Application Phase Now Open for NDN Changemaker Fellowship

July 1, 2021

Application Phase Now Open for NDN Changemaker Fellowship

The NDN Changemaker Fellowship is a 12-month opportunity for Indigenous leaders to articulate their vision for social change, to identify the support they will need to get there and to invest in their own development, health, healing and wellbeing.

For Immeditate Release: July 1, 2021

NDN Collective, an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to building Indigenous power, announces for its third year a groundbreaking Fellowship for Indigenous Peoples throughout Turtle Island and surrounding Island Nations. The Changemaker Fellowship will be offered to 21 Indigenous Changemakers across the continental U.S., Canada, Mexico, Islands of Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. This Fellowship is designed to amplify, deepen, and catalyze the development of Indigenous leaders ready to create movements in their communities, building a world that is just and equitable for all people and the planet. 

The NDN Changemaker Fellowship is a 12-month opportunity for Indigenous leaders to articulate their vision for social change, to identify the support they will need to get there and to invest in their own development, health, healing and wellbeing. NDN Collective is honored to support visionary Indigenous leaders from across Turtle Island, and beyond, who are working towards sustainable solutions for their people and homelands.

“The Changemaker Fellowship program was designed to recognize those who are already leading important work in their communities”, shared Tina Kuckkahn, Director of Grantmaking. “We look for movement-builders who embrace their inherent gifts, who inspire and engage others to create something larger than themselves. Changemakers aren’t always the people out in front; sometimes they are the ones doing the critical work behind the scenes that make real change possible.”

Applicants are Indigenous Changemakers who come from all life experiences and professional backgrounds.Individuals who are working or aspiring to work towards social change: Defending our homelands and rights, developing model regenerative Nations, revitalizing our Indigenous ceremonies, cultures, languages,ways of life, actively decolonizing and healing our communities and families. 

The NDN Changemaker Fellowship upholds NDN Collective’s cultural values and norms, including the interconnectedness of all things, Indigenous self-determination, and equity and justice for all people and the planet.

Changemakers will receive flexible cash awards of $75,000 to invest in and support their innovation as leaders. To apply, applicants must first complete a letter of interest (LOI) which can be accessed on the NDN Changemaker page at the NDN Collective websiteApplicants must be over the age of 18 to apply.

UPDATE: Deadline to submit LOIs is Friday, August 6, 2021 at 5 pm MST.

For more information and to apply, visit https://ndncollective.org/grants-fellowship/ndn-changemaker-fellowship/. Or, for English-speaking locations, contact Dr. PennElys Droz, NDN Foundation Program Officer at pennelys@ndncollective.org. For Spanish-speaking locations, contactNicole Yanes, NDN Foundation Program Officer at nicole@ndncollective.org.

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Learn about the 2021 Cohort of NDN Changemaker fellows here.

NDN Collective is an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to building Indigenous power. Through organizing, activism, philanthropy, grantmaking, capacity-building, and narrative change, we are creating sustainable solutions on Indigenous terms.

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