Class 3 students in front of The White House

Thank you for your interest in Cultural Leadership. Applications for Class 7 will be available in August 2010. To receive an application or if you have any questions regarding Cultural Leadership, please feel free to contact us.

Please look over the Program Schedule and Agreement before you apply. Cultural Leadership is a demanding and rewarding program. We require a serious commitment from our participants that is outlined in both the Schedule and Agreement. Please be sure you are willing to commit fully to Cultural Leadership before applying.

The following documents are for general reference only and are NOT valid documents for application. Official application documents for Class 7 will be available in August 2010.

Microsoft Word format	Adobe Acrobat / PDF format
Application and Reference Forms Combined	Application and Reference Forms Combined
Recommendation Form Only	Recommendation Form Only
Class 6 Program Schedule - 2010	Class 6 Program Schedule - 2010
Agreement	Agreement

Eligibility & Qualifications

Student Recruitment and Selection

Cultural Leadership sends applications to more than100 high schools and houses of worship in the St. Louis area in search of competitive applicants. We welcome applications from students of any race, religion, or background who are interested in learning how to become activists for social justice.

In our inception, Cultural Leadership was a program dedicated to rekindling the historic alliance between African Americans and Jews. We have since expanded on that mission and now train high school students to create a more just and equitable community through the African American and Jewish lens. We see the history of these two groups as an excellent foundation for understanding the effects of oppression and privilege and for learning how to fight social injustice. Thus, our curriculum continues to focus, in part, though the African American and Jewish experience and the majority, though not all, of our student body identify as one or both of those two groups.

To apply, one must:

• be curious and interested in “changing the world;"
• have demonstrated a sense of responsibility, leadership potential, and curiosity;
• be a sophomore or a junior in high school and live in the St. Louis region;
• be Black and/or of African descent and voluntarily identify as an African-American;
• be Jewish, belong to a synagogue, and identify voluntarily as a Jew;
• not be Black or Jewish, but interested in learning about and being with both groups and interested in learning how to bring about social change;
• agree to the tremendous commitment that we require of our students;
• be open to a life-changing experience.

Completed applications with two recommendations are read by the Recruitment - Selection Committee that narrows the finalists and interviews students personally. Up to 36 students will be selected to participate in next year's class.

Application Process

The general application timeline is as follows...

Late August/Early September	Applications available online and through area high schools
Early November	Applications due to Cultural Leadership
Late November	Letters mailed notifying applicants of interview status
Mid December	Interviews and notification letters