Counter Speech Fellowship 2022 (Phase 2)

Application by 14th Aug 22

Founded in 2016, Young Leaders for Active Citizenship (YLAC) aims to increase the participation of young people in the policymaking process and build their capacity to lead change. Our interventions are designed to equip citizens with a better understanding of the society they live in and the challenges that it confronts. The aim is to help young people broaden their perspective, think critically about their socio-political construct, tap their leadership potential and acquire skills to create long lasting impact.

The Counter Speech Fellowship is an exceptional opportunity for teen leaders to engage with themes such as Digital Safety, Body Positivity, Teenage Wellbeing, and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. This one-of-its-kind fellowship seeks to use the internet and social media as a force for good to create unique communities around issues that matter.

The YLAC Counter Speech Fellowship with Instagram engages creative teenagers to use the power of visual storytelling and community participation to lead change. Anchored at the crossroads of arts and advocacy, the fellowship was first launched in 2017 and has since expanded rapidly.

Whether it is in the form of an introspective piece of writing, or a touching chord of music, or powerful poetry or painting, art can be a potent medium to evoke emotion, make society reflect and inspire change in people. Through the fellowship, Instagram and YLAC aim to harness this potential of art and combine it with the power of social media and active community participation in schools and neighbourhoods to make the world a better place.

As an incubator for the future generation of leaders and changemakers, the fellowship is designed as a fully funded program; it is free of cost for the students. The overall duration of engagement is two months and fellows meet every alternate week for a couple of hours. The fellowship schedule is designed in a way that it can be accommodated alongside regular school work and examinations.

Applications to Phase II of 2022 are now open. This phase is designed as a virtual engagement. All sessions will be conducted online and the program is open to applicants across India. Please follow the links below to see details and apply

Fellowship Themes

The 2022 fellowship focuses on four themes: Digital Safety, Body Positivity, Teenage Wellbeing, and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. The idea is to use the internet and social media as a force for good by creating unique communities around issues that matter to teenagers, and providing a platform for voicing concerns and advocating for changes. By giving teens a voice and building their capacity to mobilize people, we hope to create a world that is inclusive and tolerant.

Over the course of the fellowship, the Counter Speech Fellows run feeds on Instagram on the selected themes. These feeds put out creative and thought provoking content with the aim of building awareness, leading action and extending support. You can see examples of the content created by the fellows here: @counterspeechfellowship The fellows also design and implement on-ground initiatives to channel their learnings and engage with their school and local community.

Fellowship Structure Phase II, Oct – Dec 2022 The fellowship’s online version includes workshop sessions in large groups on alternate weekends and team mentorship sessions in smaller groups on alternate Thursday/ Friday evenings. Fellows attend one workshop session and one team mentorship session every fortnight. Outside the sessions, fellows create social media content on the themes allocated to them and undertake local initiatives in their community to advocate for change offline. All work is done in teams through remote collaboration during the intervening weeks. On average, a fellow is expected to commit ~10 hours per week to the fellowship. This includes workshop sessions and mentorship check-ins, as well as time spent in content creation and advocacy for the allocated themes.

Schedule

Phase II, Oct – Dec 2022 (Indian Standard Time)

Eligibility Criteria If you are studying in a school in India in grades 8th-12th, or are being home-schooled, and are between 13 to 18 years of age, you are eligible to apply to the Counter Speech Fellowship. Students who are 18 years of age but have already completed school are not eligible. Please note: If you had applied to the Apr-Jun 2022 edition of the fellowship but were not admitted, you are ineligible to re-apply in this phase. We mandate a minimum gap between attempts. Please consider applying next year. Deadlines Priority deadline: 14th August, 2022 (Sunday) Second and final deadline: 11th September, 2022 (Sunday) Applications to the fellowship will be processed in two batches. Those applying on or before the priority deadline will be eligible for early decisions. For the others, admission decisions will be announced after the final applications deadline. The Counter Speech Fellowship is a very selective program. You are encouraged to apply as soon as possible.

Fellows are given a certificate of completion at the end of the fellowship and those who demonstrate leadership and produce the best content are duly recognized.

Pillars of the Fellowship

During the two-month long fellowship, fellows run campaigns to generate momentum for change while focusing on the three core pillars of the fellowship: Awareness, Support and Advocacy.

	Awareness Building awareness is the first step in any campaign. It starts with educating oneself, conversing with others and removing taboos. To this end, fellows leverage the Instagram platform to create content around their themes. The most promising content is promoted on Instagram to reach thousands of other teenagers across the country, and the world.
	Support The fellowship themes are issues that have, in some form or the other, affected most teenagers. Any call for mobilization must therefore begin with empathy and an extension of support to those who have been adversely affected. As part of their work, the Counter Speech Fellows lend support to peers and other teenagers who reach out to them in times of distress.
	Advocacy The fellowship is a powerful platform for teenagers to reach out to key decision makers such as policymakers, educators and parents to get their opinions heard and advocate for better support systems for themselves and their communities. Each edition, fellows also work in teams to conceptualize local initiatives to highlight key concerns and find innovative solutions.

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