Explore community-identified challenges.
Focus on self-leadership, project management, self-reflection, breaking down complex tasks.
What if your college experience didn’t just prepare you for the future, but actively shaped it?
The Community Resilience & Leadership Student Fellows Program (CRL) is SOU’s flagship, community-engaged learning experience for students who want to turn their passions into real-world impact. Through hands-on projects, field-based learning, and deep partnerships with local organizations, CRL invites you to work on the complex, urgent challenges facing our communities and be part of creating meaningful solutions. Fellows receive stipends for their participation in the program.
CRL is built on the idea of the living laboratory: our campus, region, and community partners become the classroom. You’ll work with real data, real people, and real challenges, all while gaining skills, confidence, and clarity about your future along the way.
“It’s not just learning about different tools and ways to improve yourself, but also of ways to impact and affect other individuals in the community, beginning with yourself.”
“The experience of meeting with community partners, exploring ambiguities and personal values with my peers, and the helpful and insightful guidance of the instructors is invaluable. I believe the lab attracts students who are curious, full of life, and willing to learn how to ride the waves of ambiguity and uncertainty.”
CRL is for students who are curious, motivated, and ready to learn by doing. For those who are ready to explore how their interests, values, and skills can make a difference. No matter your major, CRL helps you connect what you care about with what you can do, and discover where your strengths can have the greatest impact.
CRL is best suited for third year students or those approximately one year from graduation. This is a moment when many students are ready to connect what they’ve learned to what comes next and CRL is designed to help turn that into momentum post graduation through real opportunities and relationships.
CRL invests in its students. Those selected as Fellows receive a stipend that recognizes the value of their time and leadership making it possible for students to focus fully on meaningful outcomes.
- Spring Local Innovation Lab: $1000
- Summer Field School: $3000
Additional scholarships may be available.
The current application is for the 2026 cohort that starts Spring 2026.
Priority Deadline: Monday February 2, 2026
Open until filled.
Projects in the CRL Program are built through collaboration. Students work alongside community partners to co-create and co-lead projects that respond to real challenges and shared interests. Some projects originate with partner organizations, while others start as student ideas that grow through mentorship, feedback, and community connection.
Mission Investment & Values-Aligned Finance
Student: Maisie Bandel-Ramirez
This project explored how mission-driven organizations can align their financial investments with their social and environmental values. The student examined ethical investment strategies, evaluated real-world portfolios, and reflected on how finance can be used as a tool for systems change—blending personal values, research, and practical decision-making.
Project Beaver: Ecological Restoration & Community Resilience
Student: Sophia Gilbert
Project Beaver investigated the ecological and social benefits of beaver-based restoration, including wetland health, biodiversity, and wildfire mitigation. Through research and community engagement, this project connected ecological science with land management and climate resilience, highlighting how nature-based solutions support both ecosystems and communities.
Addressing Climate Anxiety Through Education & Engagement
Student: Tasi Pereira
This project focused on understanding and responding to climate anxiety, especially among students and young adults. The student developed educational materials and engagement strategies to help individuals process eco-anxiety, build emotional resilience, and reconnect with a sense of agency in the face of climate change.
As a companion to their research, this project translated complex emotional and psychological research into an accessible infographic. The work emphasized science communication, visual storytelling, and public education—demonstrating how research can be transformed into tools that support community wellbeing.
Scholar-Athlete Changemaker: Leadership Beyond the Field
Student: Franco Fasoli
This project examined the role of student-athletes as leaders and change agents, exploring how athletics can intersect with academics, leadership development, and long-term career pathways. The work connected personal experience with broader questions of identity, responsibility, and social impact.
Kairos Internship: Building Local Networks for Change
Student: Fiona Boyle
Through a community-based internship, this project focused on building and strengthening local partnerships. The student worked with real organizations, contributed to ongoing initiatives, and reflected on professional growth—gaining hands-on experience in collaboration, project management, and community-engaged work.
The Land Justice Imperative: Equity, Climate, and Community
Student: Franco Fasoli
This project explored land justice as a critical intersection of climate change, housing, and social equity. Through research and analysis, the student examined how frontline communities—such as farmworkers and wildfire survivors—experience compounded environmental and social challenges, and what more just land-use systems could look like.
1. Collaborate with CRL students on a project that serves the region.
2. Support students with stipends to allow them to fully engage in this immersive program.
3. Follow the work by joining our mailing list.
