Youth Action Institute: Now Taking Applications through September 7!

If you haven’t already, take a few moments to review the program overview above.

Three key points to remember:

• Fellows meet every Tuesday and Thursday from 4:30 to 6:30 pm. Fellows must attend all meetings.
• Fellows also have an additional one-on-one meeting with staff every week, at a time that they choose.
• Fellows are paid $15 per hour for a maximum of 5 hours per week.

The application asks you a series of questions about yourself and your experiences. You can answer these questions by writing or recording your responses.

Application Questions

• What is an issue in the world that you feel really passionate about? Why? What is an element of this issue that you want to learn more about?
• What is something you have enjoyed learning about on your own? Tell us about the process.
• Why is community important to you? What are some examples of how you have shown up for your community?
• We understand that people have lots of different feelings about virtual learning and participation. What has virtual learning been like for you? What have you enjoyed? What has really not worked for you?
• We understand that your schedule can be unpredictable and become busy. What strategies will you use to make sure that you still attend Institute meetings regularly and keep us aware of your schedule?
• Choose one:
  • Short answer: What accomplishment are you most proud of? Tell us about it. Why is it important to you? What did you learn?
  • File upload: Submit something that represents you and the skills and talents you will bring to the Youth Action Institute. This is your chance to show us more about your personality and skills.

Complete the Application.

You must also have someone complete a recommendation form for you. This recommendation can come from anyone who knows how you work or think, as long as they are not a family member.

Recommendation Questions

• What is your favorite thing about the applicant?
• What would you say is their most frustrating quality?
• Can you talk about a time when you both worked together on something? What was it like for the both of you? (You can have worked on something in a formal setting, like school or on a team, or informally, like cooking together or finding your way after getting lost.)
• What is the applicant passionate about? (What are some of the things that they could talk about for hours?)
• What makes them special to you?

Complete the Recommendation.

After you submit your application, staff will review your application. We will decide, based on your application and recommendation, whether to invite you to a group interview. In a group interview, we will get to know more about how you work in a group and what your strengths are in collaborative work. Group interviews are also opportunities to get to know other applicants.

In this 60-minute interview, you and up to 7 other people will participate in 3 group activities.

• Icebreaker: In this activity, we will ask you a few fun questions about your experiences or your opinions. We will also ask you to bring a personally significant object with you, and share about its significance with the group.
• Decision-Making: In this activity, we will put you in a group with up to 3 other people. You will have 20 minutes to discuss a scenario with your group and come to a decision that everyone can agree with.
• Presenting: After discussing with your group members, you will then have to create and present a summary of both the decision you made as a group and the important points in the decision-making process. Every group member must speak as part of the presentation.

Based on your group interview, staff will then decide whether to invite you to an individual interview. In a 30-minute individual interview with Adanna (she/her pronouns) or Dee (they/them pronouns), we will get to know more about you, your interests, your strengths, and your goals. We will also answer any questions you have about the fellowship.

You will be asked the following questions, as well as some questions sourced from your application and recommendation information and from your group interview:

• Which of your identities are most important to you? Why?
• What are some of the values you hold as an individual? What values are important in your communities?
• Tell us about a time when you apologized to someone else. What part of your apology was most important to you? What part do you think meant the most to the other person? What did you learn about yourself through apologizing?
• How do you know when you’re showing up well in a group?
• How do you want to grow while being in this program?
• What are you excited to learn about through this program?
• What helps you feel smart, confident, and comfortable when meeting new people?

After the individual interview, we will make final decisions on your application and let you know those decisions by September 19.