OUR MISSION

Every year, the story feels the same–the sharpest students graduate from Appalachian high schools, go to college, and never return. 

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We want students to be successful, follow their dreams, and feel fulfilled. But we also need to create more opportunities, here in the mountains, for that formula to exist. We need to create a place where students feel called to come, not forced to stay. The math is simple: if more people leave a town than come to a town, the town will die.

 

The City of Hazard Civic Fellowship seeks to recruit the best and brightest mountain students to come to work for us during the summer and learn how local government works. Instead of sitting in Frankfort, bored out of your mind, work with local community stakeholders to develop a dog park. Instead of answering non-stop emails from angry constituents in DC, come sit with the mayor on a task force to address the needs of our homeless population. 

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Through three components– hands-on projects and research, attending and presenting at civic meetings, and a common reading experience–we commit to the idea that young people will come to believe in the potential of this area, determine their theory of change for the city, and determine their vision for how they can contribute later in life.

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Five classes of outstanding students and graduates of the Civic Fellowship program are now working as emerging leaders in Hazard, the Appalachian region, and beyond.