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Activist Fellowship Program


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Activist Fellowship Program


 
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We are no longer accepting applications.

Program Goal

To strengthen and build social justice movements by developing activists’ skills and capacities in the Hudson Valley. The Foundation hopes to identify and support the work of people from the grassroots (local movement building) and/or frontline communities (those hardest hit by injustice and inequality). This includes, but is not limited to, individuals who self-define as low-income, people of color, indigenous, immigrant, women, trans, gender nonconforming, LGBT and/or queer, youth, working class and disabled. Please note: this is not a grant opportunity for a project or organization.

Background

The Elias Foundation’s Activist Fellowship Program is an outgrowth of its past support for leadership development using an informal advisory process with nominators. These relationships developed through the Foundation’s 20 years of grantmaking work supporting local projects and organizations. At the end of 2018, Elias convened an Advisory Committee to develop a structured and impactful Fellowship program that follows the guidelines listed below.

Using the Fellowship


Using the Fellowship


The Foundation values self-directed change.  After consultation with staff, mentors and Advisory Committee members, Fellows will be responsible for determining how best to use the funds.  In all cases, grant funds are to be used for the Fellows’ development as activist leaders. Such uses may include, but are not limited to, pursuit of education and educational experiences, training, study, research, writing or to produce creative works (not for a profit motive).

Some examples of potential use of grant funds:

  • Participating in trainings to develop capacities including non-profit management, fundraising, sustainability and other related skills

  • Attending conferences and workshops

  • Shadowing successful leaders

  • Traveling to meet with peers to network and collaborate on projects

  • Purchasing materials and equipment for use towards educational or other permitted purposes

  • Attending activist and/or other events that relate to the activist’s growth as a grassroots leader  

  • Developing or launching a new project that has a social justice frame

  • Pursuing education

  • Taking time from work for reflection, writing or self-care

  • Receiving leadership coaching/mentoring

Additional information can be requested from info@eliasfoundation.org

2019 - 2025 Cohort of Activist Fellows

See all cohort of Activist Fellows

Alumni of Activist Fellowship program

Enlarging the Pool of Activists

Elias is enlarging the pool and creating a pipeline of emerging activists by consulting active leaders in the community who will nominate members in their network.

Building on the success of a pilot program launched in 2015, Elias is providing much needed support and mentorship to social justice leaders in Westchester and the greater Hudson Valley region. Activists often work multiple part-time jobs, struggle to complete their education and have little opportunity for professional development. The Elias Foundation turned to a model of funding that supports the personal needs and advancement of social justice leaders.  Annual grants, for five years, can be used in a multitude of self-determined ways.

The impact has been transformational in the lives of the grantees and, as Elias Foundation had hoped – is helping them become more effective leaders in their communities.

The alumni and new fellows of the program attend meetings and retreats together, support each other’s events and actions by staying connected on social media. Some fellows from previous cohorts serve on the Advisory Committee (see below) and participate in identifying the next round of grassroots leaders to benefit from the program. 

For more information about this program and nominating a candidate, contact Polly Withers, pwithers@eliasfoundation.org

Advisory Committee


Advisory Committee


The Fellowship Program has been designed by an Advisory Committee, whose role is to evaluate the Fellowship program on an ongoing basis. The Advisory Committee combines the wisdom of multi-racial, cross-generational, multi-issue, seasoned leaders.  All members are engaged in movement building and have deep experience in the Hudson Valley.   

Advisory Committee members help determine grant guidelines, share them with their networks, refine application procedures and annually assist in the selection of awardees.  In some cases, Advisory Committee members will act as advisors for Fellows.

Featured
Allison Lake
Allison Lake

Advocate and retired Executive Director

Allison retired as Executive Director of Westchester Children’s Association (WCA) in July 2025 after a long career dedicated to children’s well-being. She joined WCA in 1998 as the Program Coordinator for the Children’s Health Initiative. In 2008, she was promoted to Deputy Director, responsible for WCA’s programmatic initiatives, heading WCA’s advocacy partnerships and community mobilization efforts. She became Executive Director in 2018 leading the agency through the Covid pandemic and expanding the agencies work in reducing child poverty, lessening family homelessness and improving children’s mental health

Allison received her BA from Amherst College and an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business.

As an inaugural member of the Elias Advisory Council, she brings over 25 years of experience in non-profit and community work both in the US and West Africa, as a Peace Corps Volunteer. After working in banking for three years, she returned to her passion of community development. She has held management positions at the National Civic League and Associated Black Charities. Ms. Lake has worked in youth development with the City Volunteer Corps program in New York City and the YWCA of White Plains & Central Westchester.

Allison is a homegrown Westchesterite, and proud Greenburgh resident. In retirement, she enjoys hiking, gardening and traveling. Ms. Lake remains civically engaged as a member of the Governor’s Taskforce to reduce child poverty, Chair of Children Defense Fund New York’s Advisory Council, and on the Government Relations Committee of Nonprofit Westchester, in addition to other volunteering.

Allison received her BA from Amherst College and an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business.

She brings over 25 years of experience in non-profit and community work both in the US and West Africa, as a Peace Corps Volunteer. After working in banking for three years, she returned to her passion of community development. She has held management positions at the National Civic League and Associated Black Charities. Ms. Lake has worked in youth development with the City Volunteer Corps program in New York City and the YWCA of White Plains & Central Westchester.

Allison is a homegrown Westchesterite, lives in Greenburgh with her husband and has two young adult children.

LaMont Badru
LaMont Badru

Executive Director, Community Governance & Development Council (CGDC)

LaMont is a professional community organizer, community economic development strategist, and a lifelong South Yonkers resident.

In 2006, LaMont launched a youth program out of the recreation room of his building - teaching history and community responsibility to high-risk youth from his neighborhood. As a student at Lehman College, Lamont was the founder and president of the Black Student Union and a Student Senator.

He led the initiative to create Lehman’s new minor in Urban Community Development - the first student-initiated academic program at Lehman college in over 30 years. The minor was designed to give students, regardless of their major, the tools necessary to use their career skills towards the development of their neighborhoods.

Lamont went on to become an organizer for Picture The Homeless (a housing policy organization in the Bronx) before deciding to dedicate his energy and passion for community development to his native community, South Yonkers.

Lutonya Russell Humes
Lutonya Russell Humes

Executive Director, The Boys and Girls Club of New Rochelle

Lutonya Russell Humes began her career at the Children's Village, a residential treatment facility for adolescent boys in Westchester County. She spent the next ten years working in the foster care systems of New York City and Bexar County, Texas. Hoping to impact families and children before they entered the system, she began her community-based work with the Westchester Community Opportunity Program (WestCOP) at the Ossining Community Action Program overseeing a nationally recognized pregnancy prevention program. While at WestCOP, Ms. Russell Humes was recruited to serve on the Westchester County Youth Bureau’s Advancing Youth Development (AYD) Training Team, where she has provided professional development to hundreds of youth development professionals across Westchester County. In her most recent position, Ms. Russell Humes served as Managing Director of Education and College Access at Phipps Neighborhoods, where she was responsible for youth development and education programs in the South Bronx.

Ms. Russell Humes has successfully managed programs throughout Westchester County from Peekskill to Yonkers, including the largest 21st Century Community Learning Center in the County at the White Plains Youth Bureau. She is most proud of providing quality programs that allow young people and their families to access services that might not otherwise be available to them. “All children need to know that their community sees greatness in them. The Boys and Girls Club organization has personified that spirit,” stated Ms. Russell Humes. “The Boys and Girls Club of New Rochelle has been a pillar of the community providing young people with a safe, nurturing space that encourages greatness. I am excited about continuing that legacy and deepening that work.”

Ms.Russell Humes received her undergraduate degree in sociology from Mississippi Valley State University, and holds a Masters of Public Administration from Pace University. She is currently an adjunct professor at Mercy College.


Myra Hidalgo Salazar
Myra Hidalgo Salazar

Development Director, United We Dream

Originally from Naranjo, Alajuela, Costa Rica, Mayra came to the United States when she was six months old. Her journey through high school and college as an undocumented immigrant laid the groundwork for her commitment to social justice. In 2010, at age 17, she served as a project manager for the Trail of Dreams, a walk for immigrant justice from Miami to the nation’s capital. She coordinated actions and arranged legal representation for four demonstrators walking through the southeastern United States.

A former board member and community organizer for the Florida Immigrant Coalition, Mayra led efforts on the We Are Florida! and ¡No Somos Rubios! campaigns and traveled to Alabama to organize against anti-immigrant legislation. In 2016, she served as the Interim Executive Director of the Hudson Valley Community Coalition, a grassroots group organizing for immigrant rights in the Lower Hudson Valley of New York. Most recently, she served as the Hudson Valley Director for North Star Fund, where she launched their Hudson Valley grantmaking program and mobilized over 1.5 million dollars in resources to grassroots organizations in the region.

Mayra has served on both the United We Dream and United We Dream Action Board of Directors for 10 years combined. She has recently transitioned from her role as Board President for United We Dream Action, and joined United We Dream’s staff as Development Director.

Nada Khader
Nada Khader

Executive Director, WESPAC Foundation

Nada has served as the Executive Director of WESPAC Foundation since May 2001. WESPAC was recently recognized by the City of White Plains as a leading force in Westchester County for peace and justice work for over four decades.

Nada has been a student of Prout, the Progressive Utilization Theory for almost thirty years. Prout is a vision of a just and peaceful world with an economy that works for all people and is based on local self-reliance, cooperation, guaranteeing all people the minimum necessities of life and ending poverty.