Home / News

Sep 15, 2020

Calling All Rural LGBTQ Youth: Apply For The RYE Fellowship!

Are you an LGBTQ youth living in or hailing from a more rural area of our state? Do you know a young, queer changemaker with big ideas about how to transform the culture of under-resourced parts of North Carolina?

ENCF has opened up the application period for the Rural Youth Empowerment (RYE) Fellowship, our year-long mentorship and training program for LGBTQ young people (aged 18-28) with ties to rural areas of North Carolina.

Over the course of a year, Fellows develop and cultivate a project that meets the needs of queer folks living in rural parts of our state while receiving one-on-one mentorship and leadership development. Fellows also receive a stipend to help offset costs associated with the project.

This will be the third cohort of RYE Fellows, with previous projects including:

  • An "LGBTQIA+ Youth Resource” guide for educating young, queer folks about general sexual health, as well as safe-sex practices, that are traditionally not taught in sex education classes.
  • Founding a space for HIV+ people of color living in the Greenville area to find community.
  • An intergenerational caller program meant to connect LGBTQ elders and youth virtually during the time of COVID-19.

Applications for the RYE Fellowship are open through Oct. 11, so be sure to submit sooner rather than later. ENC is also accepting applications for adults who are interested in serving as mentors for RYE Fellows.

It’s more important than ever that young, LGBTQ people committed to building a better world are connected with the tools to help bring their ideas to life. We hope you’ll join us on that journey.

Upcoming Events

Updates

Stay In Touch

Want to stay updated on the work of Equality North Carolina and the happenings in our state that affect the most vulnerable North Carolinians? Sign up for our updates.