The Autry Fellowship is a competitive fellowship for talented and ambitious recent college graduates interested in careers in community change and social equity. It provides an opportunity to work for one year at MDC as a full-time, paid staff member. The Autry Fellowship supports MDC’s mission—to help organizations and communities close the gaps that separate people from opportunity—by developing a cadre of young leaders who have experience promoting economic development, increasing equity and excellence in education, building inclusive civic cultures, and who are poised and ready to apply their new learning to benefit those left behind.

The ideal Autry Fellow is open-minded and compassionate, curious and reflective, and deeply committed to advancing social equity and opportunity. The Autry Fellow is afforded a unique opportunity for experiential learning within an organization that is more than 45 years old. The Fellow begins by working directly with staff on our existing projects, exploring a variety of approaches to creating opportunity, and goes deeper into those approaches that most interest him or her. One Fellow worked to create EITC Carolinas, a program to help low-income families connect with tax credits, others have facilitated conference sessions, written op-ed articles, designed an online equity resource center, and worked with the MDC team to guide the strategic direction of foundations, among many other projects.

Qualifications include:

·         the ability to communicate and work with people who have diverse backgrounds and experiences

·         the capacity to understand complex economic and social issues and communicate those issues clearly and persuasively

·         commitment to MDC’s mission

·         prior work, study, or service in a variety of relevant areas, including public policy, education, economic and workforce development, poverty alleviation, sociology, political science, Southern studies, community development, leadership development, or a similar field

·         demonstration of leadership potential in the areas of interest

·         United States residency

·         candidates must be in their final years of undergraduate studies or have graduated within two years from any accredited four-year college or university

MDC is a nonprofit organization headquartered in Durham, NC. Founded in 1967 to identify and help remove barriers to progress in the South, MDC has been publishing research and developing policies and programs focused on expanding opportunity, reducing poverty, and building inclusive civic cultures for more than 45 years.

The application deadline for the Autry Fellowship is Monday, January 16, 2012. For more information on this year’s application process, see http://mdcinc.org/about/apply.aspx, or contact Max Rose, 2011-2012 Autry Fellow, at mrose@mdcinc.org.