The 2024-2026 cohort will partner with nonprofits spanning four continents;

registration closes January 22 and applications close February 5

(FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2023) -- Today, Mozilla is opening its Tech & Society Fellowship call for proposals. We are seeking up to 10 tech-and-society strategists to partner with civil society organizations, 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. 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. Fellows can be developers, tech policy analysts, designers, and other tech-specific professions; they will build tools, grow communities, and conduct research. Issue focuses might be data protection, digital literacy and inclusion, online workers’ rights, and beyond.

The 2024 cohort will partner with up to 10 civil society organizations spanning six countries and four continents; see the full list of organizations below. It has a two part application process: Registration closes on January 22, 2024 and full applications close February 5. The fellowship will begin by August 2024 and last up to 24 months. Interested candidates can join one of three upcoming informational webinars.

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.

Says J. Bob Alotta, Mozilla’s Senior Vice President of Global Programs: “Civil society organizations are often the first — and sometimes only — defense against inequality. Now, as digital technology like AI systems becomes more pervasive, it’s essential that the resources of civil society be matched with the skills and expertise of technologists. Mozilla’s Tech & Society Fellowship facilitates this essential partnership, especially across the Global Majority.”

Tech & Society Fellows will be part of Mozilla’s larger fellowships and awards community, collaborating with Senior Fellows, Mozilla Technology Fund Awardees, IRL Awardees, Creative Media Awardees, and others.

The 2024 program is informed by fellowship learnings from 2020, and also Mozilla’s AI Funding Principles — institutional lessons learned from five years and $75 million of trustworthy AI grantmaking around the globe.

The Host Organizations

Arab Reform Initiative is an independent think tank working with expert partners in the Middle East, North Africa, and beyond to articulate a home-grown agenda for democratic change, as well as social and environmental justice in Arab countries. It conducts research, policy analysis, and advocacy, and provides a platform for inspirational voices based on the principles of diversity, impartiality, and gender equality.

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Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights (in French: Forum Tunisien pour les Droits Economiques et Sociaux – FTDES) is a non-governmental, non-partisan, and independent organization. It was founded in 2011 in order to fight for people’s economic and social rights at the national and international level.

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L'Art Rue is a space of creation, experimentation and research between practices and cultures. Based in Tunisia, its activities are organized across six programs: Artistic Residences, Art & Education, Dream City Festival, Debates & Thinking, Internships & Training, and Grantmaking & mentorship). Moreover, it collaborates with many international partners and uses the digital medium in its programs.

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Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability (CBGA) is an Indian think tank working for improved public policies and budgets in India through budget analysis and dissemination. Its efforts are mainly focused on building greater transparency, accountability, and people’s participation in budgets and governance processes. One of CBGA’s flagship initiatives is the Open Budgets India (OBI) portal, the largest open data repository in India of government budgets at different levels. By providing budget data through digital technology, OBI hopes to enhance civic interactions with budgets and build fiscal and governance transparency.

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Society for Promoting Participative Ecosystem Management (SOPPECOM) is an Indian non-profit, non-governmental organization working in the area of Natural Resource Management (NRM) primarily in the rural areas in Maharashtra.

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data_labe is an organization that collects and disseminates data on Brazil's favelas and peripheries in a citizen-based and participatory way.
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Documenta is a Mexican organization that honors and amplifies the voices and experiences of people affected by injustice through legal accompaniment, research, advocacy and artivism. They work from a two-track approach: strengthening capacities of groups affected by the justice system; and providing technical assistance to justice institutions to promote structural changes from within.

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Information Group on Reproductive Choice works on three priority issues in Mexico: abortion, balancing work with reproductive life/care, and reproductive health (obstetric violence, maternal mortality, and assisted reproduction) from a feminist and human rights perspective.
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Coalition for Grassroots Human Rights Defenders works primarily for the community protection of human rights defenders. They seek to streamline the voices of grassroots human rights defenders and women’s rights in Kenya and beyond. The Coalition strengthens the capacities of human rights defenders to work more effectively and advocates for favorable legal, policy and institutional environments to reduce their vulnerability to the risk of persecution and or harm.
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Siasa Place is focused on civic education and public participation in Kenya. They aim to empower citizens with information and tools to engage in the democratic processes.
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Peregum (Instituto de Referência Negra Peregum) is a non-profit organization created in 2019 by education activists. Its mission is to strengthen black and marginalized populations, with and through black movements, by bringing urgent demands to the center of debates and social practices, transforming public policies, and advancing an anti-racist society.
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To learn more about what each organization aims to collaborate on with fellows, learn more here