Digital Inclusion Fellowship

Build sustainable digital literacy programs.

Your organization faces many barriers to meeting your community's social, economic, and civic needs. When people in your community don’t have internet access or the skills to use it, those barriers are even higher.

You're not alone. We partner with organizations like yours to turn digital exclusion into an opportunity for change — whatever that means for you and your community.

Become a fellow, and we'll equip you with the skills, structure, and support to plan and launch an innovative, sustainable digital literacy program that meets your community’s needs and advances your organization’s mission. And to help bring your vision to life, you'll receive a mini-grant to help you complete your project.

About the Fellowship

NTEN’s Digital Inclusion Fellowship supports professionals working at organizations with deep connections to communities most impacted by digital divides that would benefit from digital literacy programs.

All fellows are supported to design and implement a digital inclusion program tailored to the their specific needs and contexts.

See which locations the 2025 Fellowship is open

Apply

Applications for the Digital Inclusion Fellowship are open.

Apply now

Fellowship highlights

Innovative training

Professional development in best practices in digital inclusion, digital literacy, adult education, curriculum development, and program management. Fellows will develop skills in community outreach and engagement, data collection and analysis, building partnerships, and navigating digital tools to enhance program delivery. This training will be underpinned by a grounding in advocacy and policy work to support digital inclusion initiatives.

Supportive connections

Advice and mentorship throughout the year and new relationships with an expansive national network of other fellows, partners, and experts in digital inclusion.

Opportunities and resources

Resources shared include evaluation tools to assess a program’s progress and toolkits for sustainable digital literacy programs. Fellows also receive national visibility as a digital inclusion leader through speaking engagements, webinars, and publications.

Funding assistance

Each project receives a mini-grant to help launch a program or expand an existing program. (The amount varies by location.)

Select locations

The Fellowship is offered at select locations based on available partnerships and our partners' areas of service. Partner with NTEN to bring the fellowship to your city or locations you choose across the U.S. and Canada. An organization may sponsor one of its employees or an employee of a partner to be a fellow.

Questions?

Hear from the program manager, Maria Lara, a former Fellow herself, and your direct supervisor throughout the program, on why the Fellowship is a valuable opportunity. Leave your questions as audio, video, or text format – and she'll get back to you within a week.

Apply to be a 2025 Digital Inclusion Fellow

Applications for the fellowship are now open.

Two forms must be submitted. Potential fellows should submit an application, and their supervisors should submit a form affirming their support of the fellow's time commitment. Both forms must be submitted to be considered for the fellowship. If you have questions about applying, email us, and we'll be happy to help.

FELLOW APPLICATION SUPERVISOR SUPPORT

Benefits

As a fellow, over the course of the year, you'll receive:

Comprehensive support, including orientation and monthly training, focused on program design and project management skills.
An opportunity to earn the Digital Equity Professional Certificate.
Collaboration and support from peers via fellowship calls and an online community.
Support with designing and launching a new or expanded digital literacy program.
Mentorship through check-ins with NTEN staff and connections with former fellows.
Opportunities to travel to, speak at, and attend conferences.
Connection with a national network of digital inclusion experts.
All fellowship-related costs covered.
A project mini grant between $1,000 and $5,000.

Most importantly, the fellowship guides you in supporting your community with access to technology and digital literacy skills.

Requirements

Each fellow is required to:

Participate in the in-person orientation in Portland, Oregon, which will require a commitment of 30 to 40 hours over one week.
Craft a year-long project plan that includes leadership and program goals for serving a specific number of unique participants, instruction hours, trained volunteers, or other related service areas. The fellow tracks these goals and reports them to NTEN every month. Fellows are expected to start piloting their projects within the first 90 days of the fellowship.
Participate in monthly online training. Depending on the training format, the time commitment for these training sessions will range from one to two and half hours per month.
Engage in mentorship by participating in monthly calls with mentors and reaching out to mentors for additional one-on-one support.
Participate in monthly cohort calls with other fellows. These calls require one hour per month.
Participate in a monthly one-on-one check-in with NTEN staff to discuss plans, progress, and challenges. These calls are 15 to 60 minutes long, and fellows are welcome to schedule additional calls to ensure they have the advice and support they need.

The fellow must have ample time to fulfill their project plan and reach their goals. Depending on the project’s scope, the amount of time needed for the project to be successful may vary widely. Because of the necessary time investment, the fellow’s supervisor must approve the plan’s scope and the estimated time required to fulfill it. The supervisor also agrees to align or reassign other duties to provide the fellow with the time needed to complete the project successfully.

Timeline

June 16: Applications open. Interviews conducted on a rolling basis.
July 31: Early application review deadline.
August 4–13: Applicant interviews.
August 18: Applicants notified.
September 29–October 2: In-person orientation in Portland, Oregon.

Who can apply

All employees of nonprofits and social service agencies in locations where a fellowship is available are invited to apply. Participation in the fellowship in one of the available locations does not cost the organization anything other than your staff time. We do not provide a salary or staff stipends outside of travel and accommodations for training or other cohort events. If you're interested in participating but are not located in one of the available locations, email us to learn more about your options for joining the fellowship.

Successful fellows will have a background in community work and program management, including regular reporting to outside partners or funders. Previous fellows have worked in public libraries, housing authorities, adult literacy organizations, social services, workforce development, and digital inclusion organizations.

We seek fellows engaged with and members of the communities they wish to serve. Familiarity with digital inclusion, digital literacy, and adult education is preferred but unnecessary. Applicants must have the full support of their supervisor to commit a significant amount of time to this year-long, project-based fellowship. Fellows should be situated in a role that empowers them to closely manage the program and relevant partnerships.

Locations

Fellowship positions are available in the following locations.

AL – Huntsville
CO – Anywhere in the state
GA – Atlanta
IA – Des Moines, West Des Moines
MO – Kansas City Metro
NC – Charlotte, Raleigh-Durham
NE – Omaha
NV – Las Vegas
OH – Cleveland
TN – Nashville
TX – Austin, Round Rock, Travis County, Kyle, San Antonio
UT – Salt Lake Metro
USA – two spots open nationwide

Partner with NTEN to bring the fellowship to your city or locations you choose across the U.S. and Canada. An organization may sponsor one of its employees or an employee of a partner to be a fellow.

Make the case

Becoming a fellow may mean that some of your other projects and responsibilities will need to be handed off to other staff, deprioritized, or integrated more deeply into your digital equity work. How can you make a case to your supervisor that participating in the fellowship is worthwhile?

Think about the digital inclusion program you want to work on. How much of your time will it take up? The time commitment will likely vary from week to week, with more time needed to launch the program. Think about the time and responsibility trade-offs that will have to be made to develop an appropriate transition plan for any proposed shifts to other colleagues.
Is your supervisor already engaged in digital inclusion work and conversations? If not, you may need to talk about why digital literacy and internet access are relevant to your work. How can you illustrate the critical need for digital inclusion work in your community?
Share your vision for a digitally empowered constituency. How will gaining new skills, devices, or access transform your community? How will it help your organization better meet its mission? Being a fellow can help bring this vision into reality. For examples of previous fellow projects and what they have accomplished, review our spotlights of previous cohorts.
Highlight the value of the fellowship. Sponsors are investing $20,000 to $25,000 per fellowship. That covers a project grant between $1,000 and $5,000, a year of monthly professional development opportunities, extensive support from NTEN staff, the chance to earn NTEN's Digital Equity Professional Certificate, as well as opportunities to speak, be published, and gain recognition as a leader in digital inclusion.

Here is a sample letter that you can adapt to make the case to your supervisor:

Hi [name],

There is a sponsored opening currently available in NTEN’s Digital Inclusion Fellowship. The early application deadline is August 13, and I would like to apply for the program.

As a Digital Inclusion Fellow, I will focus on developing new and improved digital literacy training for the people we serve. The fellowship supports this effort with extensive training, consultation with subject matter experts, and an evaluation plan. Past fellows’ projects have had a far reach, providing thousands of adults with digital skills training.

Sponsors cover the fellowship costs entirely, so there are no additional costs for us. However, I estimate that I will need to spend [number] hours per week on this program. [Insert details of how you think your current work will be affected and what suggestions you have to offset or shift responsibilities.]

This fellowship is an excellent opportunity for [organization name] to demonstrate leadership and commitment to our community through digital inclusion. [Insert examples of how digital inclusion work ties into your organization’s programs/goals]. Fellows have been interviewed as experts on the news, invited to speak on panels, and recognized in journals for their innovative work.

Thanks in advance for considering my request. I’d love to chat more about this opportunity and answer any questions you may have.

Cohort spotlight

Since 2015, fellowship cohorts have implemented programs to help build sustainable digital literacy programs in rural and urban communities across the United States. Read about their work.

Article

Celebrating a decade of the Digital Inclusion Fellowship: Google Fiber

Video

Portland partners with Comcast and NTEN to bridge the digital divide

Meet the 2024 fellows

These emerging leaders in our tenth cohort joined the fellowship to hone their professional skills and develop new and enhanced digital literacy programs for adults.

Partners

Thank you to our generous partners, including a special thanks to our founding partner, Google Fiber.

You can advance digital literacy inclusion and champion these remarkable digital equity leaders. Partner with NTEN to bring the fellowship to your city or locations you choose across the U.S. and Canada. Or support the resources, content, and events that power the fellowship.