After pause to rework Haile Fellowship goals, People's Liberty names 2 winners

People’s Liberty announced last week that Chris Glass and Brandon Black are its 2016 Haile Fellowship winners and will each receive $100,000 grants, office space and mentoring over the next 12 months.

Glass will celebrate local communities by photographing every Greater Cincinnati neighborhood while engaging residents and local organizations throughout the process. Black will explore traditional apprenticeship in the age of technology by connecting Baby Boomers and Millennials through home repair projects that bring out the best in both generations.

After a successful first year of the Haile Fellowship program in 2015, People’s Liberty originally planned to have this year’s Haile Fellows start work in January but called a timeout in late Fall. Staffers were actually nearing the end of the 2016 application process when they decided it needed to change.
 
CEO Eric Avner explained that the catalyst for the change was a forum the organization hosted of funders from all over the country who provide grants to individuals, where it was suggested the People’s Liberty team stop the application process to rethink the questions it was asking applicants. The goal changed to focus less on the proposed projects and more on the applying individuals in order to grow strong local leaders and create lasting impact beyond the fellowship year via “a civic-based sabbatical.”

People’s Liberty says Glass’ project will be “transformative for him and will bring together the collection of creative pursuits he has built over the years.” Black, meanwhile, “hopes to reimagine the role of elders, beautify neighborhoods and increase home values (and) to develop a model that could incorporate other disciplines with intergenerational apprenticeship.”

This week, People’s Liberty is opening the application process for its next round of Project Grants, which provides eight winners with $10,000, a launch event and access to office space and mentorship. Applications will be accepted through March 23, with winners announced by April 22.

An information session will be hosted at 6 p.m. March 2 at People’s Liberty HQ in the Globe Building, 1805 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine. Get more information here.