OSI-Baltimore Seeks Applicants for 2008 Community Fellowships

BALTIMORE—The Open Society Institute–Baltimore is accepting applications for its 2008 class of Community Fellows. OSI will award up to 10 fellowships to individuals committed to improving the circumstances of Baltimore's underserved communities. Fellows will receive $48,750 over 18 months.

To receive an application and reserve a spot at an orientation session, call OSI at 1-410-234-1091. Applications are due by 5 p.m. on March 14, 2008, and fellowships will begin in the fall.

Through its Community Fellowships Program, OSI-Baltimore hopes to encourage more entrepreneurial individuals to join the public and community service fields and to promote initiatives that will empower struggling communities to improve the quality of life for residents. This year marks OSI-Baltimore's tenth anniversary. Since 1998, nearly 100 Community Fellows have applied their educational and professional experiences in innovative projects serving marginalized communities in Baltimore. Past fellows have made exceptional accomplishments in a wide variety of areas such as media literacy, community art, and juvenile justice.

Interested individuals may either apply for a fellowship to work under the auspice of a nonprofit organization or apply for a fellowship to work independently. Interested applicants must call OSI to reserve a spot at an orientation session. Sessions will take place on the following dates:

• Wednesday, January 23
• Thursday, January 24
• Wednesday, January 30
• Thursday, January 31
• Wednesday, February 6
• Wednesday, February 13

The Baltimore Community Fellowships Program is supported by OSI-Baltimore, the Alison and Arnold Richman Fund, the Cohen Opportunity Fund, the Commonweal Foundation, the Foundation for Maryland's Future, the Gloria B. and Herbert M. Katzenberg Charitable Fund, the Hoffberger Foundation, the John Meyerhoff and Lenel Srochi Meyerhoff Fund, the Lois and Irving Blum Foundation, and other investors in the Campaign for OSI-Baltimore.

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Founded by philanthropist George Soros, OSI-Baltimore is a private operating foundation that supports a grantmaking, educational and capacity-building program to expand justice and opportunity for Baltimore residents. With support from a range of investors, its current work focuses on helping Baltimore's youth succeed, reducing the social and economic costs of incarceration, tackling drug addiction, and building a corps of Community Fellows to bring innovative ideas to Baltimore's underserved communities.