Deadline: April 12, 2021

Applications are open for the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) Fellowship for Change in Design 2021. The Fellowship is a paid, year-long, full-time, training program designed to promote and support individuals in gaining the skills, contacts, and experience to help them excel in their design careers.

The Fellow works at CUP full-time, collaborating on community-engaged design projects as part of the CUP team, working as an in-house designer, and participating in mentoring opportunities.

The Fellowship is an initiative to support the development of a pipeline of talented individuals from historically under-represented communities into the design fields, and to dismantle the systemic biases that stand in the way of their advancement as leaders in these fields. The 2021 Fellow will be selected through a competitive, juried process and will work with CUP from July 2021–June 2022.

Benefits

• The selected Fellow will receive a stipend of $40,000 (paid in monthly instalments), along with free health insurance benefits, a flexible leave policy, and a small budget for professional development activities.

Eligibility

The ideal candidate will:

• Identify as a member of community that is historically marginalized in the design professions, including but not limited to people of color; people from low-income, LGBTQ, or immigrant communities; formerly incarcerated people; and others;
• Have a background in design, particularly graphic, communication, or UI design. They believe this is a good position for a recent graduate from a design program. However, they recognize that individuals with potential to become great designers may come from a broader range of experiences. Therefore, they do not require a degree in a design field (or any degree at all). However, they do require evidence, in the form of a portfolio of images, of your skills and abilities as a designer, and your proficiency with design software.
• Be committed to social justice and racial equity.
• Have good communication skills.
• Be proficient with Adobe Creative Suite software, basic web applications, and Microsoft Office.
• Be friendly, self-directed, detail-oriented, and able to work in a collaborative environment with a broad range of partners.

Application

Applications should include:

• A cover letter saying why you are interested in the Fellowship, what you hope to get out of it, your career goals, and how you meet the Fellowship criteria;
• A current resume;
• A portfolio of your design work. They are looking for your skills to work on a range of visuals and with type. Describe the context that your projects were completed in and your role. Your portfolio will be reviewed on screen and in a print-out. Format your work so all pages can be printed out at 8.5 × 11in. (Max file size: 5 MB)
• A list of 3 references, with contact information.

Submit all materials through Submittable by Monday, April 12 at noon, EST. The application portal will close then, so if you need an extension, please email siyona@welcometocup.org in advance and they will try their best to accommodate.

For more information, visit CUP Fellowship.