The Catamount Fellowship is a cohort-based learning experience for Mount Royal University students committed to building a more just and sustainable future for all. The fellowship is one part community-partnered research and one part transformational learning. Diving into social innovation frameworks, experiential learning and deep listening with community, students explore the root causes of community-identified ecological, social, economic, and cultural issues.
Students collaborate across sectors and boundaries to engage multiple stakeholders, accelerate their personal and professional development, and deepen their ability to make meaningful change in their communities.
Our Catamount Fellows are senior level undergraduate students studying across academic disciplines. Student fellows partner directly with community partners working to address a complex social and/or environmental issue affecting Calgarians and those living in and across Treaty 7 and with faculty mentors who support students with their research in a mentorship capacity.
Program Updates and Redesign
- We extend our sincere gratitude to everyone who has made this program possible, notably the generous sponsorship by Suncor Energy Foundation, and look forward to continuing these partnerships in the future. Current Mount Royal University students who are interested in our next offering of the Fellowship are invited to complete our 2025/2026 Expression of Interest Form, and subscribe to our Institute Newsletter to stay up to date about our program offerings.
- We have had the opportunity to work with five amazing cohorts of student fellows, community partners, and faculty mentors, and will be taking a pause for the 2024-2025 academic year to redesign the program based on feedback and the evolving needs of learners. We are excited to have the space to reconnect with our past participants, invite potential future collaborators to share insights, and create a new vision for Catamount for 2025-2026.
Fellows become part of a dedicated cohort engaged in peer-to-peer experiential learning while broadening their skills and personal competencies needed to understand and navigate complex 21st-century challenges, recognizing that no single individual changes the world alone. Fellows build relationships with mentors, entrepreneurs and innovators within the broader changemaking community in and around Calgary through community-engaged research.
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Dig into real world challenges with community partners in Calgary and those living across Treaty 7.
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| 2 | Develop a changemaker mindset, combined with an ability to see complex issues through a systems lens. |
| 3 | Build meaningful connections with a broader community of changemakers including community leaders, public officials, activists, social entreprenuers, innovators and students. |
| 4 | Gain applied community engaged research experience working within complex social and/or environmental issues. |
"Catamount is a transformative learning experience that provides future leaders with new skills and exposure to applied systems thinking. This offers new ways of conceptualizing problems and designing ways to address challenges. We can't address the same old problems with the same old thinking."
- Catamount Community Partner, 2022
Fellows commit between 5-10 hours per week, in addition to their academic schedule, to conduct research, connect with community partners and faculty mentors and engage with the Catamount cohort. Fellows are required to join cohort meeting on Fridays from 10am - 1pm, and will also meet with their community partner and faculty mentor bi-weekly throughout the program.*
Fellows receive a $2,000 cash stipend upon completion of the program and residency in MRU's Trico Changemakers Studio for the duration of the program.
*We highly recommend taking no more than 4 courses through the winter term due to the demands of the final deliverables at the end of the program.
Are You Eligible to be a Catamount Fellow?
| You’re passionate about the future well being of people and planet | You have a willingness to wrestle with challenges and complex issues facing the 21st century | You’re a thinker with ideas that have the potential to create change |
| You’re in Good Standing academically (note: there is no minimum GPA to qualify for the fellowship) | You’re a student at MRU with a minimum of 60 credits completed towards your degree or 30 credits towards your diploma | You’re able to commit between 5-10 hours per week to the fellowship |
Curious to see more from the fellowship? Check out the amazing work from previous fellows or contact our program lead, Barb Rallison at brallison@mtroyal.ca.
Did you know?! Catamount is a synonym for a cougar. Not only does ‘cat’ derive from catalyst but ‘mount’ references to both our name and evokes the challenge of climbing a summit. We chose Catamount because like all large cats, they are an example of a keystone species and their range extends through virtually all of southern Alberta. After watching so many unique lives flourish in the first cohort of this program, it only made sense to reimagine a name that suggests the unique and large journey the fellowship took them on.
The Catamount Fellowship is made possible with the generous support of the Suncor Energy Foundation