Critical civil society organizations fight inequality, protect the public, and partner with the public sector to serve citizenry.
In the era of ubiquitous technology, it’s essential that civil society is part of the conversation about the future of the internet and works to advance societal issues, as they converge with the digital world.
Mozilla’s Tech + Society Fellowship program focuses on fostering connections between tech-and-society strategists and civil society organizations to layer impactful technology into their work and community engagement, and help realize a more just digital world.
Launched in 2020 in partnership with Ford Foundation, the Tech & Society Fellowship couples civil society organizations in the Global Majority with public interest technologists across various geographies. Together, they design and implement a strategy that marries specific regional issues with technology, and also strengthens leadership of public interest technologists in the regions.
This will catalyze the growth of a crucial ‘third space’ where key civil society organizations and tech-focused individuals address issues at the intersection of technology and society. This will also seek to address the political element of technology -- that technology as a neutral tool is affected by its creators and their biases. Benefits, harms and side effects come from how systems are designed, what data is selected to train them and what business rules they are given.
Past Tech & Society Fellows have held big tech platforms accountable in Kenya; exposed algorithmic racism in Brazil; advocated for marginalized communities online in Mexico; and more.
