The program will run over nine months from January 2024-October 2024. The time to complete this program averages 2-3 hours per week. These hours are divided between full-cohort Zoom calls, small group Zoom meetings, asynchronous work, and onsite retreats. 

By participating in this program, you are making a commitment to walk this path with Quakers Uprooting Racism. As a community of practice, everyone’s full participation is essential.  We know that making this time commitment may be challenging and require a level of privilege AND we are asking for a time commitment for this program because we believe the cohort is only as strong as its members showing up. We hope that this community is not only one of collective struggle and action, but also one of support and connection. If you know now that some dates will be challenging for you to make, please note that on your application. We understand that life has many different demands on our time.

The opening and closing retreats of this cohort are designed to be in-person experiences. The benefits of gathering together in-person are many: building relationships is key to this work, and in-person gatherings are most conducive to connection, embodiment, processing learning, and building on one another’s collective wisdom.

If necessary as an access need, we will do our best to accommodate a Zoom-in option but we will only be able to do it for portions of each retreat. Applicants are advised that online participants’ experience will be partial because these retreats are designed to be onsite experiences.

• Retreats: The community of practice will be anchored by onsite opening and closing retreats, one onsite midway retreat for BIPOC participants, and one online midway retreat for all participants.

• Zoom cohort meetings: Most months, the full cohort will meet on Zoom to worship, connect, and learn and co-create frameworks and skills for racial justice practice. 

• Small groups: Participants will be assigned in small groups which meet together on Zoom monthly between cohort sessions to build community, connect spiritually, process together, and offer support and accountability. The facilitators will provide an agenda for each small group meeting that has some flexibility and space for each group to make it their own. Committing to one of the small group meeting times (below) is a required part of your participation. There are the two small group scheduling track options to choose from. Please determine which option works best for your schedule and note that preference in the designated question in the last section of the application. 

• Fellowship time: Twice per month, there will be fellowship opportunities on Zoom. This is an optional time in which participants can explore the cohort materials, have worship-sharing, clearness, discuss issues with the facilitators, hold planning meetings, get support in completing homework, or tend to other needs of the cohort. You do not need to commit to regular attendance at fellowship time.

The opening retreat will be January 25-28 at Pendle Hill. The onsite midpoint retreat for BIPOC participants will be April 19-21 at Pendle Hill. The online midpoint retreat will be June 8th from 8:00am-4:00pm PT, 9:00am-5:00 pm MT, 10:00am-6:00 pm CT, 11:00am-7:00pm ET. The closing retreat will be October 11-14 at Pendle Hill.

The Cohort will meet the second Sunday of the month from 2:30-5:30pm PT, 3:30-6:30pm MT, 4:30-7:30pm CT, and 5:30-8:30pm ET on the following dates: February 11, March 10, April 14, May 12, & September 8.

Small Group Option A
4:00-5:30pm PT, 5:00-6:30pm MT, 6:00-7:30pm CT, 7:00-8:30pm ET
Sundays: Feb 25, March 24, April 28, May 26, June 23, & September 22.

Small Group Option B
4:00-5:30pm PT, 5:00-6:30pm MT, 6:00-7:30pm CT, 7:00-8:30pm ET
Tuesdays: Feb. 27, March 26, April 30, May 28, June 25, & September 24.

The optional Fellowship times will precede the Small Group times on the fourth Sunday and Tuesday of each month, meeting from 2:30-4:00pm PT, 3:30-5:00pm MT, 4:30-6:00pm CT, 5:30-7:00pm ET.
Sundays: Feb 25, March 24, April 28, May 26, June 23, July 28, August 25 & September 22.
Tuesdays: Feb 27, March 26, April 30, May 28, June 25, July 30, August 27 & September 24.

Click here to see the schedule with program dates and times in grid form. 

Please hold all of these dates in your calendar pending the approval of your application. Please email quakersuprootingracism@gmail.com to confer with the QCUR Steering Committee if you have questions or concerns about this time commitment.

For onsite gatherings, we will follow Pendle Hill’s COVID Policy with additional requirements to rapid test two days prior to arrival, upon arrival, and if you are feeling unwell during the retreat. We ask participants to remain masked indoors when not eating or drinking. If there are other groups on campus, they will be following Pendle Hill’s COVID Policy as written. 

The coalition is committed to making this program financially accessible to all Friends. The total real cost of the program without coalition fundraising or scholarships would be approximately $4,150 per person. Through fundraising, we are striving to subsidize that real cost down to ~$1000 per person. See below for our sliding scale subsidized participation fees.

• Redistribution fee: $1000—$1250 plus any additional funds you can share to help make the program accessible to others. You can make a tax deductible gift following the guidance at www.fgcquaker.org/qcur. Please choose this option if you are in a position to redistribute resources. 

• Full participation fee: $750—$999. This amount covers the subsidized cost of your participation. Please choose this option if you can cover your basic needs and plenty of extras.

• Sustaining participation fee: $500—$749. This amount covers a substantial portion of the costs of your participation.  Please choose this option if you can cover your basic needs and occasional extras.

• Partial participation fee: $250—$499. This amount covers some of the costs of your participation.  Please choose this option if you can cover your basic needs and nothing else.

• Solidarity participation fee: $0—$249. For those with limited access to financial resources. Please choose this option if you struggle to cover your basic needs.

If you are not sure what you should pay, view this sliding scale explainer resource to help in your discernment.

Applicants are urged to not let the participation fee stand in the way of applying. The coalition has some financial aid funds available and we encourage you to invite your home communities such as meetings, churches, yearly meetings, Quaker organizations, and other sources to support this work by sponsoring your participant fee and donating to support overall program costs. We can provide a sample letter and text that can be used. We welcome pairs or small teams of participants from shared communities, organizations, or other contexts, and gratefully invite support of participants from those home communities. 

We are seeking to build a cohort that represents the racial, age, gender, sexual orientation, geographic, other identities, and experiences of Friends across the continent. The application is a chance for us to get to know you. There are no “right” answers to these questions, simply your honest answers. You may submit your responses via an audio or video file to QuakersUprootingRacism@gmail.com if that works better for you.

Some form of association, affiliation, and/or experience among Friends is a requirement: an ability to work within an identified Quaker context. Quaker membership is not a requirement.

Applicant criteria we are prioritizing:

• Demonstrated commitment to racial justice work

• Commitment to full participation in the community of practice

• Racial parity (equal number BIPOC and white participants)

• Queer/gender-nonconforming/not heterosexual Friends

• Younger Friends (35 or under)

• People without positional power within an institution

• Geographical boundaries: US, Canada, and Mexico

Reference

Important! Please invite one reference among Friends to speak to your association and who you are. Ask your reference to write a one-page letter speaking to how they know you, your gifts, and your strengths and experience with anti-oppression work. Your reference may also submit via a brief audio or video file if that works better for them. Have them send their support of your application to QuakersUprootingRacism@gmail.com.

We encourage applicants to apply as early as possible. The application deadline is September 15, 2023. We will endeavor to inform you of an admission decision by October 30, 2023.