Prozdor and the Jewish Women’s Archive are thrilled to announce the pilot year of our Rising Voices Fellowship!

The fellowship is open to female-identified teens in grades 11 and 12 who have a passion for writing, a demonstrated concern for current events, a commitment to improving their writing skills, and a strong interest in Judaism—particularly as it relates to issues of gender and equality.  These fellows will write 8-12 monthly posts for “Jewesses with Attitude,” the Jewish Women's Archive blog.

What does the fellowship look like? 

• The fellowship will launch with a half-day kick-off meeting at Hebrew College in Newton, MA, on October 13, 2013.  At this meeting, staff from Prozdor and JWA will review the goals of the program, facilitate community building, and begin teaching the techniques for crafting quality blog posts.

• Following the kick-off, the cohort will meet monthly throughout the year, including both virtual and in-person meetings. (Because these meetings will take place at Prozdor in Newton, MA, we are limiting our pilot year to New England-based participants who are able to travel to and from our meetings.)

• Tools and techniques for improving one’s writing and understanding of social media will be at the core of each of these meetings. Between writing, peer review, and preparation for upcoming meetings, participants will be asked to allocate two to three hours a week to the program.

•  Jordyn Rozensky, JWA's Blog Editor, will work independently with each of the fellows on her writing. The ability to accept and learn from edits, as well as a commitment to improving writing skills, is crucial for success in the program.

• Participants who successfully complete the fellowship will be invited to serve as mentors for the next year’s fellows.

To apply participants will be required to submit a blog style writing sample of 300-400 words, a short essay exploring what the applicant hopes to get out of the program, a sample tweet, and the names of two references.

Applications are due on September 16^th and interviews with finalists will be conducted (via phone or Skype) the week of September 23^rd. The fellowship will be awarded on October 4^th. The final selection of the fellows will be done by a panel of successful writers in their 20s and 30s.

If you have any questions, please let us know. Learn even more here and apply here!

All the best,