CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: CUNY Climate Assembly Project (CCAP) Fellowship Opportunities
Deadline
August 4, 2025
at 11:59 PM
The CUNY Climate Assembly Project (CCAP) is a new democratic initiative for CUNY students to advance climate solutions at CUNY. We are currently seeking applications from CUNY Graduate Center doctoral students for two positions: Democratic Engagement & Communications Fellow and a Curriculum & Public Programming Fellow. CCAP is a generously funding by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
- Deadline to Apply: Monday, August 4th, 2025
- Interview Timeline: Aug 11 to Aug 22nd
- Eligibility: CUNY Graduate Center Doctoral Students Only
- Compensation: $10,000
- Hours: This role is part-time, and hours may vary considerably week to week. We approximate weekly participation will range between 3 hours on light weeks and 10 hours during heavy weeks.
- Duration: August 2025 to June 2026
Initiative Overview
The CUNY Climate Assembly Project (CCAP) is a groundbreaking initiative to advance climate solutions, civics education, and models of collaborative governance. Supported by an Andrew W. Mellon seed grant, the initiative is led by the Center for the Humanities and the Institute for Research on the African Diaspora in the Americas and the Caribbean (IRADAC) at the CUNY Graduate Center.
At the heart of this initiative is a climate assembly (also known as civic or citizens’ assemblies). Drawing on a long and diverse lineage of democratic decision-making practices, CCAP will select CUNY students through a civic lottery to ensure the assembly represents their communities’ unique demographic and political diversity. Unlike a political poll or town hall, the assembly will spend a significant time learning with a range of experts, collaborating through facilitated deliberations, and developing recommendations to advance cross-sectoral collaboration and policy solutions on a specific climate issue at CUNY.
Members of the CUNY community not serving on the assembly can engage in public forums, educational curricula, and an impact network of organizations to learn and weigh in on the issue at hand. After the assembly, a portion of the students from the assembly will be supported to advance the resulting recommendations. With more than 700 examples worldwide, CCAP is the first of its kind at a US public urban university. CCAP is part of a global, deliberative wave building on a proven method for civic problem-solving that is revitalizing a new vision and practice of democracy. Learn more about CCAP and Climate Assemblies and join our mailing list on our website.
Democratic Engagement & Communications Fellowship
Role Overview:
As the Democratic Engagement & Communications Fellow, you will work closely with the CCAP Program Lead to organize the various components that will bring CCAP’s democratic process to life. To differentiate the two roles, the Democratic Engagement & Communications Fellow will primarily focus on preparing activities within the assembly, while the Curriculum & Public Programming Fellow will focus on activities for the broader CUNY community outside the assembly. Both roles will work collaboratively to coordinate their projects throughout the program.
You will support the design and preparation of the assembly learning activities, creating an inclusive and collaborative environment that effectively facilitates the group towards its final recommendations. You will coordinate stakeholders and logistics before and during the assembly, and help to synthesize and adapt the process between assembly weekends. Additionally, you will help to develop and implement a public communications strategy to build public awareness and ensure transparency throughout the process. During the assembly meetings, you will play a key role in supporting the CCAP Program Lead and the Curriculum & Public Programming Fellow to ensure the assembly runs seamlessly.
This is a unique opportunity for a CUNY Graduate Center doctoral student to gain hands-on experience in deliberative and participatory democracy, public communications, and project management. You will also learn about climate challenges and solutions specific, though certainly not unique, to CUNY. This role’s work will be central to ensuring CCAP’s fair and transparent democratic process and will demonstrate a renewed model of collaborative governance.
About this position:
This is a hybrid, part-time role. The role will follow an academic calendar, including fall 2025 and spring 2026, with minimal but mandatory training in late August 2025 and reporting in early June 2026. Some in-person participation is required, especially for 3–4 weekend assembly sessions in Spring 2026 (exact dates finalized in early Fall 2025). Applicants must be enrolled as doctoral students at the CUNY Graduate Center for the duration of the role. Before applying, please check with the CUNY Graduate Center Financial Aid Office to confirm that you are eligible to receive funding through your CUNY First account during the 2025 Fall and 2026 Spring semesters.
Key Responsibilities:
- Support the organization of democratic design, logistical planning, and implementation for the assembly meetings with the CCAP Program Lead (i.e. learning activities, organizing agendas, organizing data outputs from the assembly, etc.)
- Support the development and execution of CCAP’s public communications strategy, which may include crafting press releases, updating website content, and developing media outreach campaigns
- Support in the coordination of participants, small group facilitators, speakers, and other stakeholders in the preparation and implementation of the assembly meetings
- Support the management event logistics and facilitation of the agenda during the assembly weekends
- Support and collaborate with other CCAP stakeholders who are developing curriculum, public forum(s), and other programs to engage the campus community outside of the assembly
Desired Knowledge and Attributes
- Passion for improving democratic systems and regenerative climate futures
- Background and understanding of participatory engagement methodologies and a strong interest in learning the ins and outs of climate assembly / deliberative democracy programs. Experience in working with government or civic institutions is desirable, but not mandatory
- Experience in developing clear, concise, and engaging communication content for a public audience (different from academic audiences). Experience with communication design and graphic design (via Canva, Miro, Adobe, etc.) is desirable, but not mandatory
- Proficiency in keeping up with complex projects with rapidly changing demands, including tracking deadlines, coordinating schedules, and completing deliverables that fulfill project needs
- Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with key stakeholders, including project partners, student organizations, CUNY centers, and other external organizations
- Strong oral and written communication skills
- Skilled at working as a highly collaborative member of a small team, while also able to work independently and engage with multiple workstreams
- Interest in and ability to actively include marginalized voices in both internal and external projects, activities, and practices
- Ability to accept and give feedback respectfully, with a willingness to engage in productive disagreement
How to Apply:
Deadline to Apply: Monday, August 4th, 2025.
To apply, click the button below to fill out the application form and upload your resume (2 pages), cover letter (1 page), and optionally a writing sample.
Curriculum & Public Programming Fellow
Role Overview:
As the Curriculum & Public Programming Fellow, you will work closely with the CCAP Program Lead to design and implement learning experiences that connect climate education and civic engagement to the CUNY Community. To differentiate the two roles, the Democratic Engagement & Communications Fellow will primarily focus on preparing activities within the assembly, while the Curriculum & Public Programming Fellow will focus on activities for the broader CUNY Community outside the assembly. Both roles will work collaboratively to coordinate their projects throughout the program.
You will conduct research to develop adaptable curricular resources, interactive workshops, and other materials for professors to connect climate science and deliberative democracy principles from the assembly into CUNY classrooms. Additionally, you will support the organization of public forums and workshops so that the broader community can weigh in on the issue at hand. The position will support the development and implementation of a recruitment strategy for professors to utilize the curricular resources and CUNY stakeholders to attend the public forum(s). During the assembly meetings, you will play a key role in supporting the CCAP Program Lead and the Democratic Engagement & Communications Fellow to ensure the Assembly runs seamlessly.
This is a unique opportunity for a CUNY Graduate Center doctoral student to gain hands-on experience in deliberative & participatory democracy, curriculum development, and project management. You will also learn about climate challenges and solutions specific–though certainly not unique–to CUNY. This role’s work will be central to scaling CCAP’s impact by equipping the next generation of civic leaders with the knowledge and tools needed to create sustainable and inclusive futures at CUNY and beyond.
About this position:
This is a hybrid, part-time role. The role will follow an academic calendar, including fall 2025 and spring 2026, with minimal but mandatory training in late August 2025 and reporting in early June 2026. Some in-person participation is required, especially for 3–4 weekend assembly sessions in Spring 2026 (exact dates finalized in early Fall 2025). Applicants must be enrolled as doctoral students at the CUNY Graduate Center for the duration of the role. Before applying, please check with the CUNY Graduate Center Financial Aid Office to confirm that you are eligible to receive funding through your CUNY First account during the 2025 Fall and 2026 Spring semesters.
Key Responsibilities:
- Support the development of a needs assessment to inform the curricular development process
- Help build relationships and collaborate with experts on the specific climate issue to inform the curriculum
- Help create plug-and-play climate democracy curricular resources that are adaptable and modular for a variety of different disciplines
- Help develop and implement a recruitment strategy for professors and CUNY stakeholders to utilize the curricular experiences
- Help facilitate training and workshops to support faculty and CUNY stakeholders in facilitating curricular resources
- Support the organization and implementation of public forum(s) and workshops, and help to synthesize the information that comes out of them
- Help develop a tracking system to manage the execution of the curriculum and support professors and CUNY stakeholders during the implementation
Desired Knowledge and Attributes:
- Passion for improving democratic systems and regenerative climate futures
- Background in developing and implementing classroom curriculum that is engaging, experiential, and activity-based
- Have experience studying and working with climate science issues
- Familiar with CUNY’s instructional environment, faculty dynamics, and curricular constraints
- Strong organizational and outreach skills, including experience in recruitment or partnership building
- Experience in developing clear, concise, and engaging communication content for a public audience (different from academic audiences). Experience with communication design and graphic design (via Canva, Miro, Adobe, etc.) is desirable, but not mandatory
- Proficiency in keeping up with complex projects with rapidly changing demands, including tracking deadlines, coordinating schedules, and completing deliverables that fulfill project needs.
- Strong oral and written communication skills
- Skilled at working as a highly collaborative member of a small team, while also able to work independently and engage with multiple workstreams
- Interest in and ability to actively include marginalized voices in both internal and external projects, activities, and practices
- Ability to accept and give feedback respectfully, with a willingness to engage in productive disagreement
How to Apply:
Deadline to Apply: Monday, August 4th, 2025.
To apply, click the button below to fill out the application form and upload your resume (2 pages), cover letter (1 page), and optionally a lesson plan sample.
For questions about these fellowship positions, please reach out to [email protected]