Freedom Project Network

ALUMNI COLLEGE SUCCESS PROGRAM: The Alumni College Success Program supports all Freedom Project alumni who matriculate into college by providing mentorship calls, academic coaching, mental health support, and monthly stipends. We have a part-time Program Director who oversees the administration of this program and part-time coordinators for each of our 3 Freedom Project sites who lead the student-facing program. This year we supported 23 Alumni fellows enrolled at colleges and universities across the country.

FREEDOM SUMMER: During the summer, Freedom Project programming expands to whole day intensive sessions with students in core academic subjects, enrichment, and leadership development. Current undergraduate students from around the country, as well as local teachers, join the summer staff as Teacher Advisors. Fellows also travel for experiential learning to cities and places where pivotal moments of the Civil Rights Movement happened and tour different college campuses as part of college access programming. Our Fellows also engage in travel relevant to the ongoing work that they are doing, for example in art, or history, throughout the year.

FREEDOM SUMMER COLLEGIATE: Freedom Summer Collegiate recruits, trains, and funds doctoral candidates to design and facilitate transformative summer seminars at each Freedom Project site. In this program, high-school Freedom Fellows experience a powerful college simulation from the comfort of the Freedom Project and earn college credit from Millsaps College. In 2024, five Freedom Summer Collegiate instructors led college-bridge courses at the Meridian FP, the Sunflower County FP, and the Rosedale FP. Each FP had additional site coordinators to support course logistics. This year, FSC students explored science fiction; theories of education; food, land, and the environment; theories of race & power; and AI large-language models.

RESTORATIVE JUSTICE FELLOWSHIP: The Restorative Justice Fellowship moves our programming toward our broader goals of Fellows organizing to actualize their vision for change in their lives. RJF advances our community-building mission because restorative work focuses on building and repairing relationships. Fellows in the Freedom Project Network lead peace circles with each other to explore the causes of harm and create alternative solutions for addressing and handling conflict at their sites.

FPN PROGRAM SUPPORT: Professional development for staff members; site visits by leadership team of FP sites; data management & analysis; other program expenses.