Social Justice Leadership Fund – Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership

The Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership’s Social Justice Leadership Fund (SJLF) supports Kalamazoo College students interested in becoming more engaged in social justice leadership issues and practice. The Fund provides opportunities to learn about a variety of social justice and human rights issues, develop new skills in organizing and leadership, and take action on the issues that prospective applicants care most about. Each student can be awarded up to $1,500 in an academic year with a lifetime capacity of $3,000 in total.

Grant funds can be used to support capacity-building experiences, advocacy efforts, partnership development, and collaborative projects that develop the leadership of the individuals applying, such as:

Conferences*
Trainings
Travel for Actions
Organizational Team Building
Housing, Travel, and General Expenses Support for Winter Internships

*Some stipulations and restrictions apply. Please contact the ACSJL at arcus.center@kzoo.edu for more information and any questions you may have.

Eligibility Criteria

Project is in alignment with the Arcus mission, vision and values
Applicant is a Kalamazoo College Student
Applicant is willing and has the capacity to engage in Arcus community for the year you receive funding, including events and trainings that align with your focus.
Applicant has the capacity to answer questions about the impact of your project and potential next steps for your work.

Submission Guidelines & Instructions

The ACSJL will accept grant applications on a rolling basis starting September 18, 2023 and closing May 6, 2024. It is important for applicants to consider the timeliness of their request. The length of time for ACSJL staff to review applications and implement grant awards is approximately one month (30 days) from the date of your grant application submission.

It is highly recommended that applicants schedule a meeting with Arcus Center staff prior to submitting an application to discuss your project and ensure that key social justice leadership concepts and practices are appropriately present in the project proposal. To schedule a meeting, contact the ACSJL at arcus.center@kzoo.edu. If awarded, applicants will be required to meet with Arcus Center staff to discuss next steps and final reporting.

SJLF Application

This Fund provides support to Kalamazoo College students who are interested in becoming more engaged in social justice leadership issues and practice, providing opportunities to learn about a variety of social justice and human rights issues, develop new skills in organizing and leadership, and take action on the issues that prospective applicants care most about. We will review applications in detail and make decisions with the utmost thoughtfulness. In the spirit of reciprocity, we encourage you to approach these questions in the same vein, so we can get to know each other, explore shared interests and hopefully support each other’s work.

Name(Required)

Email(Required)

Class Year(Required)

Major and Minor(Required)

Project Title(Required)

Anticipated Date of Project(Required)

Please provide a short description of the project(Required)

Will this project occur in multiple phases or is it a one-time event?(Required)

What social justice issue will your project address and how?(Required)

What social justice leadership skills do you hope to cultivate or enhance as a result of this project?(Required)

If your project was fully realized after support, what would be the outcome? (We encourage you to dream as big as you would like)(Required)

We understand this funding will only support a piece of your work. What is the outcome you are hoping to achieve with this particular support and how will it get you closer to achieving your fully realized outcome mentioned above?(Required)

An important aspect of Arcus support lies in the impact of how what we support grows social justice leaders and leadership on campus and beyond. With Arcus financial support, how will your project educate and create awareness around the social justice issues you listed above?(Required)

What impact will your project have on the broader social justice community?(Required)

How will you bring your work/project to the Arcus Center to showcase what you've learned so that you may share this important work with students on campus?(Required)

Please provide a list of planned expenses illustrating how you intend to use the funding received.(Required)