Two Paid Civic Engagement Opportunities

Fri, 19 Sep 2025 14:36:44 -0400

See below for two different opportunities for students.

LEADERSHIP, ENGAGEMENT & ACTION FOR DEMOCRACY 250 FELLOWSHIP

The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge and Democracy House is inviting students to apply for the Leadership, Engagement & Action for Democracy (LEAD) 250 Fellowship, a new civic fellowship program for college students focused on nonpartisan democratic engagement and leadership.

LEARN MORE & APPLY

LEAD 250 Fellowship participants will:

Join a cohort of peers from across the US who care about democracy and are working to strengthen democracy in their communities.

Develop and enact a project in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Participate in monthly cohort meetings in 2026 and receive:

Project support,

Leadership development,

Skills training,

Up to $500 in project funding.

Receive a certificate upon completion of the program and be part of an alumni community.

The priority application deadline is Sunday, Sept. 21 (final deadline: Sept 30). Contact Catherine Fish (cat@civicnation.org) with any questions.

UMBC PUBLIC STORIES LAB STORYTELLING SCHOLARSHIP

The Storytelling Scholarships for the 2025-2026 academic year have been announced. The application, which can be accessed here, is intended for UMBC students (both undergraduate and graduate) to apply for a $500 scholarship to support storytelling research and praxis. The deadline to submit for the 2025-2026 academic year is Friday, October 17th; scholarship recipients will be contacted if further information about their project is requested and final scholarship decisions will be made by November 15th.

The Public Stories Lab engages and supports a broad variety of public storytelling research and praxis. We encourage applications from students across UMBC colleges (COEIT, CNMS, CAHSS, Social Work, Erickson School) and campuses (UMBC Catonsville, Shady Grove). Projects might include digital storytelling, podcasting, story mapping, oral histories, immersive storytelling, public storytelling performances, oral storytelling traditions, visual storytelling (animation, comics, zines), data stories, and more!

Scholarship recipients will be expected to attend one mentoring session with PSL mentors and other scholarship recipients and share their storytelling project (finished or in progress) at the PSL Storytelling Mini-Fest at the end of the Spring 2026 semester. The Public Stories Lab (PSL) is a collaborative and innovative hub for faculty, students, and staff to co-construct knowledge and to bring relationships and stories to the center of research and pedagogy; proposals for this scholarship should align with the mission of the PSL.

If you have any questions before you submit, please email Charlotte Keniston (ckenist1@umbc.edu), or Sarah Jewett (sjewett@umbc.edu).