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The Fellowship provides financial awards for projects that align with Pratt Center’s urban planning and policy work to advance sustainable and equitable community development in New York City and its neighborhoods. The goals of the Fellowship are to facilitate “beyond the gates” community service projects and support Pratt Institute’s commitment to collaboration, interdisciplinary projects, and service learning.

The Taconic Fellowship supports projects that use a ground-up, community-based approach to tackling issues of urban sustainability and socioeconomic inequity. Fellowships are awarded to teams of Pratt Institute faculty and students working in close collaboration with a community-based organization on a project which addresses a community need. The maximum award per project is $12,000, and it is intended to allow Pratt teams to engage in a collaborative design, decision-making, and implementation process with the community organization.

1. Pratt Institute affiliation. All projects must be led by current Pratt Institute faculty, staff, or students. Student-led projects are welcome; however, a faculty advisor must agree to act in a supervisory capacity for their project. All students must be enrolled for the entire 2023-2024 academic year.
2. Partnership with an organization that serves as a community-based client for the project. All projects must partner with a community-based organization in New York City. This community partner should be invested in the project, and the project should be in alignment with the organization’s mission.
3. Based in New York City. Only projects based in New York City will be considered. As such, the community client must also be located within the five boroughs.
4. Proposed activities occur during the school year. All project activities outlined in the proposal must take place during the period between August 2023 and June 2024.

We are interested in projects that:

1. Use a lens of socioeconomic and/or racial justice to address one or more of the following aspects of community development: Affordable housing, climate change / resiliency / sustainability, economic development, environmental justice, land use, open space, transportation planning / public transportation
   
2. Work toward community impact
   Proposals should demonstrate the capacity to make a tangible impact on a community, whether it is a place-based community or an affinity community made up of people with similar backgrounds and/or interests.
   
3. Have a significant community engagement component.
   The stakeholders (or a subset thereof) who stand to benefit from the project should be meaningfully involved in it.
   
4. Are proposed by people from different departments
   Partnerships between faculty and students and between people in different departments are strongly encouraged.

An evaluation committee will review proposals for impact, capacity, and approach. More specifically, the review committee will make decisions based on:

1. Significance and relevance. Does the proposed project address a problem or question in the arena of equitable community development as outlined in the aforementioned aspects of community development?
   
2. Community impact. How will the project tangibly impact a community? Does the proposal reflect a deep community engagement process and mutually beneficial relationship between the fellows and the community partner?
   
3. Capacity for success. Are the fellows qualified to realize the proposed project? Is the community partner invested in the success of the project
   
4. Approach and method. Is the project proposal adequately developed for the purpose of the project and commensurate with the stated project goal? Does the proposal allow for adequate collaboration and communication with the community partner to ensure feasible outcomes?