Emerging Leaders for Liberation (ELL) Application

Applications accepted from January 15th, 2024, to March 1st, 2024.  

The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is proud to open the application for the 3rd annual Emerging Leaders for Liberation cohort. This program is open for young adults looking to deepen their social justice and leadership skills. Emerging Leaders aims to support the development of young people and is especially beneficial to those that are newer to organizing spaces.

Through this program, participants will gain an understanding of systemic oppression through trainings and experiences regarding accompaniment, anti-racism, organizing, advocacy, resourcing, and Quaker principles. Participants will take part in both AFSC-sponsored and other local campaigns and systems-level advocacy efforts. They will gain a complex understanding of social change movements, immersing themselves in community level change efforts.

As part of the program, cohort members will be required to complete an action learning project in their community. This project will demonstrate cohort members’ newfound community organizing knowledge and will be funded up to $1,000. Previous cohort members have tackled issues of gentrification, migrant rights, human rights violations in prisons, inequal access to education, institutional racism, and many more.  For the list of expectations, meetings dates, and information listed on the initial page, please click here. 

Qualifications:

-Must be 18-22 years of age as of April 1, 2024.

-Must be affiliated with one of the following: a current AFSC Program, a Quaker college, or a Quaker meeting. Previously, we have hosted individuals from Quaker Meetings across the United States, along with students from Earlham, Guilford, Swarthmore, and Haverford Colleges.

-Must follow COVID-19 safety guidelines during cohort and community gatherings.

-Must be living in the United States during the duration of this cohort.

Instructions:

Please fill out the application to the best of your ability. You may want to write your answers to the written questions in advance in Word and then copy them here. After you submit your application, you will receive a confirmation email and information about the next steps.