VENTURA COUNTY — I hope you are all well. In this month’s update, I want to focus on news from our first fellow and the process of finding and selecting a fellow. As this is a first year for our Social Justice Fellowships we are taking pains to reach out to many organizations and interviewed quite a few promising candidates. Here is my update:
- Our fellow, Maria Rodriguez, has begun interviews and gave a presentation on her project at CLU.
- We continue to hear from many potential fellows. This month we have 3 new Letters of Interest we are considering and several other candidates we are coaching. Letters of Interests are applications for fellowship.
- When we are approached by a candidate, we first conduct an introductory interview. In this interview we share the mission of the SJFVC and try to get the know the candidate and their project. We provide some initial feedback on the potential project in terms of its fitness for a grant. We also get to know the candidate and their life story and motivations, which are often very inspiring as we hear the stories of struggle, persistence and determination. I call these “goosebump” meetings because we are finding emerging leaders who often, with passion and drive, want to do something for their communities.
- If the candidate fills out a Letter of Interest (LOI), we have a second meeting to go over the LOI to ensure what is written reflects what the candidate wants to do and the passion they have to do it.
- Usually the candidate, revises the LOI.The board members who have interviewed the candidate and read the LOI, recommend or not to bring the candidate and their project to a vote on the board. If the board votes to approve the LOI, the candidates make a final presentation to the board. This presentation follows a template outlining the motivations of the candidate, the objectives of the project, a timeline and a budget.
- Upon approval of the board after this presentation, the candidate is awarded a fellowship. In a future update, I will share how we follow and support the fellows and their projects.
Again, thanks to all for your support! Please get back to me with any comments and thoughts – or if you want to get involved!
Warm regards,
Michael Teasdale
Chair, Social Justice Fund