Changemaker Authors Cohort
The Changemaker Authors Cohort is a yearlong intensive coaching program supporting full-time movement organizers and social justice practitioners to complete books that create deep, durable narrative change to restructure the way people feel, think, and respond to the world.
To help create new networks of opportunity, Narrative Initiative partnered with the Unicorn Authors Club to offer this unique writing cohort for Changemaker Authors. Our first Changemaker Authors Cohort launched in early-2022; the 2023-2024 Cohort began on November 2023. Applications are opening June 1st for the 2025 Cohort.
2025 Changemaker Authors Cohort Applications Are Now Open
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The 2025 Changemaker Authors Cohort application period is now open. Applications are accepted until August 15, 2024.
The Changemaker Authors Cohort supports those working towards racial, economic, and social justice to write and publish books that create durable narrative change. This can include books that are about communities establishing and using their power through organizing and activism, as well as those contributing to the plurality of voices in the broader artistic and cultural discourse. Visit the cohort pages for 2022 and 2024 to get a sense of some of the projects supported within this program.
This 12-month virtual program begins on March 1, 2025 and supports cohort members to make significant progress with their project at the end of each 4-month term. This can include manuscript completion or having a submittable manuscript or proposal ready for an agent or publisher, through coaching, regular writing cafés, craft talks, and resources about crafting stories and the publishing industry.
A virtual information session with Q&A about the program will be held on Friday, June 14, 2024 at 8pm ET/5pm PT. You can also watch last year’s info session on YouTube in English and in Spanish.
Please note: Attending or watching an Info Session is required to apply for the program.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about the upcoming Cohort year can be found here.
Please email (changemakerauthor@narrativeinitiative.org) for any additional questions about the Changemaker Authors Cohort application or the program.
The Changemaker Authors Cohort is a partnership between Narrative Initiative and the Unicorn Authors Club, and is partially resourced by the Ford Foundation.
El período de solicitud de la Cohorte de Autores Vanguardistas de Cambio 2025 ya está abierto. Se aceptan solicitudes hasta el 15 de agosto de 2024.
La Cohorte de Autores Vanguardistas de Cambio apoya a las personas que trabajan por la justicia racial, económica y social para que escriban y publiquen libros que generen un cambio narrativo y duradero. Esto puede incluir libros que traten sobre comunidades que establecen y ejercen su poder a través de la organización y el activismo, así como también aquellos que contribuyen a la pluralidad de voces en el discurso artístico y cultural más amplio. Puede visitar las páginas de la Cohorte 2023 y 2024 para hacerse una idea de algunos de los proyectos que se apoyan en esta iniciativa.
Este programa virtual de 12 meses inicia el 1 de marzo de 2025 y apoya miembros de la cohorte para que logren avances significativos en su proyecto al final de cada período de 4 meses. Esto puede incluir completar tu manuscrito o tener listo un manuscrito o una propuesta para presentarlo a un agente o editorial. Te brindaremos apoyo a través de sesiones de coaching, talleres regulares de escritura (“cafés de escritura”), charlas sobre técnicas literarias y recursos sobre la creación de historias y la industria editorial.
Se realizará una sesión informativa virtual con preguntas y respuestas sobre el programa el viernes 14 de junio de 2024 a las 8:00 pm hora del Este (ET)/5:00 pm hora del Pacífico (PT). También puede ver la sesión informativa del año pasado en YouTube disponible en inglés y en español.
Por favor tenga en cuenta: La asistencia o visualización de una Sesión Informativa es requisito para postularse al programa.
Las Preguntas Frecuentes (FAQs) sobre el próximo año de la Cohorte las puede encontrar aquí.
Para cualquier pregunta adicional sobre la solicitud o el programa de la Cohorte de Autores Vanguardistas de Cambio puede enviar un correo a (changemakerauthor@narrativeinitiative.org).
La Cohorte de Autores Vanguardistas de Cambio es una iniciativa conjunta entre Narrative Initiative y Unicorn Authors Club, y cuenta con el apoyo parcial de la Fundación Ford.
Key upcoming dates
Narrative Initiative’s goal is to nourish and grow long-term progress for social justice by equipping changemakers with the necessary tools, relationships, and resources to build power and share ideas through collections of stories.
The Program
This fully remote program lasts up to a year and will follow a three-term structure, in which Story/Skills/Sanctuary concepts are adjusted for the different stages of the writing process. Each term will have a clear focus and each writer will develop outcomes and goals for both their process and craft.
The Changemaker Authors Cohort offers support toward making significant progress with your book project (i.e., a full-length manuscript or book proposal) including:
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- Program Orientation
- Assessment and Goal Setting
- Access to Curriculum Materials
- Peer Circles for Accountability and Support
- Monthly Craft Meetings
- Individual Coaching
- Five-Day Intensive Writing Retreat
- Information on the Publishing Process and Preparing a Submission Packet (depending on genre)
- Presentations and/or Panels with Publishing Professionals and Authors
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Synchronous full-group events follow a monthly cadence, while a community platform offers a depth of resources for individual learning as well as asynchronous discussion.
The Changemaker Authors Cohort provides many different opportunities for support and community. Each writer discovers their own sustainable writing pace amid the collective momentum toward finishing their books. Apart from the mandatory monthly craft & cohort meetings and the five-day writing retreat, cohort members are free to avail themselves of the program’s offerings in accordance with their own needs and established commitments to their writing.
If you have any questions about the program, please contact us at: changemakerauthor [at] narrativeinitiative dot org.
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