JUST LEADER FELLOWSHIP 2025 APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN
We are excited to announce the launch of the Just Leader Fellowship, formerly known as the Racial Justice Fellowship.
The Just Leader Fellowship is a 8-month opportunity for QTBIPOC folks (ages 18-30) working to close the racial wealth gap by advancing community ownership in food and land systems.
Young QTBIPOC leaders will have fiscal and technical support in crafting a food and land justice project. This fellowship is designed to develop political education, project management, and leadership skills at the pace of the fellows’ genius.
In alignment with our mission at CoFED, we designed this fellowship specifically for emerging leaders in the food and land justice systems. Often people the ages of 18-30 do not have equitable access to training, education, and resources that could amplify their cooperative efforts.
Throughout the fellowship, the fellows will receive a $10,800 stipend, a full scholarship to our Build, Unlearn, Decolonize program, an extensive network of various cooperative experts, a professional development budget, and robust and intentional project development education/skills.
REGIONAL FOCUS
This year we are deepening the work of food & land stewards in the Southeast region (AR, LA, MS, AL, GA, FL, TN, SC, NC, KY, WV, VA). We dream of cultivating a regional support network and are looking for folks in alignment with that vision.
Our ideal applicant is excited by their dreams of land and food liberation, is ready to develop their skills to reshape food and land justice in their communities, and is in a season where they can commit to monthly Zoom meetings, a 5 day in-person gathering (BUD) and two in person cohort meetings.
HOW TO APPLY
To apply for the Just Leader Fellowship, please complete the application form and provide 2 letters of recommendation. The letters should be:
- From a member of a collective/co-op/organization that you are affiliated with.
- A community member that can speak on behalf of you/your work/your impact in your community. We do accept supplemental information (such as resumes, portfolios, or links), but they are certainly not required and there is no penalty for not including them.
Please contact jlf@cofed.org if there are any accessibility issues with the application.
ELIGIBILITY
Our fellowship eligibility is as follows:
- 18 – 30 years old
- Applicants should reside and work in the Southeast (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV)
- Your work centers on the collective liberation of Queer, Trans, Black, and Indigenous People of Color
- You are in a season where you can commit to monthly Zoom meetings, a 5 day in-person gathering (BUD) and two in person cohort meetings.
- You are rooted in transformative food & land systems work
- Have been in the food, land, or racial justice movement for at least 2 years
EXPECTATIONS
We dream of cultivating a regional support network and are looking for folx in alignment with that vision. We are so excited that you are considering applying for this fellowship. The Fellowship is designed to be a space where we come together not just as individuals, but as a collective with a shared vision. Here, we believe that real transformation happens when we show up for one another, when we commit ourselves to a community that is rooted in trust, respect, and a common purpose. Our work—reimagining and transforming food and land systems through climate care work —will be made stronger by more than just our passive participation. It will take our collective commitment to the process and space of the Fellowship. We will work with leaders, elders, and wisdom-holders throughout this Fellowship, and we want to honor everyone’s time and experience with our collective presence.
We request you to commit to showing up fully, to engage deeply, and to contribute in meaningful ways. The strength of our collective efforts lies in the relationships we nurture, and the change we seek begins with each of us being present, accountable, and working side-by-side.
This is a space for growth, for learning, and for co-building new ways of being in relationship to the land and our planet. We look forward to building this community together, one step at a time, as we move toward transformation. Below are some of the expectations and invitations we would like the Fellows to commit to once selected. Please review them and let us know if you are able to commit to the invitations of the
Fellows are expected to:
- Be committed to the transformation of our food and land systems through the visionary leadership of QTBIPOC folx
- Have the space and desire to relationship-build with a small, national food cooperative organization
- Participate in 2 virtual sessions per month
- One 60-min monthly individual project check-in
- One 2.5-hour monthly all-fellows’ co-learning session
- Participate in 2 in person cohort meetings
- Beginning of fellowship (June/July)
- End of fellowship (December)
- Attend and participate in our 5 day in-person gathering Build, Unlearn, Decolonize.
- Develop an impactful fellowship project by December 2025
- Complete:
- Monthly fellowship reflections
- 1 final report detailing your fellowship experience and project outcomes
- Serve as a thought partner and spokesperson for CoFED
- Be in open and consistent communication with the CoFED Education Director & Program Coordinator
- Model and uphold our core values
- Cooperation
- Joy
- Love
- Impact
- Liberation
Post-fellowship, fellows will participate on the selection committee for the next JLF cohort.
OFFERINGS
CoFED will offer:
- 8-month fellowship
- $10,800 stipend (disbursed bi-weekly throughout the 8 month long fellowship).
- Full scholarship to our Build, Unlearn, Decolonize liberatory gathering. Full scholarship includes:
- Transportation to and from the program
- All housing, food, and transportation during the program (if in person)
- Leadership coaching
- Co-(un)Learning and political education group sessions
- 1:1 project technical assistance and leadership development including but not limited to:
- Storytelling and communications
- Grassroots fundraising
- Trauma-informed conflict resolution strategies
- Tools for collective accountability and governance
- Networking opportunities
- Access to CoFED’s cooperative info and resources
APPLICATION PROCESS & CRITERIA
Applications open Wednesday, March 19 and are due by Monday, April 21 at 11:59pm in your respective time zone.
Through your application, please convey what you stand for, and how you embody your values in your work. All applications will be considered carefully, with some applicants invited to interview. If you are not invited to interview or selected, we will do our best to provide feedback upon request.
Through your application, please convey what you stand for, and how you embody your values in your work. All applications will be considered carefully, with some applicants invited to interview. If you are not invited to interview or selected, we will do our best to provide feedback upon request.
Those chosen for video interviews will be notified by mid-May. All applicants will be notified of their status by the end of May. The three chosen fellows will be asked to sign a fellowship agreement detailing responsibilities, as well as complete an orientation and onboarding process.
Applications will be read and chosen by a selection committee, consisting of CoFED staff and network collaborators on the following selection criteria:
- Commitment to further the transformation of the current food and land systems to regenerative, just, non-extractive, and cooperative systems
- Commitment to ending racism and injustice in the food system
- Alignment with CoFED’s mission, values, vision, and theory of change
- Feasibility to develop/implement the project you are proposing
- Potential impact/contribution of the proposed project to a transformational change of our food and land systems.
- Leadership experience in food/land justice
- Personal and direct stake in the issues being addressed through this fellowship
FELLOWSHIP TIMELINE
| March 19, 2025 | Applications open |
| April 21, 2025 @ Midnight | Application submission due |
| Late April | Applications reviewed by selection committee |
| Mid-May | Interviews take place |
| End of May | Fellows acceptance invitations sent out |
| May 2025 | Fellowship Begins
|
| June – November 2025 | Fellows will:
|
| December 2025 | Fellowship Closeout Fellows:
|
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
- JLF or the Just Leader Fellowship is a 8-month opportunity for young QTBIPOC leaders working to close the racial wealth gap by advancing community ownership in food and land systems.
- This fellowship is specifically for emerging leaders in the food and land justice systems. Often people the ages of 18-30 do not have equitable access to training, education, and resources that could amplify their cooperative efforts. CoFED responds to this systemic gap with the Just Leader Fellowship.
- This year we are deepening the work of food & land stewards in the Southeast US (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV).
- 18 – 30 years old
- Applicants should reside and work in the Southeast US (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV)?
- Your work centers on the collective liberation of Queer, Trans, Black, and Indigenous People of Color
- You are in a season where you can commit to two monthly Zoom meetings, a 5 day in-person gathering (BUD) and two in person cohort meetings.
- You are rooted in transformative food & land systems work
- Have been in the food, land, or racial justice movement for at least 2 year
We encourage you to apply if you are in a season where you can commit to monthly Zoom meetings,a 5 day in-person gathering (BUD) and two in-person cohort meetings. In addition to this, fellows are expected to craft a food & land justice project and develop an impactful fellowship project by December 2025.
Fellows will receive a bi-weekly stipend throughout the 8 month long fellowship.
Applications will be read and chosen by a selection committee, consisting of CoFED staff and network collaborators, upon the following selection criteria: Commitment to further the transformation of the current food and land systems to regenerative, just, non-extractive, and cooperative systems.
- Commitment to ending racism and injustice in the food system
- Alignment with CoFED’s mission, values, vision, and theory of change
- Feasibility to develop/implement the project you are proposing in 8 months
- Potential impact/contribution of proposed project to transformational change of our food and land systems.
- Leadership experience in food/land justice
- Personal and direct stake in the issues being addressed through this fellowship
The letters should be:
1) From a member of a collective/co-op/organization that you are affiliated with.
2) A community member that can speak on behalf of you/your work/your impact in your community.
We do accept supplemental information (such as resumes, portfolios, or links), but they are certainly not required and there is no penalty for not including them.
- Through the course of the 8-months, we explore curated political education curriculum that includes: a decolonial history of our food system through the lens of Black and Indigenous folks, deconstructing our relationships with money and wealth building, building our containers of care for self and our collectives; and share our journeys as food system leaders through the final presentation of their projects.
- We also offer 1:1 sessions during which fellows can access support with grant writing, developing fundraising tools, technological support, learning technologies, and building blueprints for the long-term sustainability of their projects and transformative work in the food system.
All JLF monthly sessions will be held virtually over Zoom.
The two in person cohort meetings (beginning/end of fellowship) and BUD are the only in-person requirements.
As a philosophy and approach to land management, regenerative agriculture asks us to think about how all aspects of agriculture are connected through a web—a network of entities who grow, enhance, exchange, distribute, and consume goods and services—instead of a linear supply chain. It’s about farming and ranching in a style that nourishes people and the earth, with specific practices varying from grower to grower and from region to region. There’s no strict rule book, but the holistic principles behind the dynamic system of regenerative agriculture are meant to restore soil and ecosystem health, address inequity, and leave our land, waters, and climate in better shape for future generations.
– Natural Resources Defense Council
PREVIOUS FELLOWSHIP PROJECTS
Explore our previous Fellowship projects! And check out our Fellows’ blog posts.
