Ruby Fellowships
The Ruby is a collective of creative women and nonbinary folks that values empathy and education. Thanks to the generosity of our community members, lifetime Rubies, and the family of So-Youn Kim, our fellows join us for fully-funded year-long memberships. At the conclusion of the fellowship period, we will also host an event where the vital work of our fellows will be featured and celebrated.
General Fellowships
We are excited to offer 10 fellowships to LGBTQ+ individuals and people of color who would not otherwise be able to afford a Ruby membership. These are year-long Full Ruby memberships that will span a year, from June 2022 - June 2023.
Specialized Fellowships
We also have several specialized fellowships available for those with financial need who would benefit from a Ruby membership. These are also year-long Ruby memberships spanning from June 2022 - June 2023.
The Dorothea Gertrude Flynn Fellowship will be given to a recipient who was the first in their family to enroll in higher education. Dorothea Gertrude Flynn was born in 1917. She had planned to attend Barnard College (Columbia did not accept women at the time) and dreamed of a becoming a writer—specifically, a journalist. After her mother died in childbirth and her father subsequently lost everything in the Depression, she was no longer able to afford college, and never attended. She was always a passionate advocate for education for women, and would have been thrilled by the community of writers and creatives here at the Ruby. This is a full, one-year membership to The Ruby.
The Leonore Peyser Davis Fellowship will be given to a musician or music writer with financial need. Leonore Peyser Davis was a devotee of all the arts, and music, especially opera, was something she adored. This fellowship celebrates her passion for music and is dedicated to cultivating emerging voices in the field. This is a full, one-year membership to The Ruby.
The Rachel Khong fellowship will be given to a LGBTQ+ and/or POC fiction writer with financial need working on their first novel. Rachel Khong is a San Francisco-based writer and the founder of The Ruby. Rachel worked tirelessly to provide a collaborative, safe space for women and non-binary people to pursue their goals and creative work in community with others. This fellow will join the Ruby for a year as a full member and as a welcome contributor to the mutually affirming community that Rachel built.
The So-Youn Kim Fellowship and Retreat will be given to an emerging Bay Area LGBTQ+ and/or POC writer writing on topics relating to social justice. So-Youn Kim was a writer and activist who tackled the injustices she saw all around her. She was passionate about advocating for women and girls, the LGBTQ+ community, and people of color. She loved deeply and recklessly, leaving a lasting impression on anyone who met her. A San Francisco native, she died at the age of 23 in 2009, while serving with the Peace Corps in Morocco. The So-Youn Kim Fellowship celebrates her life and creativity. In addition to a year-long community membership at the Ruby, the fellowship includes a two-week retreat , with a stipend, so that the fellow may have a quiet, safe space to stay while they concentrate on their creative work.
Application Season
We are accepting fellowship applications from January 18, 2022 to February 15, 2022. A volunteer committee of Ruby members will review these applications. We are seeking applicants who will regularly use The Ruby as a work space, who might make meaningful progress on their projects during the course of this year, and who are in financial need.
Please note: If you are interested in applying for a regular Ruby membership, you can do so via the membership page.
A note about accessibility: Regrettably, The Ruby has a set of stairs leading up to it; we always have a staff member on hand to help if you require assistance. We are saving up to outfit The Ruby with a stairlift and hope to offer this as an option down the line.