recruits the Fellow to enable it to launch a new program or initiative. The organization and the candidate develop a job description and submit an application to AED (the application is downloadable from our web site). The two-year awards cover salary and fringe benefits, a professional development account, financial assistance to repay student loans or other eligible expenses, and a computer. Fellows are brought together twice a year for leadership development and networking.

Eligibility

Open to graduating students and recent alumni.

Benefits

-Salary and fringe benefits
-professional Mentoring
-Up to $1,500 per year for professional development
-Up to $6,000 per year for student loan repayment or up to $4,000 per year to cover other approved expenses
-Biannual leadership training
-Online curriculum and peer support
-Networking opportunities

Timeline

January 10, 2005: Deadline for receipt of all applications by AED.
March 21, 2005: Twenty-five finalists notified.
March 21-April 15, 2005 Half-day site visits to finalist organizations by Selection Panel members or AED staff.
April 20, 2005: Notice of grant award made to up to 15 organizations.

Application

See the New Voices National Fellowship Program at http://newvoices.aed.org/home.html for additional information.

Published: Monday, January 13, 2003