Loretto extends warm welcome to inaugural Loretto Justice Fellowship Fellows!

The Loretto Justice Fellowship is Loretto’s response to calls for new strategies and priorities across the social justice landscape, shifting needs of young people and transitions in religious communities, including ours. The Fellowship model arose from shared values expressed by stakeholders:

• Loretto Mission + Values – responding to the needs of the times; carrying forward values and mission work of both the Loretto Volunteer Program and the Loretto Community into the contemporary social justice landscape
• Equity, Inclusion, Liberation – enabling greater access to, inclusion of and support for individuals and communities of color and those that hold other marginalized identities
• Centering the Needs of Local Placement Site Partner Organizations + Local Communities – supporting sustained, longer-term relationships and skills-alignment between participants, placement site work and local communities; investing in and partnering with the next generation of social justice leaders within communities
• Community – cultivating flexible, creative, inclusive approaches to community among participants, Loretto Community members and others

The Loretto Justice Fellowship will begin its pilot year in El Paso in partnership with the University of Texas-El Paso (UTEP) School of Social Work, UTEP’s Law School Preparation Institute and local social justice organizations. Centering local leadership in the pursuit of systemic change, the Fellowship invests in, partners with and empowers UTEP students through their personal and professional journeys in justice. Get to know the first seven Loretto Justice Fellows this week as we highlight them on Facebook!