Fellowships, Code for Africa & Open Knowledge, Open Government Fellowships

Do you want to help us build African governments and societies that are more accountable and responsive to citizens?

We are looking for the best ideas for harnessing the power of digital technologies and open data, to improve the way that governments and citizens interact.

Code for Africa and Open Knowledge are offering three pilot Open Government Fellowships to give outstanding changemakers the skills, tools and resources necessary to kickstart open government initiatives in their countries.

The six-month fellowships are intended to empower pioneers who are already working in the open data or civic engagement communities, and are designed to augment their existing ‘day jobs’ rather than remove them from their organisations. Successful fellows will therefore only be expected to work part-time on their fellowship projects (which could include new initiatives at their ‘day jobs’), but will receive strategic and material support throughout their fellowship.

This support will include a modest $1,000 per month stipend, a $3,000 seed fund to kickstart projects, a travel budget to attend local and international events, access to workspace in Code for Africa affiliate civic technology labs across the continent, and technology support from Code for Africa developers and data analysts. Fellows will also be able to tap into Open Knowledge’s School of Data networks and resource kits, and its global network of specialist communities, as well as Code for Africa affiliate communities such as Hacks/Hackers.

The deadline for applications is 15 December 2014. The fellowships are scheduled to start in February 2015 and run until July 2015.

So, who qualifies for the fellowship? The initiative is a pilot, and is therefore casting the net as wide as possible. Applicants should:

• Currently be engaged in the open government and/or related communities . We are looking to support individuals already actively participating in the open government community
• Be able to point to examples of their work in the civic data or civic technology space, or work in open data or open government communities
• Understand the role of civil society and citizen based organisations in bringing about positive change through advocacy and campaigning
• Understand the role and importance of monitoring government commitments to open data as well as other open government policy related issues
• Have facilitation skills and enjoy community-building (both online and offline)
• Be eager to learn from and be connected with an international community of open government experts, advocates and campaigners
• Currently live and work in Africa. Due to limited resources and our desire to develop a focused and impactful pilot programme, we are limiting applications to those currently living and working in Africa. We hope to expand the programme to the rest of the world in 2015.

The fellowship will initially be limited to African countries where either Code for Africa or Open Knowledge have extensive resources or deep partnerships. Applicants should therefore be based in one of the following countries:  Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Senegal, Tunisia, Tanzania, and Uganda. We hope to expand the initiative to include additional countries later in 2015.

The selection committee will pay particular attention to applicants’ current engagement in the open government movement at local, national and/or international level. The committee will also be interested in applicants’ ideas around proposed strategic partnerships and pilot projects for their fellowships. Neither Code for Africa nor Open Knowledge are being prescriptive about the proposed focus or scope for projects, but will prefer projects that demonstrate clear visions with tangible outputs. This could include fellows working with a specific government department or agency to make a key dataset available. It could also include helping communities use available data, or organising a series of events addressing a specific topic or challenge citizens are currently facing.

Successful candidates will commit to work on their fellowship activities a minimum of six days a month, including attending online and offline training, organising events, and being an active member both Open Knowledge and Code for Africa communities.

While the pilot fellowships are limited to 16 countries initially, we are exploring ways to expand it to other regions. Get in touch if you would like to work with us to do so.

Convinced? Apply now to become a Open Government Fellow. The application is available here. If you are more comfortable submitting your application in French or Portuguese, you will find it in French here and in Portuguese here. The deadline is 15 December 2014 and the programme will start in February 2015.

DEADLINE: December 15, 2014

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Several Grants Available: Global Grand Challenges

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Call for Applications, Global Change Leaders Program, Coady Institute’s International Centre for Women’s Leadership

About the Program

The Global Change Leaders Program is a seven-week education program offered by Coady Institute’s International Centre for Women’s Leadership.  This program enables women from developing countries to strengthen their leadership capacities in order to contribute to innovation and change in their organizations and communities.  Program participants engage in learning grounded in real world experiences and focused on Coady’s core thematic areas.  Through a shared learning environment with other emerging women leaders from around the world, participants are exposed to a range of experiences and the beginnings of a potentially lifelong network of support.

In operation since 2011, the Global Change Leaders program provides successful candidates with a full scholarship that includes tuition, travel, accommodations, and meals. Program participants also benefit from the guidance and mentorship of accomplished women leaders from around the world. The program is led by a core team of Coady International Institute staff and supported by other Coady faculty and associates.

Meet our 18 Global Change Leaders class of 2014

Program Eligibility

This program is targeted to emerging women leaders from developing countries who are working on development issues.  These are women who:

• Possess a minimum of four years of demonstrated leadership experience in a social or economic development endeavour in sectors such as livelihoods or inclusive economic development, food security, environment, access to education and health care, governance, and the rights of girls and women;
• Have great drive and passion for their work, demonstrated through their outstanding contributions in their organizations and communities;
• Are practitioners in civil society organizations including community based organizations and not for profits, or active in public or private institutions, donor/philanthropic agencies, social movements or in a social enterprise/business;
• Hold a university degree or a combination of post-secondary education and experience; and
• Have strong oral and written English language competencies.

Program Schedule and Components

For 2015, the Global Change Leaders Program consists of two main components:

1. August 24 – October 8, 2015:  A seven week on-site intensive course at the Coady International Institute in Antigonish, Nova Scotia where a collaborative relationship is fostered among facilitators and participants to draw out lessons and insights from their rich and diverse experiences. This consists of:

a.  A foundation module, in which participants focus on leadership theories and essential competencies, analysis of gender, citizenship and power, practical understandings of these concepts and their application for women leaders within their own contexts, strengthening capacities for social innovations, partnership building in a multi-stakeholder environment, and enhancing abilities to realize citizen-driven asset-based development.

b.  Electives, focusing on Coady Institute’s key thematic areas of promoting accountable democracies, building resilient communities and strengthening local economies.

c.  A final module,  in which participants articulate an action plan for how they will take their new learning home to provide leadership in their organizations and communities and continue to work towards empowering other women moving forward.

2. October 12, 2015  – April 30, 2016:  Participants will benefit from one-on-one mentoring from experienced women leaders upon their return home for up to six months to follow on the application of learning into practice.  Mentors and mentees will be matched during the residency period based on specific needs and geographic locations.   Participants will also join a global alumni network of women leaders.