Frequently Asked Questions

Building Shared Futures (BSF) is a community accelerator and fellowship for recent graduates and young professionals interested in developing projects, services, or products aimed to serve Muslim communities in North America. Selected fellows will partake in a 10-month long fellowship and have access to advising, professional development, interactive sessions, and funding as they develop their project.

After five years of working with students through various programs and events, we have loved hearing all your ideas about community improvement and development. Now, we want to actively provide a platform and funding for these ideas to take root. At Ma’rifa, we believe that young people are the future of community organizing and BSF aims to ensure that there is support for all of us to build the kind of world we want to live in.

Recent graduates, young professionals, and/or individuals ages 22-35 interested in developing innovative approaches to community issues. Applicants must also identify as a Shi’a Muslim and reside in North America. We understand that this criteria is broad - it is not set in stone and we will be flexible about it. We are ideally looking for someone with some industry experience relevant to their project (hence recent graduates and young professionals). If you don’t fit this criteria fully, we still encourage you to reach out to us and apply!

Projects are aimed to be flexible and scalable, catering to local, regional, or national Muslim communities. We are seeking projects that fall under the following Focus Areas: Environment & Sustainability, Health, Education, and Community Engagement.

You can apply individually without a team or an idea. If chosen as a fellow, the BSF team will place you in a team based on common goals and compatible interests before the in-person pitch summit!

If you are applying with a team, the BSF team will review your application while taking into consideration your team cohesion, collective goals, and expertise. If given a Finalist interview, your team will be required to participate in a team interview in addition to an individual interview.

As this is our inaugural year, we will learn the answer to this question with all of you. As of now, our list includes, but is not limited to: service-based app development, community clinics, and product development. In general, projects should strive to be accessible, impactful, and sustainable.

Your project must have direct community impact. Although the list of ideas below can be incorporated into different stages of your project, they cannot be the end product themselves: academic research, surveys and studies, podcasts, curriculums, commercial products, stand-alone events or conferences. Please note that this is not an exhaustive list. If you are wondering whether your project fits this fellowship, email us!

Between September 2024 and January 2025, fellows will be following the BSF curriculum including ideation, creating deliverables, and building solidified ideas. The BSF network will connect fellows with field experts, community organizers, and entrepreneurs through mentorship, workshops, and professional development panels. These opportunities are aimed to support fellows as they develop and refine their projects in preparation for the in-person pitch summit in January 2025.

After the in-person Pitch Summit, teams will receive funding subject to the discretion of the judges and project needs. There will be a pool of $20,000 funds distributed across projects with $10,000 being the maximum amount awarded to a single project.