Meet the 2019 Environmental Fellows
Photo credit: Dave Brenner

The Environmental Fellows Program (EFP) at the University of Michigan (U of M) School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS), in partnership with the Environmental Grantmakers Association (EGA), is a 12-week summer fellowship opportunity that seeks to diversify the environmental field by cultivating the career aspirations of master’s and doctoral students from historically underrepresented groups by connecting students to work opportunities in environmental nonprofits, grant makers, and government sectors. 

This program arose out of a collaboration between U of M SEAS, the Environmental Grantmakers Association (EGA), and the C.S. Mott Foundation. The collaborators recognized the need for a program to identify and train diverse students to work in environmental and philanthropic sectors. This fellowship is supported by several philanthropic organizations.

The Environmental Fellows Program is looking for future leaders and decision-makers in the rapidly changing fields of conservation, justice, equity, and philanthropy. We are looking for graduate students who:

  • want to broaden their environmental knowledge and perspectives;
  • want to build their leadership and communication skills; 
  • who want to gain valuable work experience;
  • are passionate about diversifying the environmental field; 
  • are committed to supporting and advocating for the principles of equity and inclusion;
  • are interested in learning about environmental grantmaking and its impacts on local, national, and international environmental work;
  • want to be a part of an emerging network.

Learn more here!

NOTE: The application deadline for the 2021 cohort has been extended until February, 1st, 2021! 

 

 

The Environmental Fellow Program Difference:

It's safe to say that EFP changed my trajectory and I wouldn't have even thought I'd be qualified enough to apply for the job I have now if I hadn't been a Fellow and learned/inspired by the [EFP] team and co-Fellow

-Quenton King, 2018 Environmental Fellow

EFP was instrumental in helping me gain the knowledge and skills necessary to qualify for my current job.

-Janae Davis, 2016 Environmental Fellow

Having the EFP on my resume was a big talking point in my interview for my current position. My interviewers were very interested in what projects I worked on and what I accomplished last summer.

-Amber Carter, 2018 Environmental Fellow

The program helped me realize I wanted to attend a Ph.D. program in Sociology that would help me think more critically about environmental justice.

-Nancy Toure, 2016 Environmental Fellow

After interning in an environmental nonprofit with a focus on applying my urban planning and environmental justice skills, I was encouraged to try the public sector. I look forward to learning and growing through this new role and sector in an effort to narrow my job prospects in the near future.

-Rebeca Villegas, 2018 Environmental Fellow

EFP opened to the doors for me to enter the field of philanthropy. Prior to the fellowship, I had little knowledge about this field or how it operated. Now, I'm able to leverage connections I've made through EFP to advance progressive funder initiatives and stay connected to a base of amazing changemakers (aka the fellows themselves).

-Gabriel Jones, 2016 Environmental Fellow

One of my largest clients [at the organization I founded is] the funder I was placed with.

-Lauren Beriont, 2017 Environmental Fellow

I leveraged my experience at a grantmaking institution to secure an internship with one of the grantees of the Foundation I worked for last summer.

-Kayla Hunter, 2018 Environmental Fellow

[The Environmental Fellow Program] is an amazing network. Helped me in innumerable ways.

-Frances Roberts-Gregory, 2017 Environmental Fellow

EFP ... absolutely shaped how I view our work and the type of questions I ask when engaging with communities.

-ValaRae Partee, 2017 Environmental Fellow