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 Children's Defense Fund (CDF) Freedom Schools® Sponsor Application for New Partners

Application Deadline: September 29, 2025 
                                                      Nonrefundable Application Fee: $175

The Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) Freedom Schools® program partners with organizations to sponsor and deliver high-quality comprehensive programming for children and families at no cost to participants. Sponsor

organizations are responsible for securing the financial resources to operate program sites at no cost to families and paying licensing fees to the Children's Defense Fund to offset program costs.


A CDF Freedom Schools Sponsor Application cannot be reviewed until the application fee has successfully processed. All applicants can submit their application fee by ACH or credit card. If you would like to request an invoice for your application fee, please email Mary Fennell at mfennell@childrensdefense.org. 


Ella Baker Child Policy Training Institute Orientation and Trainings
For the 2026 program year, all orientation and training sessions will be in-person and virtual. All in-person training sessions will be held at CDF Haley Farm and the Knoxville Convention Center. 

Mandatory Attendance:
All program staff are required to attend training sessions according to the official CDF Freedom Schools program calendar.

Licensing & Compliance:
Implementing a CDF Freedom Schools program without fully trained staff is a violation of the CDF Freedom Schools licensing agreement and the copyright protections for the program's model. 
Orientation and Training 

Required Participants

Dates

Executive Director and Project Director Orientation and Training (In-person)

Executive Directors (ED)

Project Directors (PD)

January 23-25, 2026

Site Coordinator Orientation and Training (Virtual) 

Site Coordinators (SC)

March 19-22, 2026

National Training (In-person) 

Site Coordinators (SC)

Servant Leader Interns (SLI)

June 3-6, 2026
Executive Director & Project Director Orientation and Training (In-Person) Location: CDF Haley Farm This training is only for first-and second-year Executive Directors and Project Directors. Directors who have served longer than two years will not be invited to attend in person. Instead, they will be given access to pertinent virtual content. Those still wishing to attend in person will be assessed the additional person fee of $900, pending space availability. CDF Freedom Schools program fees will cover the cost of lodging, meals, and round-trip ground transportation for first-and second-year Executive Directors and Project Directors. Site Coordinator Orientation and Training (Virtual) Format: Fully virtual (synchronous and asynchronous sessions) This training is only for first-and second-year Site Coordinators. All registered Site Coordinators will have access to training through our virtual attendee hub. National Training for Site Coordinators and Servant Leader Interns (In-Person) Location: CDF Haley Farm & Knoxville Convention Center This training is designed for first-and second-year Servant Leader Interns and all Site Coordinators ONLY. The Children's Defense Fund will provide complimentary round-trip ground transportation to and from Knoxville McGhee Tyson Airport (TYS), CDF Haley Farm, and the reserved hotels affiliated with the training. The Children's Defense Fund will also cover the costs of all lunches and three out of four dinners during training dates. All CDF Freedom Schools sponsoring organizations will be responsible for transportation to and from Tennessee, booking hotel rooms, and securing meals outside of training hours (e.g., breakfast, meals on designated travel days). The CDF Freedom Schools National Office will provide details on registration and room blocks.

Important Note: Servant Leader Interns who attended National Training twice (or more) will not be invited to attend National Training again. Attending during the virtual years does count as attending.

If your organization wants to send 3rd year+ SLIs to National Training, they may attend

  • If space allows,
  • Upon paying the $900 additional attendee fee, and they must attend on the 2nd-year SLI track

Section I: Applicant Information

Thank you for your interest in partnering with CDF Freedom Schools® for 2026. Please proceed with the application.


This application is only for new or inactive partners. Since you operated a CDF Freedom Schools® program in 2024 and/or 2025 or applied to do so, please complete the returning sponsor application using the following link instead: https://tfaforms.com/5078974

Please provide billing address for the sponsor organization


Staff Roles:
The person who is primarily responsible for the CDF Freedom Schools (CDFFS) program in your organization and will be the primary point of contact, is deemed the CDFFS Executive Director (ED).

Each organization must determine who will serve as their ED. Only one person may hold the role. If you are from an organization that has a main leader (President, CEO, Executive Director, Principal, Superintendent, Senior Pastor, etc.) with subordinates, the main leader does NOT have to also serve as the ED. Please keep this in mind, to structure your local program optimally. 

The contact information asks for years of service directly related to the CDF Freedom Schools program, NOT to your organization in general.
Contact 1:
mm/dd/yyyy

Contact 2
mm/dd/yyyy

Section II: Program & Site Information
Must be a number value
Must be a number value
Must be a number value
Must be a number value
Must be a number value
Must be a number value

Section III: National Operational Fees Payable to CDF

For 2026, the following fees are due to the Children's Defense Fund: 

  • Application Fee - $175
  • National Program Operation Fee - $285 per scholar 
  • Registration Fee for Non-required Program Staff (if applicable) - $900 per person 
  • Late Registrant Training Fee (if applicable) - $100 per person 

It is mandatory for all required CDF Freedom Schools program staff to receive training through the Ella Baker Child Policy Training Institute. Please note, sponsor organizations will be assessed an additional fee of $900 for each non-required training attendee. An additional fee of $100 will be assessed onto all late registrations. 


Every sponsoring organization should have an Executive Director (ED) and a Project Director (PD). The same person may serve as the ED and PD. You can sponsor multiple CDF Freedom Schools sites across your community, but each site must have a minimum of 30 scholars to be considered 1 site. Each site is required to have 1 Site Coordinator (SC).


For larger sites, additional SCs may be needed. See the chart below for a breakdown of the recommended number of SCs and the required number Servant Leader Interns (SLI) at a site.

Any program staff beyond these allowances are considered non-required staff. Therefore, a $900 registration fee will be applied per non-required staff member. 

breakdown

Short Answer Response

Section IV: Signature
CDF Freedom Schools
Central Gulf Coast CDF Freedom Schools Program on the National Day of Social Action. 
After you click the Submit button you must review your completed application and then confirm the submission. It is recommended that you use the "Print this page" button at the bottom of the screen to print or save a PDF copy for your records. 
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