Fossil Free Training Corps

DEADLINE EXTENDED — APPLICATION NOW DUE AT 11:59 PACIFIC TIME on SUNDAY APRIL 19th.

DEADLINE EXTENDED — APPLICATION NOW DUE AT 11:59 PACIFIC TIME on SUNDAY APRIL 19th. If that extension doesn’t work with your schedule, please email River@350.org.

How do we build movements and win campaigns? It starts with you. Yes, you. Want to help supercharge the divestment movement by building power with your peers? Want to build your training and leadership skills to help others organize better and more powerfully? Then read on.

We’re launching the Fossil Free Training Corps — a brand new, 5-month program (August – December) to deepen and diversify peer-based training skills for student divestment leaders. With the help of 6 student mentors, 18 student leaders will build their facilitation and training skills to plan and implement trainings in their regions. Working closely with student divestment organizing networks, these new trainers will get to flex their training skills and build power in the divestment movement by providing resources and support to divestment campaigns.

Apply here

The deets (program details):

Kick off Training Corps with a fun and intensive week-long training in August
Build strong training and organizing skills to power a healthy, sustainable divestment movement
Learn with amazing, passionate peers and get support and mentorship from a team of students, alumni, and staff from Training for Change and 350.org
Connect with student leaders and recent alums from across the country
Amplify your existing campaigns and projects by tapping into powerful networks of student organizers
Learn to deliver a 2-day divestment training curriculum that we’re developing in collaboration with divestment partners (like Responsible Endowment Coalition & Divestment Student Network) to ensure it truly meets the needs of the movement
Create an awesome, tailored training curriculum specific to your campaign or region’s needs

Training Corps will help you to…

Increase training capacities to meet network, movement, and campaign needs
Provide training opportunities for new organizers
Build confidence in skills and leadership
Supercharge existing networks of divestment organizers
Learn to give a training with a 2-day divestment curriculum and coordinate one training during Fall 2015
Plan a project around your campus campaign or other organizing

What we’re looking for:

Experience working on a student divestment campaign & a deep interest in facilitating, training and organizing campus campaigns
Formal or informal training and/or facilitation or organizing of campus campaigners
Commitment to learning and improving facilitation and training skills
Commitment to building a strategic divestment movement that values skilled training, facilitation, organizing, and political education
Excitement to expand and deepen your own political analysis
Availability 4 hours/week for the program with the goal of developing 1-3 campus trainings from Sept-December

Key dates & selection process:

March 5: Application goes live!
NOW EXTENDED TO APRIL 19th at 11:59 PM PACIFIC TIME. [original: April 15: Application deadline]
April 20th: Notification of interview
April 25th-May 10th: Interviews
May 22-June 1: Finalists confirmed & committed
June 7: Travel confirmation

Frequently Asked Questions

Have a question that we didn’t cover? Contact River@350.org for more info.

A 5 month program – centered around training – that aims to deepen and diversify skills among student divestment trainers & mentors. Student trainers, organized regionally and on campuses across the country, will provide trainings across the country to support expanding regional networks & growing student climate justice leaders. We believe this will expand capacity to achieve campaign goals on a national, regional and campus level. Participants will learn through in-person training, discussion, participatory education how to build power and plan community action.

The Training Corps is a group of 18 students and 6 mentors who will learn, practice, and expand trainings available to their peers on campus and regionally. For 5 months, starting in August at our in-person T4T on the East Coast, you will be connected and supported by a network of your peers (and peer mentors) who are focusing on similar goals in their own regions and intentionally providing support as your needs shift. You will have a chance to focus training material to your specific regional, campus, and individual goals. Once you leave the training in August, you will be a part of regular group calls to support learning and application of skills. You will be supported by mentors and peers to lead 1-3 trainings in the fall that are crafted to meet regional needs. We’ll also support you in looking beyond our team to all the power-building work happening regionally to ensure that our trainings are playing the best role possible in the divestment movement. You’ll essentially be a part of a supportive team of student divestment trainers who aid each other in strengthening individual and collective power.

– Access to training with your amazing and passionate peers as well as staff from Training for Change and 350.org
– Support from a group of 6 student peer-mentors who can provide experienced support, ground level advice, and have deep connection in the student divestment movement.
– Strong training and organizing skills are vital to a healthy and sustainable movement
– An opportunity to learn and modify, to your needs and liking, a training curriculum
– Find time and focus to dive into political education
– Supports the existing work you might be doing with already existing networks of powerful student organizers
– Build relationships with students and recent alums from across the country, make friends and build your culture of community resistance

– August: Training for Trainers kickoff on the East Coast (dates to be confirmed soon)
– September-December: Program and Project work (application of skills); work on your individual (and/or collective) training projects; regular group and mentors calls, readings, discussions, webinars and guest speakers.
– December: Convergence/Collaborative Training
– January-April/May: To be determined based on student, partnership & movement needs

– Attend August Training for Trainers on the East Coast — dates to be confirmed soon.
– Airfare/Travel is paid for by 350.org
– Committing 4 hours a week August – December 2015 on being available for group calls and meetings.
– Participate in all the activities outlined in timeline above.
– Develop your own training style and strengthen existing tools, learn and apply new tools.
– Support movement level skill-building by developing 1-3 trainings.
– Work in solidarity with your peer-organizers, mentors, staff support and partners as a model to upcoming young climate justice leaders.