CALL is a three-year leadership development opportunity for community changemakers who are living, working, and leading in Eastern Kentucky, Southwest Virginia, Northeast Tennessee, or West Virginia.  

Members will build new and deepened understandings of communities in Central Appalachia and the practical issues impacting our north star goal within them. Along the way, they’ll expand their regional network, learn from new and diverse perspectives, strengthen their leadership craft, skills and capacities, and reground in a sense of hope and what is possible for youth in Central Appalachia.  

Ultimately, members will collaborate across existing silos, take on deeper leadership roles, strengthen the technical capacity of systems related to our north star goal, and shift national narratives to the power, possibility, and potential of our region. 

CALL members will serve for three years, receiving a robust annual financial award, access to personalized professional development and leadership coaching, and covered travel to attend regional, place-based site visits in 10 different communities across Eastern Kentucky, West Virginia, Northeast Tennessee, and Southwest Virginia. 

Visit the About the Lab section of our website to learn more.

Visit the Core Pillars section of our website to learn more.

Members will live and work within the TFA Appalachia service region. TFA Appalachia’s region represents designated counties in Eastern Kentucky, West Virginia, Northeast Tennessee, and Southwest Virginia. If you live in a border county to our service region and are interested in the Lab, candidacy will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Visit the Eligibility section of our website for more information.

The Lab is a three-year leadership development opportunity.

We anticipate that 20 positions will be awarded to incoming 2027 cohort members.

There is no preferred career path, sector, or industry for accepted members. As part of our systems change orientation, we believe that issues of economic mobility and futures of possibility for youth are not just issues of education. Having members whose days jobs are centered both in and outside of education is a critical component of the program. Historically, Lab members have come from the following professional backgrounds:  

• K-12 education 

• Higher education 

• Non-profit leadership  

• Economic development 

• Workforce development 

• Community development 

• Policy & advocacy 

• Healthcare 

• Arts & culture 

Part-time employment circumstances will be reviewed for eligibility on a case-by-case basis. Between professional and community leadership roles, successful Lab applicants will be able to demonstrate the following:  

• equipped with a vision for how you would uniquely contribute toward TFA Appalachia’s north star goal as a Lab member 

• an emerging-to-early systems change leader (with ~8-15 years of experience in a field aligned to our north star goal)  

• professionally ready to exchange expertise and experience with a cohort of like-hearted, but not necessarily like-minded, professionals from across different sectors  

• able to anticipate and articulate your own specific leadership development needs 

• comfortable continuously challenging and expanding your understanding of regional assets and barriers 

• ready to mobilize when magic yields collaboration potential in the space between borders in disciplines, geographies, and lived experiences 

As part of the Lab’s goal for members to build nuanced understandings of issues and opportunities affecting our north star goal in communities across Central Appalachia, the convenings will rotate across different communities in the four-state TFA Appalachia region: Eastern Kentucky, Southwest Virginia, Northeast Tennessee, and West Virginia. Members should expect to travel to each of these states at least once. Lab members travel to communities where their peers live and work, so the specific locations for convenings over the three-year term will be identified once cohort selection is complete.  

-Fri. April 16 & Sat. April 17, 2027 (Kickoff Convening)
-Sat. July 31, 2027
-Sat. November 6, 2027
-Sat. April 1, 2028
-Sat. July 15, 2028
-Sat. November 4, 2028
-Sat. April 21, 2029
-Sat. July 28, 2029
-Sat. November 3, 2029
-Fri. March 29 & Sat. March 30, 2030 (Graduation Convening)

The program provides funding to support with travel to attend the in-person convenings. Members are eligible for up to $500 in travel reimbursements per convening. Beyond that amount, members are responsible for covering any additional costs.  

Yes!  We offer social events before and after convening programming that are open to families and travel partners. We also provide travel guides for travel partners to utilize in exploring the community we are visiting while the CALL member is attending programming. Families and travel partners often become integral members of the overall CALL community, and we look forward to getting to know and reuniting with them every few months in a new community.  

In-person commitment: Across the three-year membership term, members are required to attend each in-person convening day (three days per year of required programming). Given that the site for the in-person convenings rotates across our four-state geography, there will likely be some convenings each year that will require members to stay overnight before and/or after the convening date.  

Virtual commitment: Outside of the in-person convening dates, members attend virtual, monthly connection calls with other participants. They also attend every-other-month virtual leadership coaching sessions with their CALL coach.