Each of five school teams, made up of two students, one teacher, and one administrator, is leading a project to shift curriculum, instruction, or governance at their school. Every project is tested against the same bar: does it share real power with students, will it outlast the people currently in the room, and does it change behavior, not just awareness. Projects range from redesigned youth advisory councils with real authority over curriculum, to overhauled advisory blocks, to new structures for how students and teachers make decisions together.

Fellows leverage their experience to influence the broader field through op-eds, podcasts, school board presentations, and conference talks, building a case for liberatory education that reaches far beyond their own hallways. What they learn along the way, including what worked and what didn't, feeds a practitioner playbook for school leaders everywhere. A fellowship built for 20 people is designed to move a field.

Teams came together for an in-person kickoff retreat and now meet monthly to train on topics like intergenerational work and change management, and to work on their projects. We pay every fellow for their time: students receive $2,000 and adults receive $1,500, since the adults are salaried professionals doing this work inside their jobs, while young people are routinely asked to do the same kind of work for free.