The CUE MODEL
The CUE Racial Equity Fellowship is a year-long experience designed for practitioners committed to catalyzing systems change in Chicago. Each cohort of 15-20 Fellows serves as collective strategists for one another, sharing their diverse perspectives from working in government, media, research, advocacy, organizing, philanthropy, and more. Together, they build a shared analysis of the city we love, through learning about Co-design, Racial Equity Impact Assessments (REIA), Co-governance, power mapping, and more, while developing racial equity projects for their own organizations.
The CUE FEllow
CUE Fellows are leaders, innovators, disruptors, and healers of all different kinds. We look for Fellows to come into this work with:
Clarity
Clear in their analysis of equitable systems change
Courage
Courageous catalysts and drivers of positive outcomes
Collaborative
Collaborative, generative thought partners
Commitment
Committed to racial equity and wiling to have difficult conversations about racism
Driven
A driven leader with a deep love for Chicago
THE cue CUrriculum
CUE is a critical reflective learning community. Our best learning happens through relationships and action. We cultivate a community of practitioners with shared frameworks, strategies, and tools to create change.
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Our Fellowship creates opportunities to analyze, explore, and implement:
Racial equity frameworks
to set a shared vision of equity, highlighting the Racial Equity Impact Assessment (REIA).
policy tools
to study and address racial disparities in our communities.
civic change strategies
that have been successful in the past.
Community organizing
to put our values into practice.
Selection Process
CUE Fellows are innovators, disruptors, and healers of all different kinds. Candidates are evaluated on their individual leadership, project concept, and organizational partner. Evaluation is conducted by CUE staff and Fellowship alumni through a written application and Selection Day, a collaborative, scenario-based interview process with other candidates.
Interested candidates are encouraged to apply for the CUE Racial Equity Fellowship. In addition, CUE also accepts nominations from its network of stakeholders. Nominated candidates will receive an invitation to complete the Fellowship application. As part of accepting to be part of the Fellowship, selected candidates must commit to monthly full-day trainings.
Important Dates
October 13
January 6
March 6
Selection Day
may 2027
Announcement
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november 10
january 19
Application Closes
March 2027
Finalist Notification
June 2027
Fellows Welcome Dinner​
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December 9
February 26
Selection Day
April 2027
Fellows Onboarding
JULY 2027
Fellowship Program Begins
The racial Equity project
As bell hooks reminds us, “one of the most vital ways we sustain ourselves is by building communities of resistance, places where we know we are not alone.” At CUE, we cultivate this community as a space to reimagine systems, envision together, and develop new ways to move our city forward.
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Fellows are expected to define a Racial Equity Project to reimagine a policy, program, or practice through a racial equity lens. Promising projects develop an approach that has the potential to serve as a new model for the field or sector and addresses a racial equity challenge that shifts power to those most impacted.
PAST CUE FELLOWSHIP PROJECTS
1
Deepening Political Analysis in Philanthropy
This pilot program fosters a deeper understanding of power and its role in systemic change. The program equips leaders to challenge harmful norms and advance a more just philanthropic sector that supports BIPOC communities' self-determination and addresses the sector's role in maintaining racial and economic inequities.
2
Chicago Public School’s Non-Citizen Advisory Council
This project aims to establish the Non-Citizen Advisory School Board for the CPS Elected School Board, so that non-citizen families and community members can have their voices heard and advocate for non-citizen students.
3
Building a Survivor-Centered Chicago
This project aims to increase civic engagement between Chicago City Council Members and survivors most impacted by gender-based violence in order to develop policies and solutions rooted in survivors’ lived experiences.
Partner organization
For the CUE Fellowship, our learning community extends beyond the Fellow to the partnering organization. The approach is for the Fellow’s racial equity project to be embedded in the organization’s ongoing work as part of the institution’s priorities.
Each applicant must have a pre-existing relationship with the partnering organization (as a board member, staff member, or longstanding collaborator). This shared commitment between the Fellow and the organization is essential to ensure the project’s lasting impact.​
We are looking for partner organizations that are helping reshape Chicago's civic institutions through:
DECISION-MAKING
Partner organizations have the power to influence and reimagine policies, programs, or processes within campaigns, government, or law.
NARRATIVE-SHAPING
Partner organizations have the power to shape narratives in the arts, media, philanthropy, or research.
MOBILIZING
Partner organizations have the power to mobilize in advocacy, coalitions, or organizing.
pARTNERSHIP fee
The partner fee for the Racial Equity Fellowship helps CUE provide each Fellow with professional instructors and facilitators, a coach, staff support, and technical assistance. Partner organizations that have a candidate selected for the CUE Fellowship contribute to the cost of the program on a sliding scale based on the organization's annual operating budget.
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Our FELLOWS Say
