20k Fellowship for 19-29 yrs
Azfar Rizvi
Fellowships
The Nathan Gilbert Youth Innovation Fellowships
To honour Nathan Gilbert, the Foundation’s Executive Director from 1982 to 2013, we have recently launched a fellowship in his name.
Current Opportunity!
The Laidlaw Foundation invites applications for the Nathan Gilbert Youth Innovation Fellowship program!
Launched in 2014, the Nathan Gilbert Youth Innovation Fellowship is geared towards creating opportunities for young people to inform policy development and supporting their engagement in research projects. The Youth Innovation Fellows will have a demonstrated commitment to making a difference in their communities and explore policy issues in one of the following areas:
- Education System
- Justice System
- Not-for-Profit System
Fellowships will begin in January 2016 and run for 12 months. Fellows will investigate ideas that can have an impact on public policies affecting young people, their families and communities.
Goals (not all goals need be addressed in each fellowship)
- Inform Policy Priorities: to help advance knowledge of policy issues in one of the Foundation’s areas of interest; and inform the Foundation’s policy/advocacy work
- Fill Research Gaps: to contribute to research in one of the Foundation’s areas of interest that ensures that the experiences of young people who have lived experiences of different systems is documented and shared
- Support Professional Development: to provide high quality, professional development opportunities for young people and to connect them to mentors, networks and supports
- Ensuring that young people are involved in policy development: to connect to networks, and create collaborations where needed to support youth-informed policy development
Eligibility:
- Young people between the ages of 15 and 29
- Projects that are based in Ontario
- This fellowship is designed to support community-based investigations of a policy issue. It is not designed to support undergraduate, Masters or PhD research.
What qualities and experiences does a strong applicant exhibit?
Here are a few of the things we are looking for in our Youth Innovation Fellows:
- Being curious and constructively critical of the world around them
- A strong track record in contributing to their community
- A clear reason for wanting to be a Youth Innovation Fellow
- Community-based research skills and experience in engaging young people and community members in exploring ways to improve systems that are meant to serve them
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
The applications will be assessed based on the project’s creativity, originality, and its potential contribution to longstanding or systemic issues.
Amount: Up to 2 fellowships of $20,000 each
Length: The length of the fellowship is 12 months. It is not renewable.
Supervision/Mentoring: The fellows will be working with the Laidlaw Program Manager to identify formal mentoring opportunities.
At the end of the Fellowship, the Foundation will profile the research findings at a public learning forum. Each fellow will be required to participate and showcase the outcome of their fellowship. The Foundation reserves the right to publish findings, whole or in part, in various formats.
NEXT DEADLINE: NOVEMBER 30, 2015
If you are confident that your project speaks directly to the systems/areas of work that Laidlaw is focused on—education system, justice system and the not-for-profit sector, and that you are equipped with the intellectual curiosity and determination to see it through, you should apply!
You can start the application process by going to our online portal. Feel free to reach out to the Laidlaw team if you need help with the portal.
Please note: When you create a new account, the system will ask for your organization name. If you are not affiliated with an organization just type individuals.
Good luck!
The Laidlaw Team