Program Overview
In partnership with the Center for Theology and Justice, participants of The People's Fellowship will complete a hybrid (in-person and virtual) course at Brite Divinity School called Fundamentals of Theologically Informed Grassroots Organizing & Campaign Development.
The course provides essential background on organizing theory, power analysis, and offers concrete skills training based on a curriculum that leverages lived experience as a cornerstone of collective action. In addition, the course provides an introduction to:
- Organizing tools and frameworks to design and implement actionable campaigns.
- A history of faithful people involved in long-term community organizing for social change.
- A history of social change in Texas, and insights into the current national and global movement landscape and opportunities for advancing change today.
- Activities that promote intentional team building and relationship development across faith, culture, and class.
Your project should be rooted in at least three of BNTX's four lanes of work: Community, Culture, Care, and Change. You'll be asked to describe how your project connects to those values in your application.
Fellows who complete the full program may be selected to continue their work through the BNTX Imagination Lab — a nine-month incubator where projects are resourced and supported toward becoming durable community institutions.
What Makes a Good Project?
Your project should be rooted in community need and connected to at least three of BNTX's four lanes of work. Here's what each lane means in practice:
Community
You're developing leaders, building belonging, or creating spaces where people learn, grow, and connect. A community project might be a political education series, a mentorship program, a leadership cohort, or a gathering space rooted in a specific neighborhood or identity.
Culture
You're shaping narrative, mobilizing people, or using art, music, storytelling, faith, or media to shift what feels possible. A culture project might be a community publication, a civic engagement campaign, a faith-rooted organizing effort, or a creative project that moves people toward action.
Care
You're meeting real needs, building trust, and creating pathways for people to move from surviving to thriving. A care project might be a mutual aid network, a health resource program, a resource hub, or an initiative that supports people most impacted by oppressive systems and organizes them toward lasting change.
Change
You're working to shift systems, policies, or the distribution of power. A change project might be a campaign, an advocacy effort, a voter mobilization initiative, or a strategy to hold institutions accountable.
An Example of an Incubated Project: The CN Initiative
A project like this doesn't have to be fully built when you apply. What matters is that you have a clear community need you're responding to, a sense of who you're trying to serve, and a vision for how your work builds power over time.
The CN Initiative (Cwiny Nia)
A nonprofit based in Garland, Texas that restores dignity, stability, and opportunity for individuals and families impacted by poverty, housing instability, and justice system involvement. Through trauma-informed care, housing stabilization, bail support, and community leadership development, CN Initiative builds pathways home for people who are unhoused, held pretrial because they can't afford bail, or rebuilding after incarceration.
CN Initiative meets people in crisis, providing food, housing support, court navigation, transportation, and care packages. Their work is trauma-informed, culturally grounded, and designed to meet people where they are.
They develop leadership from within the communities they serve, creating expanded opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals to shape and lead the work.
They don't stop at immediate needs. CN Initiative pushes systems to truly serve those most affected — working to reduce poverty-based detention, improve court appearance rates, and build community-based alternatives to incarceration.
Our Community in Action
This is the community you'd be joining — organizers, faith leaders, educators, and neighbors from across North Texas committed to making change.
Program Components
The fellowship runs August 2026 through June 2027 and is structured across three semesters designed to build on each other.
Opening Intensive
An opening day in-person intensive to ground participants in the work of the fellowship and begin building connections with fellow cohort members and facilitators.
Theologically Informed Community Organizing
Hybrid (virtual and in-person) classes for 10 weeks. There will be 7 virtual sessions and 3 in-person sessions. Students will complete a total of 30 classroom hours, plus five Saturday morning community strategy and action sessions (25 hrs).
Theologically Informed Community Apprenticeship
Virtual classes for 10 weeks — 30 classroom hours dedicated to real-world organizing practice and Capstone project development — plus dedicated 20 hours per month working with a community-based organization or actively developing their own project/program/initiative.
Theologically Informed Community Action
A week-long closing intensive during which participants present their projects and complete the capstone Public Action together.
Successful completion of the fellowship requires participation in all components, regular attendance, and completing the capstone public action.
Who We're Looking For
This fellowship is for people ages 18–80+ who have been actively involved in community work — whether as grassroots organizers, mutual aid participants, faith leaders, volunteers, super-volunteers, veterans, directly impacted individuals, or nonprofit and civic leaders. If you've been showing up for your North Texas community in ways big or small for at least 3 years, we want to hear from you.
- Grassroots organizers and mutual aid participants
- Faith leaders and people of faith committed to justice
- Volunteers, super-volunteers, and civic leaders
- Veterans and directly impacted individuals
- Nonprofit and civic leaders
- Anyone showing up for their North Texas community in ways big or small
You don't need a formal title. What matters most is your lived experience, deep care, commitment to growth, and a project or idea you're ready to build.
What You'll Receive
The People's Fellowship is an investment in you and the work you're already doing. Fellows receive:
A fellowship stipend
Direct support to invest in your project and sustain your participation.
College credit at Brite Divinity School
Through the hybrid course, Fundamentals of Theologically Informed Grassroots Organizing & Campaign Development.
Cohort relationships
A community of peers who are doing work they're passionate about across North Texas.
Mentorship and coaching
Access to coaching and support from experienced leaders.
Connection to the BNTX ecosystem
Relationships with partner organizations and a growing network of people building power across the region.
A pathway to the Imagination Lab
Fellows who complete the program may be selected for the BNTX Imagination Lab, where their project receives full incubation support, seed funding, and long-term infrastructure support.
Program Facilitator
Rev. Edwin Robinson
Founder, Bridge North Texas · Community Organizer in Residence, Brite Divinity School's Center for Theology and Justice
Rev. Edwin Robinson is a community organizer, political strategist, and coalition builder rooted in the belief that ordinary people — especially Black, working-class, and faith-driven communities — hold the collective power to dismantle systems of oppression and build a more just society. He is the Founder of Bridge North Texas, a 10-year regional campaign to build political, narrative, and economic power in North Texas, and currently serves as the inaugural Community Organizer in Residence at Brite Divinity School's Center for Theology and Justice.
A retired Army veteran and former adjunct professor at CUNY's School of Labor and Urban Studies, Edwin's publications — A World Changers Guide to Giving a Damn and How Black Churches Can Change the World — offer a window into the values, strategy, and leadership that animate his approach to long-term social change.
Join us for a virtual information session
Virtual Information Session
Tuesday, June 30th · 6–7pm CT
Interested applicants can join us to learn more about the fellowship, ask questions, and connect with the team before applying.
Ready to apply?
Applications close July 12, 2026. For questions, email tiffany@bridgetx.org