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. 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.
Fellows, past and present
David
Nigeria
Operating a node in Africa
2024-cohort-4
Africa-west
David is documenting the nuts and bolts of running a node in Nigeria and, more generally, on the African continent and all the challenges that come with it.
Guo
US
Democratizing support for content creators
asia
2024-cohort-4
impact
funding
UnitedStates
Guo is building a new form of sustainable funding for content creators, using a Harberger tax (plural ownership) mechanism.
Lefteris
Greece
Fishing for the Commons
2024-cohort-4
europe
climate
Lefteris is focused on reducing marine plastic pollution by engaging with fishers in Greece and the Mediterranean and adopting cleaning and sustainability practices.
Mercedes
Venezuela
Activism, Human Rights and Web3 in Venezuela
2024-cohort-4
america-latin
research
human-rights
NGO
Mercedes' research focuses on identifying Web3 solutions to strengthen Human Rights organizations in Venezuela
Rebecca
South Africa
Commitment pooling and community currencies
defi
2024-cohort-4
africa-southern
Commitment pooling, local currency, and indigenous mutual aid practices.
Tomislav
Croatia
Municipal Quadratic Funding
europe
2024-cohort-4
funding
MUQA - Municipal Quadratic Funding Initiative
Brian
Indonesia
Fair Lending for Web3 workers
defi
NFT
asia-southeast
2023-cohort-3
Brian investigated the needs of web3 workers through Copra Finance, a startup that designs web3 financial products for working folks in Jakarta, Indonesia
Devansh
India
Retroactive Impact funding for Journalists
asia-south
impact
funding
2023-cohort-3
Devansh is exploring retroactive funding for citizen journalists using the hypercerts standard.
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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.