Vermont Folklife Program Helps Vermonters Address Complex Local Issues
Applications open for Community Fellows Program that helps citizens research and take action to resolve community issue.
The Record Staff
Vermont Folklife has announced that it is accepting applications for the 2026 Vermont Community Fellows Program, an initiative to build community-based, action-oriented field research. The application process ends Dec. 14.
In its second year, the Community Fellows Program provides funding, practical skills, and ongoing mentorship to Vermont residents over the age of 18 to zero in on a community needs within a collaborative structure.
“Our goal,” said VT Folklife’s Director Kate Haughey, “is to foster a multi-generational network of skilled ethnographers and documentarians who will work with others to identify local concerns and explore solutions.”
Participants will learn methods and ethics of cultural research including interviewing, audio recording, photography, and media editing. They will seek out and document diverse viewpoints and examine past and present efforts to address issues of local concern. Fellows will then share what they’ve learned with their community, co-create a plan to envision and enact change, and work together to realize it.
The work will take place between February 2026 and March 2027, participants
“It has been a beautiful process,” says Cristian Santos, a current Community Fellow. “It takes time, but it is worthwhile to really understand how people in my community feel and what their daily lives are like.”
“We believe all people have unique knowledge of their own experience,” says Mary Wesley, Dir. of Education at VT Folklife. “This process channels that knowledge and creates a pathway for creative responses to complex issues.”
The program is made possible by Senator Bernie Sanders through the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. Applicants will receive a stipend, will be assisted with training and equipment and funding to offset costs. Other community fellows selected from around the state will assist in regular collaborative sessions.
The Vermont Folklife Archive, a collection of over 7,000 audio recordings as well as photographs and texts, is an additional program asset.
“Odds are good that Vermonters in the past faced the same or similar challenges as Vermonters today,” says VT Folklife Archivist Andy Kolovos. “The recordings in our archive provide insight into past perspectives on life here—perspectives that can help inform action in the present.”
Examples of projects by current Community Fellows include Tibetan community leader Tenzin Waser interviewing first and second generation Tibetan Americans to document their experiences of exile and life in Vermont, recent UVM graduate Eden Fuller investigating the role of faith-based organizations in providing social services, and social studies educator Paul Kramer, exploring how residents of the Mad River Valley view themselves and the future of their region.
“We knew from the beginning that the individual projects were interesting and important in and of themselves,” says Haughey, “but we were most excited to see how such a diverse group of Vermonters could come together, learn from each other, and form a new community of their own.”
To learn more about the Vermont Community Fellows Program and apply visit: http://vtfolklife.org/communityfellows.