Fellows Now Eligible for $40,000, up from $25,000

Coady International Institute and the Pathy Family Foundation renewed their partnership agreement, which includes a name change and an increase of $15,000 per community project beginning with the 2020-2021 fellows. Formerly the OceanPath Fellowship, the new Pathy Foundation Fellowship provides up to $40,000 to support the design and implementation of a community initiative by developing leaders from four Canadian partner Universities.

Aside from the name change, and an increase in eligible project funding, the program remains true to its roots; through community-focused experiential learning, exceptional young leaders become active and effective change-makers, working closely with communities to foster sustainable and positive social change in Canada, and around the world.

Nine young leaders from the 2018-2019 cohort completed their fellowship in May 2019.

Nanda Kishore Daggupati facilitated a partnership between Chudar, an organization that works to improve the quality of education for children from underprivileged backgrounds, and the Tamil Nadu government for his initiative, Educational Development through Research, Consulting, and Policy.

William O’Dwyer collaborated with Autism Nova Scotia and YMCA to develop accessible swimming curriculum and level assessments for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

Corrina Vali used her fellowship experience to improve menstrual health in rural India through social enterprise.

“My view of development and social entrepreneurship has transformed through the fellowship. I hope to work in higher-level policymaking in India someday and this experience will be invaluable in designing policies that put communities at the forefront of development. This was one of the most transformative years of my life.” – Corrina Vali (OceanPath Fellowship, 2018-2019)

The 2019-2020 cohort of nine fellows recently completed the first of five phases earlier this year. During the Foundations for Community Change (FCC), the fellows spent three weeks at Coady International Institute learning approaches to development at the community level, budgeting, monitoring, evaluation and learning approaches, and personal leadership development. Now in the Pre-Community Phase (PCP), the fellows have returned home to develop further their initiatives based on learnings from FCC. On August 26, 2019, the fellows will return to Coady for the Final Planning Workshop (FPW) – a week of preparation before embarking into their community. The fellows will then spend nine months in the Community Phase where they will work with their identified communities with support from Coady staff and peers, followed by a Debrief, returning to Coady to unpack the year.

Applications for the next cohort will open September 3, 2019. If you are a graduating student from McGill, uOttawa, Queen’s, or StFX University, learn more and apply!