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Award Programs and Fellowships for Individuals, Volunteers and Organizations
Awards for Individuals
Volunteer Awards
Awards for Organizations
Fellowships

Fellowships

Fellowship: Alan Thomas Fellowship - The Carold Institute

Description:
The Carold Institute Alan Thomas Fellowship to Promote Civil Society and Voluntary Action has been established to promote greater public understanding of the significance of voluntary action and to strengthen leadership for civil society and democratic/ voluntary action. The fellowship is intended to provide a sabbatical to a leader in the NGO/non-profit sector, who would not normally have access to a sabbatical leave. It is hoped that the award will free the recipient, at a transitional moment in his or her professional development, to make a significant contribution to the NGO/non-profit sector through research and possible publication or dissemination in the medium of the applicant’s choice (e.g. film, exhibit, performance piece).

The fellowship is designed:
To support leaders who will advance the centrality of learning as a foundation for healthy civil society
To strengthen networks among civil society leaders and social movements
To add to the understanding of related issues of policy and practice
To capture practitioners’ knowledge
To generate activities that will have a multiplier effect

Eligibility:

The Carold Fellowship will be awarded in the first year (2008) to a candidate in mid-career (normally with at least 15 years of relevant NGO/non-profit experience). Applicants must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada, and may participate in the Fellowship in either English or French. We welcome qualified applications in either French or English, and particularly encourage applications from visible minorities, Aboriginal peoples and persons with disabilities. Applicants must agree to the conditions of participation and must be able to make a full-time commitment during the period of the Fellowship. An expression of commitment and support by the NGO/non-profit organization with which the applicant is, or has been affiliated, including a contribution (financial or in-kind) is a normal condition of the award.

Nomination/Application Process:
Applicants must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada, and must be able to commit to the conditions of participation, making a full-time commitment during the period of the Fellowship. An expression of commitment and support by the NGO/non-profit organization with which the applicant is, or has been affiliated, including a contribution (financial or in-kind) is a normal condition of the award. Applicants must have a minimum of 15 years related experience.

For more information on how to apply, and to obtain a copy of the Guidelines for Proposals, please contact Juliet Huntly at jhuntly@kos.net.

Deadline for Applications: Annually in February

Fellowship: Echoing Green 2008 Fellowship Program

Description:
Echoing Green is a global social venture fund that identifies, funds, and supports visionary leaders with bold new ideas for social change. Our Fellows create groundbreaking public service organizations that are innovative, replicable, sustainable, and committed to catalyzing positive social change. Over the past 19 years, we have invested over $22 million to help more than 400 social change agents in 30 countries.

Echoing Green believes in thinking without boundaries. We support organizations domestically and internationally. Our Fellows work in all public service areas including but not limited to education, youth development, health, housing, environmental justice, civil and human rights, economic development, social justice, the arts, and immigration. Furthermore, Echoing Green has funded some of the most successful new organizations across these areas – from Teach For America to City Year, from Earth Rights International to the Gay-Straight Alliance Network.

What is the EG Fellowship?

Through our two-year Echoing Green Fellowship program, we provide start-up capital and technical assistance to help new leaders launch their organizations and build capacity. We offer:

A grant of up to $90,000, paid in four equal installments over two years
A health insurance stipend
Conferences led by organizational development experts
Access to technical support and pro bono partnerships to help grow your organization
A community of like-minded social entrepreneurs and public service leaders

What the EG Fellowship is not:

Echoing Green does not fund scholarships, research, faith-based organizations, or lobbying.

Eligibility:

Echoing Green funds compelling and original ideas for addressing and resolving the root causes of tough social challenges. We look for applicants who display a solid understanding of the issues they plan to address and demonstrate the leadership potential to bring their vision to life. Before applying, applicants should ask themselves:
Are other organizations already doing similar work?

Have you thoroughly researched the topic?

Are you knowledgeable about the other existing players in the field?

Do you have both a vision and a plan for executing the vision?

Do you expect significant outcomes (tangible and measurable change) to result from your work?

Will your organization create the scale of outcomes necessary to effect the change you envision?

Is it your personal and professional plan to make the building of this organization a full time commitment for at least two years?

Nomination/Application Process:
Leaders over the age of 18 from any nation, working in any field are eligible to apply. Find out whether you qualify by taking the pre-application questionnaire at www.echoinggreen.org/ and then apply online.

If you have any questions, please email apply@echoinggreen.org.

Deadline for Applications: Applications for the 2009 fellowship begin in the fall of 2008

Fellowship: Ashoka Fellowship - Ashoka

Description:
Ashoka Fellows are leading social entrepreneurs who we recognize to have innovative solutions and the potential to change patterns across society.

Ashoka Fellows must undergo a rigorous search and selection process in which they demonstrate the following attributes:
• A big new idea
• Creativity
• Entrepreneurial quality
• Social impact of the idea
• Ethical fiber Ashoka Fellows-who are found all across the world, and come from a variety of backgrounds-all share a unique entrepreneurial quality: to pursue their vision relentlessly until it becomes a reality.

Eligibility:
In reviewing candidates, Ashoka applies one knock-out test and four criteria.
Knock-out test: a new idea
Ashoka cannot elect someone to the fellowship unless he or she is possessed by a new idea, a new solution or approach to a social problem that will change the pattern in a field, be it education, health, or any other, at the national level (or across a broader region for small countries).

Ashoka does not invest in new schools or clinics per se. There must be a vision of reform for the education or health care system that promises to change schools or clinics all across the candidate's country or a broader region.

Criterion 1: Creativity
Successful social entrepreneurs must be creative both as goal-setting visionaries and in the essential follow-up problem solving. They must use their creativity day after day, year after year, to succeed. Creativity is not a quality that suddenly appears. It is almost always apparent from youth onward.

Criterion 2: Entrepreneurial Quality
Ashoka is looking for individuals who are, by temperament, that rare phenomenon, the first class entrepreneur. We are looking for men and women who are possessed by an idea; who will persevere refining, testing, and then spreading or marketing the idea until it has become the new pattern for society as a whole.

Criterion 3: Social Impact of the Idea
Successful social entrepreneurship needs not only an extraordinary champion to develop an idea but a powerful, practical new idea that will spread on its own merits. Therefore, this criterion, unlike the other three, focuses on the candidate's idea, not the candidate.

Criterion 4: Ethical Fiber
This is a fundamental criterion for three reasons:
Social entrepreneurs introducing major structural changes in society, in effect, have to ask a great many people to change how they do things. If people do not trust the entrepreneur, the likelihood of success is significantly reduced.

The world already has enough untrustworthy public leaders. Ashoka does not want to add to the supply. The quality of Ashoka's collaborative fellowship is dependent upon the free exchange of information and insights and trust of each other.

In addition to the "knock out test" and the four criteria, Ashoka has some specific guidelines for its programs:
• The program must be in the non-profit or civic sector. Ashoka does not support business or commercial ventures
• Fellows must be willing to work full-time to implement their proposed idea.
• Ashoka is not a grant-making foundation. We do not support research or special projects, staff positions or scholarships.
• Typically, Ashoka Fellows are founders of their organization. We do not usually elect co-founders or partners to fellowships, except in very rare cases. Ashoka does not support individuals whose organizations are working to support other non-profit organizations (e.g. teaching a curriculum; coordinating a coalition of organizations).
• Ashoka does not support individuals who work in one location (in one school or one rural health clinic).
• Fellows cannot discriminate, either individually or through their organizations, against any person or organization on the basis of national origin, race, sex, religion, age, social status, or any other non-performance based criterion.
• Fellows cannot advocate nor promote any act of violence, individually or through their organizations.
• Fellows cannot represent, or promote any political party, individually or through their organizations.
• Fellows cannot advocate a particular political, religious, or other ideological system.

Nomination/Application Process:
To nominate yourself: If you feel that you meet all of our criteria, please send us a short description (less than 1 page) of you and your program. In your email, please indicate
• Whether your organization is a non-profit,
• If you are the founder,
• How your work differs from that of others in your field.

Please email us at canadainfo@ashoka.org to nominate some one else: If you would like to nominate a social entrepreneur who fits our criteria, please fill out and email us the 'Canada Nomination Form' (available online) to canadainfo@ashoka.org

Deadline for Applications: Ongoing.

Fellowship: Muttart Fellowship - the Muttart Foundation

Description: The Muttart Fellowships program provides a sabbatical year to senior managers of social-service charities. During their year away from their agencies, they undertake special projects of their own design. These projects are meant to inform the broader charitable sector. The Foundation's grants provide the salary and benefit costs of Fellows and make available an allowance for expenses incurred in connection with the project. Starting with Fellowships awarded in 2005, one Fellowship will be reserved for a senior manager in the early learning and child care field. This award, to be called the Bettie Hewes Fellowship, is designed to allow the Fellow to work on a project that improves public understanding or deals with issues affecting early learning and child care.
At the end of the Fellowship year, the Fellow returns to his or her agency and must remain there for at least one year.

Eligibility:
If you can answer "yes" to each of the following questions, then you're eligible to apply for the Muttart Fellowships program:
• Are you employed by a social-services charity in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories or Yukon?
• Has your organization adopted the Code of Ethical Fundraising and Financial Accountability developed by the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy?
• Are you the senior staff person in your organization OR do you report to the senior staff person and have senior-management responsibilities?
• Have you been in your current position for at least two years?
• Have you worked for non-governmental charities for at least six years in total during your career?
You won't be eligible if, at the time of your application, you work for an organization that is primarily a funding body or one that is primarily involved in education, medical or health care or religion. Employees of government or government-connected bodies are also ineligible.

Nomination/Application Process: The application needs to include the following information:
• the completed application cover sheet that is available for download
• a brief biography, including highlights of your career.
• a description of your project, including a statement of what "products" or services will result.
While it is not mandatory, we encourage applicants to discuss with their boards (or board chairs) the intention to apply. Since the board will have to accept certain responsibilities if the Fellowship is awarded, we believe it is best if its members know of the possibility from the outset.

Deadline for Applications: December 30 of every year. (If December 30 falls on a weekend, the deadline is the first business day after December 30.)

Find a bad link or have a suggestion for an award program that we're missing? Please let us know by sending an e-mail to marina@charityvillage.com.

Fellowship:	Alan Thomas Fellowship - The Carold Institute
Description:	The Carold Institute Alan Thomas Fellowship to Promote Civil Society and Voluntary Action has been established to promote greater public understanding of the significance of voluntary action and to strengthen leadership for civil society and democratic/ voluntary action. The fellowship is intended to provide a sabbatical to a leader in the NGO/non-profit sector, who would not normally have access to a sabbatical leave. It is hoped that the award will free the recipient, at a transitional moment in his or her professional development, to make a significant contribution to the NGO/non-profit sector through research and possible publication or dissemination in the medium of the applicant’s choice (e.g. film, exhibit, performance piece). The fellowship is designed: To support leaders who will advance the centrality of learning as a foundation for healthy civil society To strengthen networks among civil society leaders and social movements To add to the understanding of related issues of policy and practice To capture practitioners’ knowledge To generate activities that will have a multiplier effect
Eligibility:	The Carold Fellowship will be awarded in the first year (2008) to a candidate in mid-career (normally with at least 15 years of relevant NGO/non-profit experience). Applicants must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada, and may participate in the Fellowship in either English or French. We welcome qualified applications in either French or English, and particularly encourage applications from visible minorities, Aboriginal peoples and persons with disabilities. Applicants must agree to the conditions of participation and must be able to make a full-time commitment during the period of the Fellowship. An expression of commitment and support by the NGO/non-profit organization with which the applicant is, or has been affiliated, including a contribution (financial or in-kind) is a normal condition of the award.
Nomination/Application Process:	Applicants must be Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada, and must be able to commit to the conditions of participation, making a full-time commitment during the period of the Fellowship. An expression of commitment and support by the NGO/non-profit organization with which the applicant is, or has been affiliated, including a contribution (financial or in-kind) is a normal condition of the award. Applicants must have a minimum of 15 years related experience. For more information on how to apply, and to obtain a copy of the Guidelines for Proposals, please contact Juliet Huntly at jhuntly@kos.net.
Deadline for Applications:	Annually in February

Fellowship:	Echoing Green 2008 Fellowship Program
Description:	Echoing Green is a global social venture fund that identifies, funds, and supports visionary leaders with bold new ideas for social change. Our Fellows create groundbreaking public service organizations that are innovative, replicable, sustainable, and committed to catalyzing positive social change. Over the past 19 years, we have invested over $22 million to help more than 400 social change agents in 30 countries. Echoing Green believes in thinking without boundaries. We support organizations domestically and internationally. Our Fellows work in all public service areas including but not limited to education, youth development, health, housing, environmental justice, civil and human rights, economic development, social justice, the arts, and immigration. Furthermore, Echoing Green has funded some of the most successful new organizations across these areas – from Teach For America to City Year, from Earth Rights International to the Gay-Straight Alliance Network. What is the EG Fellowship? Through our two-year Echoing Green Fellowship program, we provide start-up capital and technical assistance to help new leaders launch their organizations and build capacity. We offer: A grant of up to $90,000, paid in four equal installments over two years A health insurance stipend Conferences led by organizational development experts Access to technical support and pro bono partnerships to help grow your organization A community of like-minded social entrepreneurs and public service leaders What the EG Fellowship is not: Echoing Green does not fund scholarships, research, faith-based organizations, or lobbying.
Eligibility:	Echoing Green funds compelling and original ideas for addressing and resolving the root causes of tough social challenges. We look for applicants who display a solid understanding of the issues they plan to address and demonstrate the leadership potential to bring their vision to life. Before applying, applicants should ask themselves: Are other organizations already doing similar work? Have you thoroughly researched the topic? Are you knowledgeable about the other existing players in the field? Do you have both a vision and a plan for executing the vision? Do you expect significant outcomes (tangible and measurable change) to result from your work? Will your organization create the scale of outcomes necessary to effect the change you envision? Is it your personal and professional plan to make the building of this organization a full time commitment for at least two years?
Nomination/Application Process:	Leaders over the age of 18 from any nation, working in any field are eligible to apply. Find out whether you qualify by taking the pre-application questionnaire at www.echoinggreen.org/ and then apply online. If you have any questions, please email apply@echoinggreen.org.
Deadline for Applications:	Applications for the 2009 fellowship begin in the fall of 2008

Fellowship:	Ashoka Fellowship - Ashoka
Description:	Ashoka Fellows are leading social entrepreneurs who we recognize to have innovative solutions and the potential to change patterns across society. Ashoka Fellows must undergo a rigorous search and selection process in which they demonstrate the following attributes: • A big new idea • Creativity • Entrepreneurial quality • Social impact of the idea • Ethical fiber Ashoka Fellows-who are found all across the world, and come from a variety of backgrounds-all share a unique entrepreneurial quality: to pursue their vision relentlessly until it becomes a reality.
Eligibility:	In reviewing candidates, Ashoka applies one knock-out test and four criteria. Knock-out test: a new idea Ashoka cannot elect someone to the fellowship unless he or she is possessed by a new idea, a new solution or approach to a social problem that will change the pattern in a field, be it education, health, or any other, at the national level (or across a broader region for small countries). Ashoka does not invest in new schools or clinics per se. There must be a vision of reform for the education or health care system that promises to change schools or clinics all across the candidate's country or a broader region. Criterion 1: Creativity Successful social entrepreneurs must be creative both as goal-setting visionaries and in the essential follow-up problem solving. They must use their creativity day after day, year after year, to succeed. Creativity is not a quality that suddenly appears. It is almost always apparent from youth onward. Criterion 2: Entrepreneurial Quality Ashoka is looking for individuals who are, by temperament, that rare phenomenon, the first class entrepreneur. We are looking for men and women who are possessed by an idea; who will persevere refining, testing, and then spreading or marketing the idea until it has become the new pattern for society as a whole. Criterion 3: Social Impact of the Idea Successful social entrepreneurship needs not only an extraordinary champion to develop an idea but a powerful, practical new idea that will spread on its own merits. Therefore, this criterion, unlike the other three, focuses on the candidate's idea, not the candidate. Criterion 4: Ethical Fiber This is a fundamental criterion for three reasons: Social entrepreneurs introducing major structural changes in society, in effect, have to ask a great many people to change how they do things. If people do not trust the entrepreneur, the likelihood of success is significantly reduced. The world already has enough untrustworthy public leaders. Ashoka does not want to add to the supply. The quality of Ashoka's collaborative fellowship is dependent upon the free exchange of information and insights and trust of each other. In addition to the "knock out test" and the four criteria, Ashoka has some specific guidelines for its programs: • The program must be in the non-profit or civic sector. Ashoka does not support business or commercial ventures • Fellows must be willing to work full-time to implement their proposed idea. • Ashoka is not a grant-making foundation. We do not support research or special projects, staff positions or scholarships. • Typically, Ashoka Fellows are founders of their organization. We do not usually elect co-founders or partners to fellowships, except in very rare cases. Ashoka does not support individuals whose organizations are working to support other non-profit organizations (e.g. teaching a curriculum; coordinating a coalition of organizations). • Ashoka does not support individuals who work in one location (in one school or one rural health clinic). • Fellows cannot discriminate, either individually or through their organizations, against any person or organization on the basis of national origin, race, sex, religion, age, social status, or any other non-performance based criterion. • Fellows cannot advocate nor promote any act of violence, individually or through their organizations. • Fellows cannot represent, or promote any political party, individually or through their organizations. • Fellows cannot advocate a particular political, religious, or other ideological system.
Nomination/Application Process:	To nominate yourself: If you feel that you meet all of our criteria, please send us a short description (less than 1 page) of you and your program. In your email, please indicate • Whether your organization is a non-profit, • If you are the founder, • How your work differs from that of others in your field. Please email us at canadainfo@ashoka.org to nominate some one else: If you would like to nominate a social entrepreneur who fits our criteria, please fill out and email us the 'Canada Nomination Form' (available online) to canadainfo@ashoka.org
Deadline for Applications:	Ongoing.

Fellowship:	Muttart Fellowship - the Muttart Foundation
Description:	The Muttart Fellowships program provides a sabbatical year to senior managers of social-service charities. During their year away from their agencies, they undertake special projects of their own design. These projects are meant to inform the broader charitable sector. The Foundation's grants provide the salary and benefit costs of Fellows and make available an allowance for expenses incurred in connection with the project. Starting with Fellowships awarded in 2005, one Fellowship will be reserved for a senior manager in the early learning and child care field. This award, to be called the Bettie Hewes Fellowship, is designed to allow the Fellow to work on a project that improves public understanding or deals with issues affecting early learning and child care. At the end of the Fellowship year, the Fellow returns to his or her agency and must remain there for at least one year.
Eligibility:	If you can answer "yes" to each of the following questions, then you're eligible to apply for the Muttart Fellowships program: • Are you employed by a social-services charity in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories or Yukon? • Has your organization adopted the Code of Ethical Fundraising and Financial Accountability developed by the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy? • Are you the senior staff person in your organization OR do you report to the senior staff person and have senior-management responsibilities? • Have you been in your current position for at least two years? • Have you worked for non-governmental charities for at least six years in total during your career? You won't be eligible if, at the time of your application, you work for an organization that is primarily a funding body or one that is primarily involved in education, medical or health care or religion. Employees of government or government-connected bodies are also ineligible.
Nomination/Application Process:	The application needs to include the following information: • the completed application cover sheet that is available for download • a brief biography, including highlights of your career. • a description of your project, including a statement of what "products" or services will result. While it is not mandatory, we encourage applicants to discuss with their boards (or board chairs) the intention to apply. Since the board will have to accept certain responsibilities if the Fellowship is awarded, we believe it is best if its members know of the possibility from the outset.
Deadline for Applications:	December 30 of every year. (If December 30 falls on a weekend, the deadline is the first business day after December 30.)