ALL Chicago Fellowship aims to bring diverse leadership to the school board and education advocacy roles and build coalitions that center young people’s needs. We’re investing in leaders who can change the system.
So many people across Chicago want our city’s young people to succeed, and the ALL Chicago Fellowship brings those people together to learn, develop deeper understandings, and explore possibilities as part of a collective extended experience.
We recruit a diverse class that mirrors the demographic makeup of Chicago’s students and is representative of Chicago’s elected school board districts. We seek out fellows who care about educational equity, who want to dismantle racial and economic injustice, and who are deeply rooted in the communities that they serve.
Ultimately, the ALL Chicago Fellowship is more than a program. It’s a collective space for people seeking to be transformative voices for their community and city.
Becoming an ALL Chicago Fellow
Are you passionate about strengthening schools, advancing educational equity, or stepping into local leadership?
The Academy for Local Leadership Fellowship is a 7-month leadership program designed for aspiring school board members, education advocates, and civic leaders who are ready to deepen their understanding of local systems, strengthen their leadership skills, and build meaningful impact in their communities.
Application Timeline
The application has 3 parts.
Part 1: General information about you.
Part 2: Long-form responses about your experiences and viewpoints.
The link will be shared after we receive Part 1.
Part 3: References
We ask that each applicant have 2 people submit references on their behalf. The link will be shared after we receive Part 1.
Applications for Class 3 are closed. Stay tuned at the Academy for Local Leadership LinkedIn for future launch annoucements. If you would like to be added to our mailing list reach out to program@localleadership.org.
Criteria
To improve young people’s outcomes and build more just and equitable communities, we must invest in developing leaders who reflect the diversity of the students we serve. ALL Chicago is purposeful in building a diverse applicant pool so that the district’s school board and education leaders reflect the diversity of the district.
At ALL Chicago, we invest heavily in our members and expect that they will, in turn, invest in their own learning. To that end, you must agree to attend all the sessions and field trips and arrive on time and prepared.
While we focus on recruiting people of different backgrounds, skills, and experiences, they all share the following:
- A belief in the ability of every one of the district’s students
- A track record of positively impacting the community
- A passion for and knowledge of the community
- A willingness to learn
- A commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion
Commitment Expectations
You need 5-10 hours a week to devote to the program.
Sometimes, that is time on your own reading and preparing for group sessions or meetings, but often, that time is with the group. You must have a flexible daytime schedule to attend board meetings and school tours. After the learning program, the time commitment will vary depending on what you choose to pursue.
During our learning program, we provide a robust curriculum that includes engaging with content area experts, current and former elected officials, access to relevant research and materials, and field trip experiences. However, we expect you to be actively involved in learning by coming prepared, asking good questions, and engaging in meaningful conversations.
Additionally, every session incorporates points of reflection, where members must consider and articulate their values, how those values and their skills and experiences intersect with the work that needs to be done in our school system, and make connections between the decisions they will make as school board members or advocates and the impact of those decisions on our students and community. This is difficult and sometimes uncomfortable work, but we expect members to engage in it to serve our students better.
We also expect participants to prioritize camaraderie over competition because we know you can’t do this work successfully if you work alone. By building camaraderie within the group, members support each other on the campaign trail, in office, or serving the district’s young people as education advocates.
Finally, joining ALL Chicago is a long-term commitment. During the learning program, we help provide you with the tools needed to make change.
The real work happens after the learning program when you join in the work of the larger coalition and support each other in your individual and collective goals to build more just and equitable school systems.