Applications for the 2023 Equity and Feedback Fellowship Are Open

March 1, 2023 | Evident Change and Feedback Labs

What Is the Equity & Feedback Fellowship?

The goal of the Equity & Feedback Fellowship is to identify a diverse group of 10 leaders in the nonprofit sector with an interest and commitment to listening and acting on feedback to advance equity in their work. The Equity & Feedback Fellowship is a one-year fellowship that provides support and group mentorship to mid-level professionals in US-based organizations as they become feedback leaders and advocates of equity. 

The Equity & Feedback Fellowship partners, Evident Change and Feedback Labs, aim to create a fellowship experience that involves an investment to create deep impact. 

Who Is an Equity & Feedback Fellow?

The Equity & Feedback Fellowship seeks to create a cohort of fellows from across the United States and US territories with an interest in impacting equitable outcomes for those at the heart of their work through good feedback practices. 

Applicants should have permanent attachment to a 501c (nonprofit organization). Applicants may be employed by an existing nonprofit organization in good standing or may be the founder/director of a self-created organization with official nonprofit status in their respective state/territory. Attachment to the organization (hereafter “host organization”) may be on a full-time or part-time basis. The host organization has to have been officially incorporated for at least one year prior to the application deadline. Applicants from all 501c designations are welcome to apply (this includes nonprofit philanthropy organizations and philanthropy support organizations). Applications are not limited to 501c3 service organizations. 

Applicants should have 5–10 years of experience impacting individuals, organizations, and/or communities. We know that there is research that shows that women and members of racially marginalized groups are less likely to consider anything other than full-time paid (mostly W-2) employment as “experience,” leaving out part-time employment, contract work, volunteer work (even senior level, such as board membership), informal leadership at work (e.g., committee membership or self-initiated projects), self-directed projects, entrepreneurship, internships (paid or unpaid), or lived experience as “experience.” However, for the Equity & Feedback Fellowship, we are interested in all the ways that you have acquired, developed, and mastered knowledge/content areas, skills, and abilities.

We understand that there are many barriers to access and support in professional development, particularly for individuals with identities that are marginalized in professional spaces such as BIPOC individuals, 2SLGBTIQ+ individuals, persons with a disability, neurodivergent individuals, and individuals with a history of institutionalization (e.g., incarceration, immigration detainment, inpatient treatment, or chronic hospitalization). There are a number of identity-based complexities involved when individuals self-evaluate or self-select out of professional opportunities. If you question whether or not you would be a “good fit” for the Equity & Feedback Fellowship, please engage in an initial conversation with the fellowship contact, Annie Grier at annie@feedbacklabs.org, prior to submitting your application. 

How Do the Fellowship Partners Define Equity?

The Equity & Feedback Fellowship is a joint venture between Evident Change and Feedback Labs. While each organization has used different sources to craft their respective definitions of equity, they are in agreement about the importance, strategies, outcomes, and impact of equity work. 

Evident Change uses the Race Equity Tools definition of equity, which can be found here. You can learn more about Feedback Labs’ definition of equity here. 

Apply to be a Equity & Feedback Fellow by March 15, 2023

The Opportunity

The Equity & Feedback Fellowship is a one-year fellowship to support individuals to:

• Gain confidence and support in talking about feedback, its benefits to the nonprofit sector, and how it is key to advance equity in their work;
• Learn about the implications of dominant culture in the workplace and broader nonprofit sector;
• Receive training and tools in the areas of equity, diversity, and inclusion to build competency and skills for working effectively across diverse dimensions of identity and understand how feedback can play a role in advancing a more equitable society; 
• Become a part of a broader feedback community.

Timeline

• February and March 2023: Applications accepted
• March 15, 2023: Deadline to submit application
• March and April 2023: Candidate interviews
• April 2023: Fellows selected; fellows complete pre-work
• May 1–2, 2023: In-person feedback crash course (expenses paid)
• May 2023 – April 2024: Monthly virtual cohort sessions; presentation at LabStorm; blog publication

Host organizations will also receive a grant of $5,000 to cover the fellow’s time to participate in fellowship activities.

Selection Criteria 

The Equity & Feedback Fellowship provides support to mid-level professionals in US-based nonprofit organizations as they become feedback leaders and advocates of equity. You should apply if you are:

• Active as a nonprofit leader and have shown an interest in incorporating equity into your work;
• Seeking to improve feedback processes by applying an equity lens to how you listen and act on feedback from those at the heart of your work;
• Willing to share your knowledge and experiences from five (5) to ten (10) years of *experience. (Please see our note above about Who Is an Equity & Feedback Fellow).

Fellow Expectations

Individuals selected for this opportunity will be part of a year-long cohort of growing leaders who will learn from and support each other. Candidates selected to be part of this cohort agree to:

• Complete designated pre-work assigned by Evident Change and Feedback Labs prior to in-person crash course (approx. 5 hours);
• Attend the in-person Feedback Crash Course in Jacksonville, FL on May 1−2, 2023 (expenses paid);
• Attend virtual meetings (90 minutes) with your cohort and actively participate;
• Serve as a featured presenter in a 2023 or 2024 Feedback Labs LabStorm;
• Create a blog post about the work you’re doing to share with the feedback and equity community.

Please see our Equity & Feedback Fellows website for more information on expectations.

Next Steps 

To apply, please complete the application  by 11:59:59 ET on March 15, 2023. The application questions are listed below for planning and preparation, but submissions will only be accepted through the formal application. Applicants selected to move forward in the application process will be invited to participate in a short interview. 

Application Questions 

*Your answers to these questions must be submitted through the official application here. They are listed below to help you plan.

1. What is your name?
2. What are your pronouns?
3. What is your email address?
4. What is the name of your nonprofit organization?
5. What is the URL/website address of your nonprofit organization?
6. How many years of *experience do you have in the nonprofit sector?
7. How do you describe your work to someone who may have no knowledge or experience with what you do? (2–4 sentences)
8. How do you define “equity”? (1–3 sentences)
9. How do you define “feedback”? (1–3 sentences)
10. In what ways do you apply an equity lens to your work or community involvement (e.g., promote fair and inclusive workplace policies and resources, create opportunities and/or support marginalized communities, reduce unconscious bias, inform decisions, etc.)? (2–4 sentences)
11. In what ways do you receive and apply feedback from those at the heart of your work (e.g., co-designing programs, facilitating participant advisory boards, surveying participants, etc.)? (2–4 sentences)
12. What knowledge or experiences would you hope to contribute to a group of colleagues seeking to improve equity and feedback skills? (2–4 sentences)
13. What knowledge or skills do you hope to learn from a group of colleagues with experience in applying equity and feedback skills? (2–4 sentences)
14. What is an equity issue that you would like the fellowship to help you or your organization address? (2–4 sentences)
15. What is a feedback challenge that you would like the fellowship to help you or your organization overcome? (2–4 sentences)
16. What would a successful fellowship experience look like to you? (2–4 sentences)
17. What identities impact the way that you “show up” and/or experience a learning environment, witness representation of identities that are important to you, experience belonging, and/or interact with your peers? (Optional) 
18. If you answered the questions above, what can we do to affirm those identities during the fellowship? (Optional)
19. Is there anything else that you would like to add for us to consider?
20. If selected for this fellowship, I confirm that I have read the Fellow Expectations and that I will be able to meet these expectations during the timeframe of the fellowship. 
21. If selected for this fellowship, I confirm that I will be able to attend the Feedback Crash Course in Jacksonville, Florida from May 1–2, 2023 (the price of your trave. and accommodations will be covered as part of your fellowship).

Still have questions? Feel free to reach out at annie@feedbacklabs.org and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can!

This blog post originally appeared on the Feedback Labs website.