Praxis Fellowship

Fellowship Location: Remote mostly-possibly hybrid in Oakland and San Francisco.

Mentor: Artistic Director: Liz Duran Boubion and Members of the FLACC Advisory Committee.

Organization description: For the last 11 years, the Festival of Latin American Contemporary Choreographers has built a legacy upon being the 1st and largest grassroots festival of its kind in the U.S., creating a platform of visibility and inclusion that amplifies the radical and traditional aesthetics of Chicanx, Latinx and Indigenous Choreographers and Culture Bearers locally and internationally. Through live performances, master classes, art talks, work-in-progress feedback showings, panel discussions, public art interventions, on-line interviews and political activism, FLACC’s contribution to the contemporary dance sector has lead important conversations about equity and inclusion, centralized the role of art and social change, and has inspired a growing movement of similar festivals for Latinx choreographers to take root in other places in the country.  

Project description:

The Archive Impact Project will provide a rich media object (ie. audio podcast, video documentary, short form videos, published articles, website interface, interactive educational guides, artist profiles) with access to a library of over 70 hours of documentation of performances, panel discussions and culture shares by over 90 FLACC artists and Culture Bearers over the years. The growing repository also includes on-going 2024 interviews, on-line presentations and workshops with new artists and community leaders based on our El Grito Podcast model from 2020.  The intention is to focus on FLACC’s achievements, its challenges and to nurture cultural alliances locally and abroad through an on-line platform accessible to all. 

The CCSRE Fellowship will include researching, editing and gathering material through the FLACC archives to create a project of the fellow’s choosing that includes, but is not limited to, a documentary film, audio podcast, short form videos, published articles, a lecture demonstration, individual artist profile page or an interactive educational guide that is accessible on our website focusing on the impact of FLACC socially, politically and artistically within the contemporary dance sector and beyond.  

The summer of 2024 will be focused on artists who are working specifically with social justice through a Latine or Indigenous lens as we approach another election year.  FLACC’s featured curated artists cover a broad spectrum of abstract to literal expression related to various  themes including:  immigration, citizenship, queer and gender politics, language liberation, personal family histories, religious oppression, indigenous rights, decolonial practices in dance, gender-based violence, the environmental crisis, public art interventions and the complexities of Latinidad in contemporary dance.

The archive and podcast project has 3 phases:

• 1st phase- Jan-March- organizing, uploading, coding content, tagging-meta data based on themes 
• 2nd phase-March-April- Creating information descriptions for public facing landing page. Securing images, choreographer. bios- Marketing
• 3rd phase-June-Sept. (10 weeks) Social Justice Focus.  weekly or monthly- programming- curating/exhibiting performances, interviews or featuring artists in the archives. Launching the archive library through El Grito 24’. 

Undergraduate Fellows will enter the process in the 2nd and 3rd Phase and may assist with various facets of the organization including providing general assistance to the directors and spearheading an Archive Impact Project of their choosing (written, video, audio, visual, educational impact project). Some opportunities within the organization are listed below:

1. Support the development of the FLACC Archives and the launching of the 2024 El Grito Podcast related to the Archive Impact Project.
2. Provide tech support where needed for building the Archive Library made accessible through the FLACC website. Support a possible partnership with a university library to co-host the FLACC archives accessible to the public. 
3. Engage and assist in a strategic planning process for FLACC as an organization to increase capacity and stability June 2024-Dec. 2025.
4. Spearhead the creation of a video documentary between 10-20 minutes in length that highlights FLACC’s Latinx and Indigenous Contemporary dance artists through research, interviews and archives.  
5. Organize a community event to premier/launch the Archive Impact Project.
6. Publish an essay or article highlighting the achievements of FLACC with written interviews with some of the key organizers and artists involved over the years.
7. Present your Archive Impact Project on one of the El Grito Episodes that provides an overview of research and documentation as it relates to FLACC’s art and activism.

Helpful experience (though not required): 

• Experience or connection to the Latinx community.
• Experience and interest in the performing arts.
• Experience in social activism, community organizing, event planning or nonprofit leadership
• Bilingual (English/Spanish)
• Technical knowledge, website building, public relations or project management
• Film/Media editing and production
• Online Archiving, Cataloging
• Excellent writing and administrative skills

Some resources and models to look to:

FLACC’s El Grito: https://youtu.be/fGRm8CMTbs4 

Hemispheric institute https://hemisphericinstitute.org/en/hidvl.html

Jacobs Pillow https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/

https://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/themes-essays/dance-society/

Fellowship Location: In-person in San Francisco

Mentor: Marisela Mares, Lead Student and Civic Engagement Organizer

Organization description:

San Francisco Rising is an alliance organization that builds the political power of working-class communities of color. Our alliance formed out of a need to organize our communities to take more power by turning our communities out to vote, providing political education to our neighbors, and demanding co-governance of those in power. We understand the problems our communities face are symptoms of a bigger system and they are not accidental. The root causes are capitalism, settler colonialism, imperialism, patriarchy, and white supremacy. Our organization has been at the forefront of carving out political power in SF to press for progressive policies alongside our alliance members, workers, and students. This includes winning free MUNI for youth, uplifting the minimum wage to $15, and fighting against recalls of progressive leaders in our city and school boards. Our movement has grown to include college students since we understand that students are workers. Organizing students is essential to winning broad victories for our working-class struggle. By organizing students, we’ve pushed for student debt relief and envision a world where all young people have access to a quality, tuition-free education.  

Project description:

This project would include assisting our Student Rising Fellowship. Our 6-week fellowship is a crash course introduction to community organizing. We support working-class students of color in building grassroots organizing skills to become campus organizers and leaders. 

Our fellowship is comprised of political education, skills building, field outreach, healing justice, and a final project. Through this project, fellows would help manage the field outreach component of our Student Rising Fellowship with the support and mentorship of our Lead Student and Civic Engagement Organizer. This would include helping train our fellows on how to conduct field outreach like canvassing, phone banking, cold calling, etc. After our fellowship concludes, there would be an opportunity to follow up with community members who are identified as leaders through this outreach. They will be required to write up an analysis and report of the data that is collected through the fellowship outreach with a summary of key takeaways from the student community.

Preferred skills and experience:

Previous experience in a political campaign or with a community organizing campaign is preferred. (ex: volunteering for a political campaign or helping with a protest)

Fellows should be comfortable with cold calling, door-to-door canvassing, and generally talking to people they do not know.

Fellowship Location: In-person in San Francisco

Mentor: Archivist Eva Martinez

Supervision: Dr. Martina Ayala

Organization description:

The Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts (MCCLA) makes the arts accessible as an essential element to the community's development and well-being.

The Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts was established in 1977 by artists and community activists with a shared vision to promote, preserve and develop the cultural arts that reflect the living tradition and experiences of the Chicano, Central and South American, and Caribbean people, and to make arts accessible as an essential element to community development and well-being.

MCCLA is a multicultural, multidisciplinary arts organization committed to the collaborative artistic vision of Latino art forms. MCCLA provides the community with an arena in which to develop new artistic skills, as well as support local and established artists that serve their community. MCCLA collaborates with other arts, social and humanitarian groups to provide the widest range of programming possible.

Our History

The MCCLA opened its doors to the public in 1977 along with the names of the founding fathers and mothers of MCCLA. Originally the building was inadequate to serve as a center but thanks to the small staff and to the dedicated group of volunteers who spend laborious hours have now attained international recognition by winning two world graphic arts biennials: Germany and Cuba and developing an art space, Galeria, Museo. Most of these improvements were completed by the first year. Due to a lack of Funding MCCLA had minimal structure since 1977. A renovation master plan has been thought of and discussed since the mid-1980s. Despite the lack of funds the quality of the program that MCCLA offers continues to demonstrate a high level of professionalism.

MCCLA’S main objectives are to present the best representative sample of contemporary and ancient artistic traditions of Latin America and to develop in the community a high degree of sensitivity and understanding of Latin American culture. To this end, throughout its 48-year history, the MCCLA has sponsored a series of local, national, and international activities and programs that helped establish it as the largest Latino cultural center in the continental United States. Many of the original projects and programs have been replicated in other parts of the United States.

MCCLA Archival Project Description:

CCSRE Undergraduate Fellow would be working closely with an archivist to catalogue over 10,000 prints from the Mission Grafica Archive.

Fellow will receive hands-on experience archiving one of the most important collections of archival prints, under the guidance of a professional archivist.  

Mission Gráfica Archive

Within our archive, we have cataloged more than 10,000 Latino/Chicano prints and posters, making it one of the most important collections in the country. With this archive, MCCLA possesses an important artistic tool to educate the general public and the Latino community, about its artist and their printmaking. The preservation of this body and work is vital to our rich Chicano and Latino cultural history, and it serves as a powerful monument not only to our culture but also to the artistic talents of our proud community.

Preferred skills:

Bilingual English/Spanish preferred.

Strong technology skills: word, database 

Attention to detail

Fellowship location: Hybridized - 70% FAJ Union City, CA office, 30% WFH 

Organization description:

FAJ (Filipino Advocates for Justice) was founded in 1973 by grassroots community leaders, students, and young people in response to the growing Filipino population in Alameda County. Filipinos are the second-largest Asian group in the county, comprising over 125,000 individuals (about 4% of the population), with the majority residing in Central and South Alameda County, including cities like Hayward, San Leandro, Union City, Fremont, and San Lorenzo. Our mission is to build a strong and empowered Filipino community by organizing constituents, developing leaders, providing services, and advocating for policies that promote social and economic justice and equity.

Project description:

Fellows will participate in FAJ’s 6-8 week Summer Leadership Development Program, gaining hands-on experience working with Transitional Age Youth (TAY) and Youth Components. They will also lead or join cohort-driven projects, deepening their leadership skills. The hybrid internship requires 70% in-person presence at our Union City office and surrounding areas in Alameda County, with 30% work-from-home flexibility.

Designed to foster leadership growth, the program allows fellows to focus on areas of personal interest while engaging in community wellness and social justice initiatives. Fellows will co-facilitate workshops, assist with outreach, and support campaigns as part of the TAY cohort, aimed at strengthening the Filipino community. Potential projects include housing advocacy, social justice initiatives, and creative engagement efforts like social media outreach or intergenerational workshops. These activities will run in tandem with the Summer Leadership Development Program but are focused on the TAY cohort's initiatives.

The program encourages proactivity, with fellows shaping their goals and projects. FAJ staff will provide support and guidance, including opportunities for a capstone project (e.g., workshop, zine, ePortfolio) to showcase their contributions and learning.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Flexible, empathetic, self-motivated, and resourceful, with a strong willingness to learn, collaborate, and accept feedback.
• Passion for mentoring youth and advocating for the well-being of working-class Filipinos, BIPOC communities, and underserved populations.
• Commitment to social justice, equity, and inclusion, with an understanding of the challenges faced by immigrant, queer, and marginalized communities.
• Strong interest in community organizing, leadership development, and social justice, especially within Filipino and immigrant communities.
• Alignment with FAJ’s core values: BAYANIHAN (solidarity), KAPWA (interconnectedness), and MAKIBAKA (collective power).
• Ability to work collaboratively with diverse groups and foster an inclusive environment.
• Flexibility to travel within Union City and Alameda County, with evening hours likely. Personal transportation may be more efficient, though public transportation stipends are available.

Location: In-person, mainly 2981 24th Street, 348 Precita Ave. When notified, project-specific locations.

Organization description:

Precita Eyes Mural Arts Education Program offers opportunities to all ages, toddlers, children, youth and adults to develop their individuality and confidence through creative and mural art activities by experiencing unifying, positive, social interaction through collaboration.

This coming year, we have mural projects in schools, resource centers, like Felton Institute, Thornhill High School, Alta Loma Middle School, Dolores Huerta Elementary Restoration, Annual Festival and private commissions. In addition to our Mural Projects, we offer art classes to our community at our legacy building. Guided private and public tours are offered at our store and visitors center where we sell mural merch and paint. Precita Eyes Muralists bring art into the daily lives of people through a collaborative process which allows them to celebrate their beauty, discover their creativity, and reflect their concerns, joys and triumphs.

Potential projects:

FELTON INSTITUTE: Weekend schedule, climbing scaffolding 3 tiers, managing paint station, assisting lead artist on mural project at 2730 Bryant St #1, San Francisco, CA 94109. Task may include gridding artwork, mounting color studies, managing paint station, leading paint distribution with community, assisting with painting, to apply matte varnish and to take digital documentation of the project.

THORNTON HIGH SCHOOL: Schedule TDB, climbing scaffolding, working with student leaders and their professors with painting a mural, assist lead artists grid the wall, manage paint station, lead paint distribution with the school community, assist with painting, engage in teaching painting techniques, keep to schedule at 115 First Avenue, Daly City, CA 94014 with lead artist, to apply protective varnish and to take digital documentation of the Project.

ALTA LOMA MIDDLE SCHOOL: Schedule TBD, climbing scaffolding, working with student leaders and their professors with painting a mural, assist lead artists grid the wall, manage paint station, lead paint distribution with the felton community, assist with painting, engage in teaching painting techniques, keep to schedule at 116 Romney Ave, South San Francisco, CA 94080 with lead artists, to apply protective varnish and to take digital documentation of the project.

ALTA LOMA MIDDLE SCHOOL CONSULTATION: Schedule TBD, climbing scaffolding, to work with the student leaders to develop themes and images for a mural composite at 116 Romney Ave, South San Francisco, CA 94080 for a 2 hour workshop, to work with one of our muralists to develop an inscale mock-up at 2981 24th St, San Francisco CA 94110, to present to the school board, to grid the wall, to transfer the design on to the wall and to take digital documentation of the project.

Dolores Huerta Elementary Restoration: Schedule TBD, climbing scaffolding, to use archives to reproduce artwork with a lead muralist and assistant at 65 Chenery St, San Francisco, CA 94131, to grid wall, to transfer design, to paint, to apply protective varnish and to take digital documentation of the project

Annual Festival: Schedule TBD, reaching out to community members, following up on community partners, assisting with event planning, grant writing, assist day of 9am-6pm at Precita Park, San Francisco CA 94110

Preferred skills and experience:

- Bilingual (preferred: spanish)

- Artist (preferred: painter)

- Experience with event planning/ coordination

- Google Suite

Fellowship location: 1014 Torney Avenue, Suite 111, San Francisco, CA 94129. Predominantly In-Person, some hybrid work.

Organization description:

Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project – QWOCMAP uses film to shatter stereotypes and bias, reveal the lived truth of inequality, and build community around art and activism. Through funding, creating, exhibiting, and distributing high-impact films that reflect the lives of queer women of color (cisgender & transgender), and nonbinary, gender nonconforming, and transgender people of color of any orientation, we transform the world's most expensive art form into a tool for liberation.

We actively invest in, develop, and nurture the creativity and leadership of African Descent/Black, Asian, Chicanx/Latinx, First Nations/Native American/American Indian/Indigenous, Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander, Southwest Asian, North African/Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, South Asian (SWANA/AMEMSA), and multi-ethnic lesbian, bisexual, and queer women, and nonbinary, gender nonconforming, and transgender people of color, and intersex, and Two Spirit people of color.

QWOCMAP envisions a world where LBTQIA+ BIPOC leadership transforms power through film. Following the wisdom of the Combahee River Collective - that the liberation of Black lesbians necessitates dismantling all forms of oppression - we advance cultural resistance and renewal through filmmaker-activists who reshape power structures and create futures where justice and equity are the norm.

By changing who is behind the lens, QWOCMAP fundamentally transforms what appears onscreen. Their "Film AS Movement" framework moves us beyond limited, stereotypical depictions toward just, compelling narratives grounded in narrative sovereignty, authentic authorship, community accountability, and ethical practice.

Project description:

QWOCMAP celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2025!

To honor this legacy for the future, we're mixing current artistic programs with new events that focus on our Filmmakers & the Film Field, our Community Partners & our Coalitions, Supporters & Solidarity Networks.

CCRSE Fellows will work on projects such as screenings and panel discussions, launch events, and our 21st annual International Queer Women of Color Film Festival June 13-15. Depending on skills and interests, Fellows will support QWOCMAP through narrative power and communications, planning and logistics, grassroots resource mobilization, or film production & editing. All of this work is grounded in QWOCMAP's values - social justice as praxis and intentional way of life rather than simply theory, all of it grounded in LBTQIA+ people of color community.

QWOCMAP has an annual summer recess for the month of July, wherein our entire office is closed. During this recess, fellows generally focus on research for, or working on, their project, and have regular check-ins with a QWOCMAP staff member.

Fellowship location: Oakland and Hybrid (in-person/remote)

Organization description: 

Freedom Community Clinic is a community-based integrative medicine ecosystem based in Oakland, CA that has brought Whole-Person Healing to 7,500+ people in the Bay and beyond, prioritizing the healing of Black, Brown, and immigrant communities. For our story and more information, visit our website and Instagram.

Project description: 

Students would work with senior directors at FCC to partake in program implementation, research and evaluation of these programs in 2025 and can be done through a qualitative, quantitative, and/or community-based participatory research approach.

Promotoras de Sanacion -- immigrant health, integrative health, community health, Spanish-speaking only

The Promotoras de Sanación (Healing Promoters) is a Freedom Community Clinic (FCC) leadership program that began in May 2023. The Promotoras de Sananción (Promotoras), are Fruitvale community members who act as stewards providing holistic medicines for the Fruitvale community and have daily outreach and service events. Since launching, the Promotoras program has trained over 30 women in holistic healing practices and community health outreach. All participants identify as women, mother, first generation immigrant and are Spanish and/or Mam speaking. Each Promotora cohort includes approximately 20 participants, who are enrolled in the program for approximately 3 months from June to August. Select participants of the Promotora program are able to graduate into the Promotora in Residence Program, which includes 4-6 participants. Participants are enrolled in the program for up to 1 year. Elements of the Promotora program include weekly workshop trainings, community outreach, relationship building and medicine making.

Freedom School for Healing & Justice -- youth health, integrative health, community health

The Freedom School for Healing & Justice is a flagship community apprenticeship program of the Freedom Community Clinic that cultivates the next generation of Black, Brown, and immigrant community healers in Oakland, CA ages 18-35. Trainees are formally trained in basic herbalism, CPR/first aid, Reiki I & II, health education basics, and mental health first aid training. Group dialogues and reflection assignments will also draw upon somatics, self-reflection, Black feminism, critical race theory, ethnic studies, cultural anthropology, political science, sociology, and more to integrate healing with historical & contemporary social justice frameworks. Each cohort includes approximately 30 participants, who are enrolled in a summer intensive for approximately 3 months from June to August and applied community apprenticeship from Sept-Dec. 

Skills/Languages/Experiences preferred:

• Interest in community health and public health
• Interest in holistic healing and underserved communities
• Interest in the intersections of social justice and public health
• Definite plus if fluent in Spanish

Summer 2023 Community Partner Placements

Chinese Progressive Association, SF

Founded in 1972, the Chinese Progressive Association (CPA) educates, organizes and empowers working class Chinese immigrant communities in San Francisco. We build collective power alongside other oppressed communities for the sake of demanding and achieving better living and working conditions for all people. Our current work includes organizing with high school students in SFUSD, working families living in SROs, and immigrant voters across SF. 

CPA is looking for motivated individuals who can support CPA’s ever-evolving base building work and support advancing CPA’s labor and student rights campaigns. Working-proficient Cantonese and/or Mandarin language skills are preferred for candidates interested in our Tenant Worker Center work. Previous volunteer experience working with youth is preferred for candidates interested in our Youth Organizing work. Potential project teams include the following:

• Movement Building: A CCSRE Fellow placed with CPA is also asked to participate in Seeding Change’s National Fellowship for Asian American Organizing & Civic Engagement. Seeding Change’s key strategies include 1) building a national pipeline for the next generation of Asian American organizers, 2) creating an infrastructure for Asian American grassroots organizing, and 3) experimenting with building power and scale for our movements toward a vibrant social and economic justice movement. Additional details regarding this will be shared during the host site interview process.
• Youth Movement of Justice & Organizing (MOJO): CPA organizes with primarily (but not exclusively) Chinese American high school students in SF United School District to create safe and equitable schools for all students in SF. MOJO develops high school student leaders through political education workshops, organizing skills training, and opportunities to put into practice what they learn through projects and ongoing campaign work.
• Tenant Worker Center: CPA organizes with working Chinese immigrant families to improve living and working conditions for all of SF. With grassroots leadership, CPA conducts regular worker rights outreach, supports exploited workers to file wage claims and organize workplace campaigns, mobilizes families living in SROs to advocate for city resources towards safe and affordable housing, and builds the power of working Chinese immigrant families in SF through membership base building.

El Centro Legal de la Raza Youth Law Clinic

Founded in 1969, Centro Legal de la Raza is a legal services agency protecting and advancing the rights of low-income, immigrant, Black, and Latinx communities through bilingual legal representation, education, and advocacy. By combining quality legal service with know-your-rights education and youth development, Centro Legal de la Raza ensures access to justice for thousands of individuals throughout Northern and Central California. Centro Legal’s multifaceted approach to legal advocacy on behalf of the most vulnerable amongst us is purposefully designed to ensure access to justice. To this end, we pride ourselves in the three key components of our work: creating leadership, empowerment, and equity in our work. We focus on leadership by providing guidance and mentorship to the next generation of attorneys and judges of color through our Youth Law Academy and Diversity Legal Pipeline programs. The Youth Law Academy is a three year program for Oakland high school students designed to build confidence and understanding of the path to college. Recognizing the need for more diversity in the legal profession we ultimately hope to inspire our students to seek a career in the law for the betterment of our community. 

Potential Projects:

The Youth Law Academy (YLA) fellows will collaborate with the YLA team and provide administrative support for the YLA program, primarily in the areas of student data tracking, financial aid education, teaching of curriculum, coordination of activities, and mentorship. As part of this work, fellows will support coordinating and executing summer programming for high school students, assist with the planning and coordination of various events such as YLA Retreat, SAT Test Prep course, mentor mixers, courthouse visits, law office visits, and professional development series. In addition, fellows will work with our team to update and develop curriculum, and assist with program strategy & design; engaging all high school students with one-on-one advising sessions that include creating a culturally sensitive approach. 

Stop AAPI Hate (Asian American Research Initiative)

In response to the alarming escalation in xenophobia and bigotry resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the AAPI Equity Alliance (AAPI Equity), Chinese for Affirmative Action (CAA), and the Asian American Studies Department of San Francisco State University launched the Stop AAPI Hate coalition on March 19, 2020. The coalition tracks and responds to incidents of hate, violence, harassment, discrimination, shunning, and child bullying against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. Our approach recognizes that in order to effectively address anti-Asian racism we must work to end all forms of structural racism leveled at Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color.

POTENTIAL PROJECTS:

Fellows will collaborate with the Stop AAPI Hate team on researching and writing reports that promote Asian American Studies/Ethnic Studies (AAS/ES) in K-12 schools.  As part of this work, fellows will participate in leading youth campaigns and working with high school students to organize around AAS/ES.  Lastly, fellows will engage in quantitative and qualitative data analysis and report-writing on Stop AAPI Hate data. Fellows work with a team of interns who meet weekly to discuss SAH’s overall efforts, their role in these initiatives, and questions they may have. Language skills in Chinese (simplified and traditional), Korean, Vietnamese, and/or Hmong are highly encouraged.

San Francisco Rising

San Francisco Rising builds the political power of working-class communities and communities of color in San Francisco to lead the way for a government that centers racial, economic, environmental, and education justice. We are an alliance of grassroots organizations led by people of color, and a political home for San Franciscans who care about justice and sustainability. We build power through deepening multiracial solidarity, educating and mobilizing voters, working closely with policy makers, organizing, and developing leaders of color.

Given our political context, as well as the crises facing our planet and our economy, young people need to be front and center of any movement that is forging our path forward for future generations. Students and young people are already taking leadership across the country, and San Francisco Rising is part of this movement. We cultivate the leadership of young people of color to organize, shape, and determine California’s future.

Through this Summer Fellowship, we will be focused on transformative civic engagement, building a political analysis on how predator debt is and what it would take to make college free in the state of California. Through a 6–8-week program, we will meet 4-5 days each week with different skill / organizing leadership workshops, political education sessions featuring local organizations, daily phone banking or door-knocking to connect to our communities, community building with students of color, and writing an op-ed about education justice. Additionally, we will be organizing a mass action or community event to uplift our campaigns, stories, and the truth of students.

Additional blog for students more curious about an update on our campaign: https://www.sfrising.org/the-student-loan-system-was-never-meant-to-work-for-us 

We welcome all students who are open to learning about organizing, building student power, and seeking to build community within the Bay Area.

Somos Familia

Somos Familia was founded by two friends from the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area) with LGBTQ+ Latinx children in 2007 to reach out to other families. Somos Familia's mission is to build leadership in our Latinx families and communities to create a culture where people of diverse genders and sexual orientations can thrive.

Students will have the opportunity to develop and implement resources for the community, including an education workshop series and support Somos Familia film/video projects, in collaboration with Somos staff and volunteers. We extend a welcome to energetic, self-motivated, and deadline-driven individuals who are open to sharing their strengths, learning new things, and building their skills in a team environment.  Excellent writing and interpersonal communication skills, and an interest in public speaking and training are a plus. Interest or personal connection to the mission of Somos Familia is desirable, but not mandatory.  Bilingual skills in Spanish and English are preferred, but not required.

As a part of our communications, community education, and community engagement teams, students will:  

• Attend and assist in coordination of Somos Familia education activities, including training of trainers and community workshops
• Assist with outreach efforts, including phone banking, social media, and email
• Assist in the development of content and logistics coordination for community support groups, workshops and trainings

Queer Women of Color Media Arts Project

Stay tuned for details.

The Transgender District

As the first legally recognized transgender district in the world, the Transgender District creates a thriving urban environment that fosters the rich history, culture, legacy, and empowerment of Transgender people and its deep roots in the southeastern Tenderloin neighborhood. We are committed to leading community-informed efforts to stabilize and economically empower Transgender and GNC folks through ownership of homes, businesses, historical and cultural sites, and safe community spaces. Within our founding are core values of creating an effort that facilitates the healing, economic empowerment, and cultural enrichment of transgender people in the Tenderloin district - who have and are plagued by social and structural violence, marginalization, disenfranchisement and abject poverty - and yet maintain a fiery resistance and unfaltering resilience. 

As a social justice fellow for the Transgender District, students will:

• Support Associates with administrative duties, programming, events planning, and other miscellaneous tasks as needed
• Support Program Associates with ongoing efforts for the 2023 Entrepreneurship Accelerator Program
• Assist with administrative duties in preparation for Transgender History Month and our annual Riot Party
• Support community outreach efforts and expand community engagement for Name and Gender Marker Change clinics

Students should: 

• Have interpersonal skills to engage with community members. 
• Be passionate about the Transgender District's mission and bring an optimistic, can-do attitude to the team

Filipino Advocates for Justice

FAJ was founded in 1973 by established grassroots community leaders and students/young people in response to the growing numbers of Filipinos settling in Alameda County. Filipinos are the second largest Asian population in Alameda County at approximately 125,000+ (4% of the county), the majority of whom live in Central and South Alameda County in cities like Hayward, San Leandro, Union City, Fremont and San Lorenzo.

We have offices in Oakland and Union City, a staff of 20+ (including 7 Tagalog speakers) and a 9-member board of directors. Our mission is to build a strong and empowered Filipino community by organizing constituents, developing leaders, providing services, and advocating for policies that promote social and economic justice and equity.

Fellows will be participating in our 6-8 week long Summer Leadership Development Program alongside our TAY (Transitional Age Youth) component and Youth Component. Some possible projects that may come up for fellows alongside our Summer program are leading youth workshops, participating in various organizing campaigns, community outreach, and creating social media content.

It is preferred if potential fellows are familiar with the mission and values of Filipino Advocates for Justice or have a personal connection to the organization but not required. Bilingual skills in Tagalog (and/or other Filipino dialects) and English are beneficial but not mandatory.

Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts

Stay tuned for details.

Transgender Gender-Variant & Intersex Justice Project (TGIJP)

TGI Justice Project is a group of transgender, gender variant and intersex people – inside and outside of prisons, jails and detention centers – creating a united family in the struggle for survival and freedom. We work in collaboration with others to forge a culture of resistance and resilience to strengthen us for the fight against human rights abuses, imprisonment, police violence, racism, poverty, and societal pressures. We seek to create a world rooted in self-determination, freedom of expression, and gender justice. Our primary focus are low-income transgender women of color - folks who are in prison, formerly incarcerated and/or targeted by the police. 

TGIJP works alongside currently and formerly incarcerated transgender, gender-variant, and intersex (TGI) people, advocating for them during incarceration and through the re-entry process. TGIJP’s legal team works to build relationships with people inside of prisons and jails, provides direct advocacy against abuses experienced inside carceral institutions and through re-entry

The fellow may assist with:

• Responding to mail: the summer fellow would review and respond to incarcerated members writing via non-legal mail.
• Internal Directory: at TGIJP we receive many requests for support from incarcerated and free members outside the scope of what we are able to provide, and regularly make referrals to organizations across the state and country. Unfortunately, not all organizations are TGI competent. The summer fellow would work with TGIJP’s Legal Department to update contact information for organizations we currently refer to, and identify new organizations that could support our community. Aspects of this project:
  • Outreach to potential community providers.
  • Connecting with community members and established partners to understand the lay of the land.
  • Interviews with TGIJP’s members: The summer fellow could connect with TGIJP’s members on the inside and outside to get personal feedback on the organizations, as organizations may falsely claim to be TGI competent
• Resource accessibility: at TGI JP we receive requests for legal resources from incarcerated members filing representing themselves. We are developing jurisdiction specific resources that contain the law and template court documents. The summer fellow would work with TGI JP staff to identify what makes this information accessible to TGI members. Aspects of this project:
  • Develop a questionnaire for feedback from TGI JP members.
  • Conduct interviews with TGI JP members.
  • Draft a report of findings.

Recommended skills/background:

• Excellent research skills
• TGI cultural competency 
• A stellar racial justice lens 
• An understanding of and commitment to abolition 
• Experience and/or passion for working in Black led organizations 
• Experience with Excel

Eligibility

• Availability: This is a full-time summer research/internship opportunity for Summer Quarter 2023. You will also be required to take a spring quarter course, and to present at a fall quarter research symposium. 
• Time Commitment: Full-time is defined as 35+ hours per week in 10 consecutive weeks, i.e., it is the student's primary activity that quarter.
• Students must be enrolled as an undergraduate in Summer 2023; they must also be enrolled in Spring 2023 and Autumn 2023, the quarters immediately preceding and following the fellowship quarter.
• Outside Commitments and Concurrent Course Enrollment: 
• Students may not receive both academic units and a stipend for any single project activity.
• Funds may not be used to directly support honors thesis research. Honors students should seek funding through UAR’s Student Grants Program.
• Funds may only support current Stanford undergraduates. Co-terminal MS or MA students may be supported only if their undergraduate degree is not conferred before the conclusion of the project.
• Students are permitted to enroll in up to five units of coursework during the Flex Term in which they are engaging in a full-time project.
• Full-time recipients are permitted to work at an additional internship, job, or volunteer position for no more than 10 hours per week. If a student is enrolling in coursework, then the student is not permitted to engage in any additional internship/work/volunteer opportunities.
• Students who receive a full-time grant cannot enroll in five units and work 10 hours per week during a Flex Term synchronously.
• Please note violations of Undergraduate Fellowship program policies are also violations of the Fundamental Standard and may be referred to the Office of Community Standards.