Olivia applied to be a part of the 2020 campus fellowship representing Augsburg University. She chose the campus track because it was different from any experiences she’s had with organizing spaces in the past. “The atmosphere of MNYC’s fellowship program is just completely different than any other organizing space I’ve ever been in. It’s a community that just has this unique way of bringing people together. Right from the start, I felt cared for and supported in the work that we were doing, and that was something I had never really felt before in other organizing spaces.”

The 2020 fellowship divided its fellows into 4 smaller groups with specific focuses; campus organizing, electoral accountability, art, and policy. Each group explored the relationships between their focus and community organizing through different issue-based projects, but all the fellows attended the same weekly trainings and community gatherings. Fellows in the campus track specifically pursued projects on their campuses to make voting more accessible to young people. “In the campus track, I was working a lot with students at Augsburg, making sure that the students were registered to vote or had a plan to vote, and making sure that everyone was connected to any resources they needed regarding voting and that everyone knew all of their options, even if they weren’t planning to vote.” Along with general Get out the Vote efforts, the campus fellows identified and carried out projects to improve voting’s accessibility to students on their campuses. “A project that I took on was working with the Augsburg president and his leadership team and pushing them really hard to make voting a big deal on campus, and to make student voices a bigger piece of Augsburg. Through my MNYC fellowship, I was able to get Election Day recognized as a holiday at Augsburg, so that students have the day off of school. That started last year and every year that will carry on. Through that work, I was able to talk to the fellows, and see if anybody else could push for similar things at their universities.“

Olivia loved building community as a student at Augsburg and with other young Minesotans in the fellowship cohort who were interested in doing similar issues. “Through MNYC’s fellowship program, I was able to connect to other people doing similar work across the Twin Cities and the state. It also really helped me connect to my own campus and to other Augsburg students that are interested in the same things as me, who I maybe wouldn’t have met outside of the campus organizing that I was doing as a part of my fellowship.” Olivia’s favorite part was the supportive community she was able to build through her fellowship experience. “It’s a safe space to make mistakes and to grow. Throughout everything, you’re supported by your peers and by MNYC staff and you feel like somebody is really investing in you and walking with you. You’re not alone and you’re learning skills that you can take with you anywhere.”

Olivia is currently a senior at Augsburg University studying Special Education. Since the MNYC fellowship, she has continued to organize young people around political campaigns in Senate district 56. We’re so proud of Olivia and everything she has accomplished!

Minnesota Youth Collective’s organizing fellowship is a three-month program that hires and trains young people as community leaders with the skill, perspective, and imagination to advocate for creative policy solutions for their communities. Fellows leave the program with a depth of organizing knowledge, which can be difficult to obtain by other means, and a community of peers and mentors who are invested in their success. This spring, we’re sharing some of our fellows’ reflections on what this program has meant to them.