The Next Billion
Fellowship
A Fellow is a leader committed to their own project that helps Ethereum become a tool of and for the next billion users. Their project could be a decentralized app, a piece of research, an organizational initiative, or something else entirely. There are no strict requirements for Next Billion Fellowship projects, save one: earnesty.
Whatever the project, whomever the Fellow, the program seeks to enable the flourishing of populations, communities, or individuals under-represented in the Ethereum ecosystem today. The Fellowship is neither the beginning nor the end of a Fellow's journey, but it may provide the support needed to encourage more ambitious, long-term goals and mindset.
Fellow Stories
Commitment pooling and community currencies
By Rebecca · South Africa
Published: May 22, 2025
I began to see community currencies not as monetary innovations but as social technologies—extensions of long-standing mutual aid practices like Kenya's mweriya or South Africa's stokvels. These practices don't thrive because of the novelty of the tool, but because of the relationships they sustain.
community
informal-finance
local
2024-cohort-4
africa-southern
Fishing for the Commons
By Lefteris · Greece
Published: May 22, 2025
On one of the first trips out on the boat, as the men hauled up a net filled with fish, I noticed a can of coke, recognizable if a little bit worn out. I picked it up to examine it, and was startled to see the date 1987 written in faded lettering on the side. As I stood there contemplating that this piece of trash had been floating in the sea for almost 30 years, one of the fishermen came beside me, plucked the can from my hand, and casually tossed it back into the sea. 'Trash isn't our problem,' he said.
2024-cohort-4
europe
climate
circular-economy
A Quieter Internet
By Guo · US
Published: May 22, 2025
Again and again, I ran into the same problem: centralization. I realized that our information systems—imagined as humanity's neural network—are, in many ways, less resilient than spoken or written words. Too often, they have a single point of failure, and are easier to control than any communication technology before them. We built global information systems that turned out to be easier to censor than books.
asia
2024-cohort-4
impact
funding
UnitedStates
Volya - Web3 through the People's Lens
By Valeriia · Ukraine
Published: May 22, 2025
Ukraine was ranked #1 in adoption within Europe by Chainalysis, and it felt inevitable: we were on the path to becoming a pioneering crypto nation. For me, 2021 was the happiest and busiest year of my life. I remember that New Year's Eve, watching the mirrored disco ball, imagining all the sparks 2022 would bring. Then the ball dropped—and shattered. The early morning of February 24 rewrote everything.
research
ux
europe
2023-cohort-3
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2
Fellows, past and present
Mashbean
Taiwan
Digital Identity Infrastructure
digital identity
civic infrastructure
asia-east
2025-cohort-5
Mashbean is researching robust digital identity in Taiwan, with a focus on resillience and decentralized infrastructure.
Teodor
Croatia
Blockchain Impact Framework for UN Development
impact
international development
UN
governance
2025-cohort-5
Teodor Petricevic leads blockchain initiatives at the UN Development Programme, mapping Ethereum-based projects within the UN ecosystem and developing an impact management framework.
Sharfy
France
Climate Finance for Local Conservation
climate
conservation
finance
hypercerts
2025-cohort-5
Sharfy Adamantine enables environmental stewardship by connecting climate finance directly to local conservation efforts and data at Gainforest, improving compatibility and functionality of the Hypercerts standard.
Robert
United Kingdom
ZK-Proofs for Emergency Response Systems
satellite
ai
emergency-response
zero-knowledge
trusted execution
2025-cohort-5
Robert Cowlishaw is an aerospace engineer researching zero-knowledge proofs, trusted execution, and satellite imagery for automatic and verifiable emergency response systems.
Tomislav
Croatia
Municipal Quadratic Funding
europe
2024-cohort-4
funding
MUQA - Municipal Quadratic Funding Initiative
Rebecca
South Africa
Commitment pooling and community currencies
community
informal-finance
local
2024-cohort-4
africa-southern
Commitment pooling, local currency, and indigenous mutual aid practices.
Mercedes
Venezuela
Activism, Human Rights and Web3 in Venezuela
2024-cohort-4
america-latin
research
human-rights
NGO
Mercedes' research focuses on understanding the impact of crypto in Venezuela through the lenses of human experiences and how this can help us creare Web3 solutions to strengthen civil organizations in Venezuela
Lefteris
Greece
Fishing for the Commons
2024-cohort-4
europe
climate
circular-economy
Lefteris is focused on reducing marine plastic pollution by engaging with fishers in Greece and the Mediterranean and adopting cleaning and sustainability practices.
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3
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Frequent asked questions
What kinds of projects qualify?
A Fellow candidate must have a project that is mutually cooperative with the Ethereum ecosystem. It doesn't have to directly integrate with Ethereum to qualify, but needs to be on-balance 'good' for the ecosystem and future Ethereum community.
Proposals that have not yet begun will be considered, but not likely selected. This fellowship is not meant to be at the beginning or end of a journey.
Projects can be building an application, research, or an organizational program/initiative. Whatever it is, the project must enable the flourishing of regions, populations, or communities that are underrepresented in the existing Ethereum ecosystem today.
What support does the Next Billion Fellowship offer?
In a word: Bespoke.
Different people need different things, and the Foundation is able to offer some things better than others. Fellows that need technical or design support, for example, might ask for mentorship or guidance from a domain expert. Stipends are available to help fellows carve out time from a busy schedule, and in rare cases grants will be considered. Business plans, pitch decks, and cap tables can tell a gripping story, but this fellowship is not an incubator or accellerator, and should not be treated as a means to secure investment.
What is expected from a Next Billion Fellow?
Fellows must be independent, passionate, and deliberate. Six months is not enought time to accomplish anything huge, but it should be enough time to figure out how to tell a good story.