The Community Food Systems Fellowship is an 18-month leadership program that aims to increase opportunities for diverse local food system leaders to build their skills, capacity, and networks through a series of community design labs on participatory engagement and human centered design approaches, monthly learning sessions with other food systems leaders, and individualized technical assistance.
Donor Name: Vital Village Network
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Fellowship
Deadline: 11/10/2025
Size of the Grant: $1000 to $10,000
Grant Duration: 2 Years
Details:
Through these opportunities, the fellowship hopes to strengthen community engagement and leadership of caregivers/families, uplift strengths-based narratives, and foster collaborative leadership that scales community identified solutions and cross sector partnerships.
Emerging leaders who are committed to food justice and equity and are seeking advanced tools to measure and share the impact of local work are a good fit for the Community Food Systems Fellowship.
The fellowship is an opportunity to contribute to a living, collective fellowship roadmap for community-powered food systems and build capacity around participatory data to capture impact and narrative storytelling strategies. We encourage applicants who are committed to:
- working to develop resilient and equitable local food systems
- community leadership, engagement, and the leadership of caregivers and families
- food justice, nutrition justice, racial equity and social transformation
- developing skills to measure impact and success of local food systems
- developing collaborative leadership skills
VVN actively seeks to spotlight community-powered food systems and inform and advance community leadership in local food systems. They are committed to supporting self determination of communities of color and the advancement of diverse community leaders. They encourage prospective fellows committed to justice and equity and improving local food systems to promote child, family and community wellness to apply. They invite stakeholders representing diverse voices across the food system (e.g. agriculture, labor and food chain workers, food service, public health, environmental justice, economy and entrepreneurship, education, early care and education, immigration, and arts, culture), to apply.
Funding Information
Community Fellows will receive a $2,500 stipend to honor time for participating in fellowship meetings and activities, including participation and presentations at Vital Village’s annual National Community Leadership Summit.
Eligibility Criteria
All applications will be screened for eligibility prior to their review.
- The fellow must be based in the United States or one of the US territories
- The fellow must have an established partnership with a nonprofit organization, coalition, network, group, cooperative, business, or institution that has a strategic focus on local food systems.
For more information, visit Vital Village Network.
