Soros Equality Fellowship for Individual Leaders in the United States

The Soros Equality Fellowship seeks to support individual leaders influencing the racial justice field. They understand the unique role an individual can play in rejecting old paradigms and presenting an affirmative vision for an inclusive multiracial democracy. They invite applicants to be bold, innovative, and audacious in their submissions. The aim of the Fellowship is to be flexible and open—a space to incubate new ideas, promote risk-taking, and develop different ways of thinking that challenge and expand the existing assumptions. A successful project should identify a challenge and propose a critical intervention that will meaningfully address the systems that reinforce inequities and discrimination in the United States.

Through this Fellowship, Open Society aims to provide a network of leaders, representing the diversity of experiences, with the resources to address racial inequality and the space they need to imagine a more equitable future.

Funding Information

• Fellows will typically receive a roughly $130,000 stipend over the 18 month fellowship to support expenses related to the project. These award amounts are all-inclusive and are are intended to cover a fellow’s living expenses, project related expenses, travel, conference fees, health insurance, etc. They currently do not provide additional funds beyond the fellowship award (they do, however, cover any costs associated with attending fellowship-related conferences, gatherings, or meetings organized by the fellowships program).
• The purpose of the fellowship is to support individuals; therefore the program will only cover an individual’s expenses and the project must be the creation of the individual applicant and confer a professional benefit to that individual. These fellowships should not be seen as a proxy for organizational grants. If a project is housed within an organization, it is up to the applicant to make clear how their submission is separate and apart from the existing work of that organization. The fellowship does not fund enrollment for degree or non-degree study at academic institutions, including dissertation research. Grants to fellows are considered public information and except for limited situations, the fellow’s name and project description will be included in Open Society’s audited financial statements, as per IRS regulations.

Eligibility Criteria

• Fellowship Term and Time Commitment
  • Applicants must be able to devote at least 35 hours per week to the project if awarded a Fellowship; and the project must be the applicant’s only full-time work during the course of the Fellowship.
• Projects Based Outside the United States
  • Applicants may be based outside the United States, provided their work directly pertains to a U.S. racial justice issue and is able to demonstrate a proficiency in spoken and written English.
• Joint Applications
  • Up to two individuals can apply jointly for a Soros Equality Fellowship. However, joint applications will share one fellowship award. A joint application should be completed together as a single submission. For joint applicants, the “full-time work” requirement does not apply to each applicant. All other restrictions associated with an individual application still apply.
• Lobbying
  • Projects that include electioneering, lobbying, or other activity that does not fall within IRS 501(c)(3) guidelines will not be funded. Please carefully review the Tax Law Lobbying Rules before submitting an application. If awarded a fellowship, applicants are required to attend a training session on the tax law lobbying rules, conducted by the Open Society Foundations’ General Counsel’s Office; and must agree to refrain from engaging in restricted lobbying and political activities during the term of the Fellowship.

Ineligibility Criteria

• The program does not fund the following:
  • enrollment for degree or non-degree study at academic institutions, including dissertation research
  • projects that address racial justice issues outside the United States (applicants themselves, however, can be based outside the United States, as long as their work directly relates to a U.S. issue)
  • projects that serve as proxy for an organizational grant
  • lobbying or political activities.

For more information, visit Open Society Foundations.