Digital Civil Society Lab Non-Resident Fellowship 2018/19

Applications are open for Digital Civil Society Lab’s Non-Resident Fellowship. The Non-Resident Fellowship supports social sector leaders to dedicate some of their time working on ideas that apply to broad swaths of civil society. It allows working people to dedicate a portion of their time to advancing an idea or project that doesn’t quite fit into their “day job.”

The goal is to provide enough time, space, expertise, and financial support to help turn ideas into prototypes or action. Fellows will be selected to receive a stipend, travel support, and additional support and guidance as they undertake a yearlong project in one or more of four areas.

Areas

• Social norms and practices that promote safe and ethical data collection, generation, and use
• Software and hardware designed for the values and interest of civil society actors
• Organizational practices that align with civil society missions and protect institutional independence from markets or governments
• Legal practices and regulatory frames that protect the building blocks of civil society, including free association, speech, and privacy

Fellowship projects should be designed to:

• address a challenge of safe, ethical, and effective digital data governance or practice that is common to nonprofits and civic associations globally
• produce a prototype, draft or complete product in one year
• benefit from access to scholarship and researchers
• have a plausible plan for post-fellowship implementation and support
• be shareable and open for discussion, adaptation, promotion and reuse during and after the fellowship period

Digital Civil Society Lab Non-Resident Fellowship Benefits

Fellows will receive:

• A $20,000 stipend, paid at the beginning of the fellowship, to support work on a year-long project.
• A weeklong in-person convening of the cohort on the Stanford campus in January 2019.
• Travel support up to $5,000 over the course of the year-long fellowship to support travel to the January 2019 weeklong cohort convening, as well as additional campus visits, conference presentations, or other project-related trips as appropriate.
• Access to the Digital Civil Society Lab’s network of partners.
• Promotion of the project via the Lab’s public-facing communications channels, including Digital Impact.
• Mentorship from Lab directors and access to Fellowship alumni from previous cohorts.

Digital Civil Society Lab Non-Resident Fellowship Eligibility

The Non-Resident Fellowship at the Digital Civil Society Lab is open to applicants 18 years of age or older who meet the following conditions:

• Meet all submission deadlines and submit the application in English;
• Commit to spend twelve months undertaking a project addressing one or more of the Four Codes of Digital Civil Society outlined above;
• Commit to contribute a final written report, video or audio interview, and at least two submissions to the Lab’s public-facing content channels including the Digital Impact blog, virtual roundtable series, public event series, or resource toolkit;
• Commit to attend a week-long convening of the fellowship cohort at Stanford University in January 2019; This week involves an introduction to the Lab and its research goals and activities, opportunities to meet other communities on campus, independent time to interact with scholars and research institutes on campus and in the area, and the development of individual year-long work plans. Fellows are encouraged to engage with and imagine/identify additional collective activities for their cohort.
• Your initiative can not involve a political campaign or legislative lobbying efforts.

Selection Criteria

The selection process will take into consideration the following criteria:

Potential impact

• Does the project address a question or challenge that is broadly relevant across civil society?
• Will the project contribute significant new knowledge or create substantial positive change?
• Does the Fellow demonstrate a deep understanding of the issue their project addresses?
• Will the Fellow and the project benefit from engagement with an academic research community?

Quality of project proposal

• Is the project plan thoughtful and well-articulated?
• Have potential risks and challenges received adequate consideration?
• Are goals, timelines, and deliverables realistic?
• Has the applicant identified potential partnerships that will catalyze the project?

How to Apply for Digital Civil Society Lab Non-Resident Fellowship

During the application process you will be asked to submit:

• cover letter
• resume or CV
• project summary (maximum of approximately 200 words) and brief proposal (maximum of approximately 1000 words)
• names and email addresses of two references

Interested applicants should complete the online application during the application window. 

For more information, visit Digital Civil Society Lab.