San Antonio Equity Fellowship

Bringing together leaders of color toward fuller justice and equity for all.

The Purpose

The San Antonio Area Foundation is pleased to offer a unique opportunity for personal growth and professional development as part of the Area Foundation’s commitment to advancing equity, building the capacity of our nonprofit sector and strengthening the leaders of nonprofit organizations in San Antonio. Modeled after the Multicultural Leadership Academy in Chicago, the San Antonio Equity Fellowship is a six-month transformational leadership program focused on bringing together leaders of color who are committed to constructively altering societal conditions toward fuller justice and equity for all. The SA Equity Fellowship will provide a series of monthly leadership sessions to nonprofits leaders in the four Area Foundation impact areas of Cultural Vibrancy, Livable and Resilient Communities, Successful Aging and Youth Success.

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Preview criteria for Equity Fellowship.

The ideal candidate should be committed to social change, policy impact, and/or community improvement that serve communities of color throughout San Antonio. Applicants may be board members, executive directors or senior program staff at their sponsoring organization.

The SA Equity Fellowship will result in strengthened leadership for community impact, increased cross-cultural understanding, bolstered community collaboration to address pressing social issues, and a network of diverse leaders who will be able to call upon each other in the future.

Criteria

  • One Senior/Executive level Leader or Board member per organization.
  • Commitment to participate fully and attend all class sessions. (Dates & Times are listed below and included in application).
  • Organizational support for selected participant
  • Gender balance, sensitivity to gender expression or orientation.
  • Must identify as Black, Latinx or other community of color.

As part of the application process, applicants are required to submit a letter of support from their employer and a letter of recommendation from a professional reference. Individuals considering applying should begin reaching out to their references now, to ensure references are received before the submission deadline.

Important Dates

Participants are expected to be present for the following full day class sessions:

  • October 5, 2023 (Opening Reception)
  • October 13, 2023
  • November 16-17, 2023 (Overnight Retreat)
  • December 8, 2023
  • January 18-19, 2023 (Overnight Retreat)
  • February 16, 2024
  • March 22, 2024
  • April 11, 2024 (Graduation & Celebration)

Please block 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. for each of the class days above.  Participation in all class sessions is mandatory.

Each participant will be assigned to an Impact Team that will need to meet periodically over the course the cohort. Teams will be responsible for scheduling their meeting times. This is a required part of the cohort participation.

The deadline to apply is August 18, 2023.

Program Curriculum

Core learning competencies include: 

  • Transformational Leadership: Participants will understand their own identities and pave the way for change by uplifting others, operating on a moral and ethical framework, creating motivating workplaces, and communicating a clear and more inspiring vision for a more equitable society.
  • Intercultural Understanding: Participants will seek to understand San Antonio’s native, African American and Latinx communities and identify common interests while working collaboratively.
  • Social Change/Policy Action/Community Improvement: Participants will collaborate with their cohort peers via ‘affinity groups’ on how to create a better, more equitable San Antonio through social change, policy action and community improvement.
  • Arts Expression: Participants will utilize the arts as a catalyst for individual and group creativity, innovation, self-reflection and healing.

Cost

  • $500 per participant
  • Participants will be selected regardless of their ability to cover the cost of the program.
  • If cost is an issue, please reach out to Jennifer Cook at jcook@saafdn.org

FAQs

Interested individuals can apply here. Yes, this is the same place you would go to submit a grant application. You will need to create a new user account if you don’t already have one to access the application.

We will select up to 24 applicants.

The program is designed to be relational – with that in mind we intentionally planned for all the sessions to be in person. They will not be recorded. Keeping in mind safety and COVID-19 positivity rates, some class sessions may be moved to a virtual format if deemed necessary.

Yes. Due to the relational nature and foundation of building trust within the cohort, it is expected that Fellows participate in all class sessions. We suggest you hold the session dates on your calendar now in case you are selected.

The fee is due once your application has been accepted and participation in the Equity Fellowship is confirmed. This is not an application fee. There is no fee to apply.

For all other questions, please contact Jennifer Cook or Jane Paccione.
Jennifer Cook
Jennifer Cook
Director of Strategy and Impact
Jane Paccione
Managing Director of Collective Impact, SALSA
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