The Chicago United for Equity Fellowship is a year-long program for racial justice leaders across the city to strengthen their racial equity practice and strategize for a brighter future.
The CUE team is delighted to announce that applications are now open for the 2024 CUE Fellowship! Now in its sixth year, we’re looking for the next cohort of racial justice leaders ready to tackle the most pressing equity issues in Chicago.
The CUE Fellowship is a year-long program designed to bring together 15-20 leaders across civic sectors to strengthen their racial equity practice. This community of change agents will learn new frameworks, policy tools and civic change strategies to apply to their very own Racial Equity Projects.
We encourage Fellows to bring their hearts, minds, and bodies into this work. Our diverse perspectives allow the CUE community to analyze policy issues from all angles and develop strategies to address and alleviate harm to those most impacted. It’s this process, building relationships and taking meaningful action, that makes the CUE Fellowship curriculum so effective.
Here’s an overview of what you need to know to apply for the 2024 CUE Fellowship!
TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF
Your resume and CV are sure to impress us, but what about your lived experience? CUE Fellows come from all over Chicago, some born and raised, some transplanted from other cities or countries. They are parents and mentors, artists and writers, renters and homeowners, gardeners and cooks. Each fellow brings their particular story, interests, blessings, and burdens to racial equity work. It’s what motivates them professionally and why they want to become a CUE Fellow.
The CUE community is all about relationship building, so it’s important Fellows show up with an understanding of who they are.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR SPONSOR ORGANIZATION
Each Fellow is sponsored by their host organization and partners with them to develop and execute their Racial Equity Projects. We are looking for sponsor organizations who are reshaping Chicago’s civic institutions through decision-making, narrative shaping, and/or mobilizing. We want to know how you are a part of the organization and how your work contributes to making an impact on the city.
Fellows work closely with their sponsor organization throughout the Fellowship, so it’s important Fellows already have a strong, working relationship with the organization prior to applying.
TELL US ABOUT THE COMMUNITIES THAT SUSTAIN YOU
Who are your people? How do you engage with your communities? The fight for racial justice and equity for a love for our city and each other. CUE believes in Civic Love, the myriad of ways we show support for our coworkers, neighbors and community leaders. Fellows have experience working with community and know that creating mutual support powers us to accomplish big things.
CUE owes its impact to the mighty networks within it. Fellows come into this work with a strong understanding of how to give and receive in community.
LET’S TALK ABOUT THE MOVEMENT FOR RACIAL JUSTICE AND YOUR RACIAL EQUITY PROJECT
CUE understands this work is a part of a long tradition of advocacy, organizing, and disrupting the status quo. Where is the movement growing and where is it missing opportunities to create real change? We want to know your perspective on our journey towards racial justice.
Our collective historical lens informs our present condition, and our collective vision of the future informs the actions we take right now in Chicago. What policy, program or process in the civic space do you want to see reimagined or redesigned? How can you and your organization/institution address it? How can the CUE Fellowship help address it? And how does this project help move our entire city towards justice for all?
To learn more about the CUE Fellowship, download the program guide and sign up for an upcoming info session and meet some of our Fellows. If you have questions about the Fellowship or would like to nominate someone for this opportunity, please contact Maritza Bandera.
UPDATE 12/12/23: The application deadline has been extended to Tuesday, January 16 by 11:59 PM.