New fellowship supports community organizations in Champaign County

Anita Say Chan
Anita Say Chan, Associate Professor

The Community Data Clinic has announced its first cohort of Community Media, Data, and Technology (CMDT) Fellows. The new program is part of the "Reparative Data and Media Initiative: Extending Racial and Research Justice in Champaign County" project, which is funded through the University's Call to Action initiative and led by Anita Say Chan, associate professor and director of the Community Data Clinic, and Katie Shumway, director of the Community Learning Lab in the School of Social Work. The fellowships provide annual funding and technical support to community organizations in Champaign County "looking to advance promising ideas to change local communities and systems."

Spring 2022 Fellows include:

  • Dawn Blackman, Garden Steward for The Randolph Street Community Garden
  • Herbert Burnett, CEO/Founder of Not on My Watch (NOMW)
  • Stephanie Burnett, Executive Director of NOMW
  • Miriam Larson, Executive Director of the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center (UCIMC)
  • Debarah McFarland, Founder of the Dream Girls Academy

In addition to receiving $5,000 for their projects, Fellows will participate in a workshop series dedicated to supporting the media production, technology, and data management skills their projects' developments require. A public showcase of the community projects will be held at the end of the program in August 2022.

One example is NOMW's SoundBox Project, in which local youth express themselves through artistic means.

"Students will learn the ins and outs of a recording studio and have the opportunity to express themselves through music, poetry/spoken word, podcasts, and more," said Herbert Burnett. "Weekly activities will also include discussions on current events, social justice issues, racism, poverty, and violence in the community. These same subject matters will be the basis of their musical and verbal art."

The fellowship program is co-led by interdisciplinary UIUC faculty and staff across the iSchool, College of Fine and Applied Arts, College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, School of Social Work, and Grainger College of Engineering. Its community advisors network also includes community leadership from local social justice-focused organizations, including the CU Trauma and Resilience Initiative, Cunningham Township, and Champaign County Mental Health Board.

"The 2022 Community Media, Data, and Technology Fellows represent an amazing cohort of leadership in community-centered innovation focused on racial and social justice," added Chan. "Moreover, the way they approach technology and data practice—in ways that directly and concretely extend benefits for diverse neighbors and local residents—offers so many insights for campus researchers. We're grateful for their work here in East Central Illinois and for the guidance of our community advisors' network. We couldn't be prouder to bridge such connections between campus and community data practice!"

Updated on
Backto the news archive

Related News

Huang named a 2025–2026 Linowes Fellow

Associate Professor Yun Huang has been named a 2025–2026 Linowes Fellow by the Cline Center for Advanced Social Research at the University of Illinois. She is also the recipient of a 2024–2025 fellowship, which "provides exceptionally promising tenure-stream faculty with opportunities for innovation and discovery using the Cline Center's data holdings and/or analytic tools."

Yun Huang

New book explores video standards in film and archives

A new book co-authored by iSchool Adjunct Lecturer Jimi Jones and Marek Jancovic, assistant professor of media studies at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, examines video file standards and the tensions that have emerged between the film industry and the archiving community that is tasked with preserving cultural cinematic productions. 

Jimi Jones

Chin receives NSF CAREER award

Assistant Professor Jessie Chin has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award to support lifelong learning and foster information literacy. This prestigious award is given in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization. Chin’s project, “Search as a Mechanism for Learning,” will be supported by a five-year, $629,451 grant from the NSF.

Jessie Chin

What are the effects of trade restrictions on digital technologies?

President Donald Trump has threatened to levy higher tariffs on more than two dozen countries and on various products in the past few months. China in particular has been a target of the administration’s trade wars, aimed at preventing its dominance in areas such as artificial intelligence, although the U.S. government announced recently that it would sell advanced semiconductors used in AI to China. Assistant Professor Meicen Sun spoke with News Bureau arts and humanities editor Jodi Heckel about the effects of trade restrictions.

Meicen Sun

Hassan selected for IAPP Westin Scholar Award

PhD student Muhammad Hassan has been selected as an IAPP Westin Scholar Award honoree. The annual awards were created by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) to support students who are identified as future leaders in the field of privacy and data protection. 

Muhammad Hassan