Applications are now open for the 2023 #ShiftThePower Fellowship!

Are you involved in exciting, trailblazing and experimental grassroots or community-led work?

Are you interested in being part of broader efforts to shift power and build the (civil) society we want by helping to connect the dots between innovative and emergent practices around the world?

Do you want to dig into questions of “systems change” in international philanthropy and development aid with other like-minded peers?

Are you interested in connecting with others like you around the world, both to learn and share, but also to strengthen the collective voice and muscle of local actors?

If this sounds like you, then read on!

#ShiftThePower and the power and abundance of networks

#ShiftThePower is a global network of activists, practitioners and allies seeking to reimagine a system that harnesses the power of communities and advances equity, dignity and justice and which is based on shared values and movement generosity. Read the #ShiftThePower Manifesto for Change here.

Its origins lie in the emerging global field of community philanthropy, which is made up of a diverse range of community-based and community-proximate grantmaking organizations around the world, including community foundations, women’s funds, socio-environmental funds, human rights funds, community foundations and other grassroots grantmakers. More recently, its reach has expanded to include a broader cross-section of civil society allies and activists engaged in the pursuit of a “reimagined” system.

As well as advocating for change in the dominant system of international development, #ShiftThePower is about mobilizing the demand side of systems change – and a vision of a “good society” – by modelling alternative practices and structures and by inserting new voices in the mainstream development knowledge economy.

In December 2023, changemakers from all over the world will be gathering in Bogotá, Colombia at the #ShiftThePower Summit.

Who should apply to be a Fellow?

#ShiftThePower Fellows will be individuals, ideally but not necessarily, based within an organization that shares the values and ambitions of the #ShiftThePower movement.

They will be grounded in practice in their context, but curious and eager to connect with others and to weave relationships and strengthen networks. Fellows will help weave the supportive architecture that will underpin the movement, by connecting and driving solidarity and practice between and among activists, thought leaders, allies and organizations – in a cooperative model of working which draws from and is shaped by emergent practice and grassroots action.

Read more about the inaugural cohort of 2022 Fellows.

The opportunity

Fellows will commit between 8 – 12 hours a month for a nine-month period (August 2023 – April 2024). This will include independent work and regular sharing meetings with other fellows, colleagues at the GFCF and from other networks. Fellows will have a passion for connecting with peers, keeping meticulous notes, writing, blogging, social media and leveraging technology.

Fellows will:

• Be comfortable with ambiguity and embrace the challenge of engaging change and driving change within complex systems.
• Think conceptually and apply big ideas, breaking them down into everyday tools, processes, relationships and plans.
• Be excited by the possibility of challenging and exploring power dynamics and imagining new ways of working.

Fellows will be supported with stipends (to fellows’ organizations or to individuals not affiliated with an organization on a consultancy basis) and mentorship and support from the GFCF and other members of the #ShiftThePower movement. At the end of the Fellowship, Fellows will be expected to have produced something that relates to their learning journey, whether in the form of a podcast, research, a report, blogs etc., and that contributes to the larger movement as a whole.

How to apply? 

Apply through this link by 7 July 2023. For any questions, please contact Ese Emerhi at the GFCF (ese@globalfundcf.org).