TOGETHER: Race, Place, and the Environment Initiative Applications are Now Open
Application period: August 28 - September 10
Click HERE to apply
The Opportunity:
For decades, communities in Baton Rouge and its surrounding areas have been at the epicenter of industry-driven environmental racism and degradation. Foundation for Louisiana is hosting its TOGETHER initiative to bring people and groups together to respond as a united front. The TOGETHER initiative brings together a diverse group of people to strengthen and seed cohesive, coordinated, and sustainable movement work. We are seeking community members to join this group and encourage the following community members to apply:
- People with lived experience of environmental racism.
- Allies supporting the intersectional fight for racial and environmental justice.
- Individuals with experience in organizing and advocacy in the environmental and/or racial justice space.
Foundation for Louisiana’s TOGETHER Framework:
Foundation for Louisiana’s TOGETHER framework is a three-part approach to building community and resident power around issues that matter most to Louisianians. TOGETHER reflects one of the Foundation’s deeply held values: residents carry the best wisdom to build sustainable and thriving communities. To that end, we provide intensive skills and issues-based training to best position communities to make positive changes through grantmaking, advocacy, organizing, and activism.
Time Commitment:
Participants should expect to participate in a series of interactive learning and collaboration planning sessions over four weekends in September and October. Attendance in all sessions is required with exceptions made for emergencies only.
Phase 1: L.E.A.D. (Leadership, Engagement, & Advocacy Development) - a series of interactive learning sessions that highlight the expertise of local leaders who present topics such as organizing, advocacy, policy change, power building, narrative shift, and building issue-based campaigns.
Current session dates are as follows:
- Friday, Sept. 20: 1 PM-5 PM
- Saturday, Sept. 21: 10 AM-3 PM
- Friday, Sept. 27: 1 PM-5 PM
- Saturday, Sept. 28: 10 AM-3 PM
Phase 2: Equity Caucus—Participants connect their content-based learning from L.E.A.D. to the policy issues most relevant to their communities. Expect to participate in multiple learning sessions over two weekends.
Current session dates are as follows:
- Friday, Oct. 11: 1 PM-5 PM
- Saturday, Oct. 12: 10 AM-3 PM
Phase 3: Strategy– Participants deploy what they have learned in L.E.A.D and Equity Caucus in a collaborative planning process to develop a strategy for citizen-led, citizen-focused projects with an environmental justice lens that aims to shift harmful narratives, enable racial healing, and strengthen the movement.
Current session dates are as follows:
- Friday, Oct. 25: 1 PM-5 PM
- Saturday, Oct. 26: 10 AM-3 PM
Participants will be compensated for their engagement in this program. The compensation rate is $150 per session (sessions vary from 4 - 5 hours in length) up to $1200 for full participation in the initiative. Stipends will be processed to participants following each program session.
The application is available on Foundation for Louisiana’s Submittable website: www.https://foundationforlouisiana.submittable.com
Applications must be received by 5 pm on Tuesday, September 10, 2024. Unfortunately, we cannot accept or review late applications.