The Bertha Challenge Fellowship Program
Bertha Foundation is excited to announce the launch of the second Bertha Challenge: an opportunity for activists and investigative journalists to spend a year deep-diving into one pressing social justice challenge. Successful applicants will receive non-residential paid fellowships and project budgets to work independently and together to:
INVESTIGATE the causes of and solutions to the annual Bertha Challenge
AMPLIFY their findings to a wider targeted audience
CONNECT with diverse stakeholders for information, support and sustainable impact
What We Offer
At Bertha we know that many activists and investigative journalists are already doing groundbreaking work to investigate, amplify their work and connect with each other. The Bertha Challenge aims to support this work by providing time to work exclusively on a focused project, the spaces in which to connect with a diverse global cohort of Bertha Fellows and partners, and the resources to develop tangible products speaking directly to the Challenge question.
Our fellowships offer:
Income for each Bertha Fellow for one year, not exceeding USD $60,000 and commensurate with the applicant’s current or equivalent salary at the host organization - ideally a media outlet for an investigative journalist and an NGO, community organization or social movement for an activist.
Project funding of up to USD $10,000 for each Bertha Fellow to produce a culminating product that responds to the question posed by the Bertha Challenge. Directed toward a specified target audience, this could be a series of articles, videos, podcasts, games or drama productions, for example. Bertha Fellows working together will have the option to pool their project funding to produce on a larger scale.
A connect fund specifically designed to encourage collaboration between fellows.
Training through regular webinars, with topics on a range of issues from current debates around the climate crisis and ecological collapse to methods of investigation, methods of communicating findings through news media, storytelling, popular education and more.
Peer and mentor support in the form of regular virtual check-ins with Bertha staff and a cohort of Bertha Fellows. Like many fellowships, the Bertha Challenge aims to provide space for personal development. However, we also believe that work is most impactful when it is done in collaboration with peers conducting similar work on a sustained basis.
Network development through the global cohort of Bertha Fellows and exposure to relevant partners within and beyond the Bertha network, including our legal partners in the Bertha Justice Network, many of whom are at the forefront of creating legal strategies to address the climate crisis. Bertha can also support in strengthening local networks.
Global convenings of Bertha Fellows and selected guests at the start (July 2020) and end (June 2021) of the Bertha Challenge.
All fellowship applications must include a local host organization willing to act as a financial and oversight host. This could be an organization within which potential applicants already work or another appropriate organization willing to host applicants for the year. Bertha Fellows and host organizations must share a commitment to Bertha Challenge objectives and conditions.
The Bertha Challenge will provide space for leaders in their fields to develop professionally. A further aim is to fuel productive debates and solidify networks that will last beyond the one-year project cycle.
Applying
Pairing Activists and Investigative Journalists
We will give priority consideration to investigative journalists and activists that apply to the Challenge jointly. Joint Applicants must fill in individual applications, but make reference to their partner applicant, including where their work will overlap and how they will support one another’s projects.
Applicants unable to find a partner and who want to apply independently are still encouraged to do so.
For more information click "LINK TO ORIGINAL" below.
This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:
http://berthafoundation.org/shorthand_story/the-bertha-challenge/?fbclid=IwAR0k_St7B7ELSRAXyBRO9g7nN3UNR6Ib38u7AU4Zx05gnbNecEv9-JoK4wU#group-The-Challenge-4HrhUZZnBn