Do you believe tech has more to offer the world than another selfie app? We agree. Our Fellowship gives talented people the time, access, and support they need to discover and launch high-impact startups.
Fellows spend two months doing intensive, community-centric research to scope and define potential solutions. They then have another two months to build, test, and launch their ideas. Past Fellows have built venture-backed companies, tech-enabled nonprofits, open source projects, and more.
We’re looking for potential Fellows who are ruthlessly dedicated to addressing the most pressing issues for low-income communities in NYC, both getting an idea off the ground and sustaining it long-term.
What we provide:
Remote First This year, for the first time, the Fellowship will be fully remote first. If and when it is safe to return to our space in Brooklyn, it will be optional for fellows in this cohort. Find out more.
Applications for the 2021 Fellowship cohort have ended.
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[/paragraph]The Fellowship, for the first time, will be remote first this year. If and when it is safe to return to the office, it will be optional for Fellows.
Come to our Open House on September 24th, join a weekly webinar, or check out the FAQs. Or watch our 2019 recorded webinar.
Download the application questions in advance.
Propel, Inc is a venture-backed tech company that’s making the safety net more user-friendly. They have raised over $16.5 million from A16Z and others. Their flagship product, FreshEBT is used by more than 2 million people every month to manage their food stamps and stretch their grocery dollars further and is a Top 10 free finance app on Android.
JustFix.nyc is a tech nonprofit that helps tenants get repairs in their homes, preventing health and safety issues and fighting informal evictions. They’re on track to serve more than 10,000 families this year in New York City alone and were recently named to Forbes 30 under 30.
Alice is a venture-backed tech company giving thousands of hourly workers a $1/hr raise with no upfront cost to their employers. When employees spend on commuting, health, or childcare, their paycheck goes up. With more of their needs being met, employees using Alice are 3x less likely to quit or be fired.
Regardless of Role, we’re looking for people who:
What do we mean by a track record of action? We want to see that you’ve dug in on understanding problems and figuring out possible solutions. It could be an open source side project, a tool you hacked together for the place you volunteer, a change you helped enact in your community, or research you’ve led to explore a new issue.
We are committed to fostering a community that values diverse perspectives and experiences, particularly from those who we aim to serve. We actively seek applicants from, or who have worked closely with, historically marginalized groups, including but not limited to: people of color, people with disabilities, LGBTQIA+ people, first- or second-generation immigrants, and people from low-income families.
Each year, we pick a challenge to help us frame the first two months of Fellowship research. The challenge provides an entry point to help us dig into pain points and opportunities, and every Fellow chooses to interpret it in their own way.
The 2021 Fellowship will focus on COVID-19 recovery to build a more racially equitable future.
The Coronavirus pandemic has shined a light on the systemic racial oppression that has been part of this country (and our city) from the very outset. The effects are horrific: Black people in the U.S. are dying at 2.4 times the rate of white people. While only one tenth of white Americans know someone who has died of COVID-19, one third of Black Americans do. In New York City, the zip codes with the highest rates of the virus are overrepresented by Latinos and Asians.
This Fellowship aims to deeply understand how this pandemic and its effects have changed people’s lives: unemployment, accessing food, accessing healthcare, struggles with childcare and internet access. While we don’t yet know exactly what new ideas will come out of the process, we envision exploring topics such as:
While technology is not going to “solve” the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color, we believe it has a role to play to build a more equitable future as we recover from the pandemic.