Digital Swaraj Fellowship
Application deadline 31st July, 2024.
Founded in 2002, Digital Empowerment Foundation has been dedicated to empowering marginalized and unconnected communities by enhancing their digital capacity, access, and rights. DEF’s initiatives cover sectors such as education, entertainment, livelihood, finance, health, agriculture, culture, and heritage, with a particular focus on digital rights for women and adolescents. Working on the ground with a robust network of 10,000 digital grassroots leaders, DEF has reached 2,000 locations across more than 200 districts in 26 states of India.
Despite the progress of the digital revolution, many communities still face barriers such as marginalization, affordability issues, lack of connectivity, digital illiteracy, and the absence of universal digital access.
Building on the extensive work in bridging the digital divide in rural India in more than two decades, DEF identified a critical gap: the lack of institutions offering fellowships, courses, or specialized training for youth in the digital domain, especially focused on addressing the barriers hindering rural development. To bridge this gap and build a generation of experts in the digital and development sector, DEF launched the Digital Swaraj Fellowship.
This initiative nurtures a new generation of youth, equipping them with the skills and knowledge necessary to drive digital empowerment in rural and underserved regions. Through grassroots exposure, skill-building, and mentorship from project leads, fellows are expected to take ownership of their projects, bridging learning, experience, employment, and entrepreneurship, and preparing them for a career in the digital and development sector.
With the DEF’s vision of empowering marginalized communities through digital capacity building and sustainable development initiatives, the Digital Swaraj Fellowship program resolves to prepare youth to become experts and leaders in the digital domain, enabling them to effectively integrate with and work with communities, creating success stories, and fostering deep learning.
Email Id: info@digitalswarajfellowship.org
Find us on: Powered by eNGO Network of Digital Empowerment Foundation.
Empowering Youth for a Resilient Digital Ecosystem: where Learning meets Experience, Employment, and Entrepreneurship
Hosted by Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), Digital Swaraj Fellowship is a one-year experiential leadership journey designed to bring about digital transformation at the grassroots. It offers India’s youth the opportunity to become digital change leaders, working hands-on in the rural digital landscape on innovative solutions that provide digital access to underserved, unconnected, and marginalized communities. This immersive experience aims to give fellows a comprehensive understanding of grassroots realities, equipping them to become agents of social change and harness the potential of ‘Digital’ to foster ‘Digital Swaraj’.
Founded in 2002, DEF has been dedicated to empowering marginalized and unconnected communities by enhancing their digital capacity, access, and rights. DEF’s initiatives cover sectors such as education, entertainment, livelihood, finance, health, agriculture, culture, and heritage, with a particular focus on digital rights for women and adolescents. Working on the ground with a robust network of 10,000 digital grassroots leaders, DEF has reached 2,000 locations across more than 200 districts in 26 states of India. Despite the progress of the digital revolution, many communities still face barriers such as marginalization, affordability issues, lack of connectivity, digital illiteracy, and the absence of universal digital access.
Building on the extensive work in bridging the digital divide in rural India in more than two decades, DEF identified a critical gap: the lack of institutions offering fellowships, courses, or specialized training for youth in the digital domain, especially focused on addressing the barriers hindering rural development. To bridge this gap and build a generation of experts in the digital and development sector, DEF launched the Digital Swaraj Fellowship. This initiative nurtures a new generation of youth, equipping them with the skills and knowledge necessary to drive digital empowerment in rural and underserved regions. Through grassroots exposure, skill-building, and mentorship from project leads, fellows are expected to take ownership of their projects, bridging learning, experience, employment, and entrepreneurship, and preparing them for a career in the digital and development sector.
With the DEF’s vision of empowering marginalized communities through digital capacity building and sustainable development initiatives, the Digital Swaraj Fellowship program resolves to prepare youth to become experts and leaders in the digital domain, enabling them to effectively integrate with and work with communities, creating success stories, and fostering deep learning.
In accordance with the mentioned vision, we are now accepting applications for the next cohort of the year-long fellowship program scheduled from September 2024 to August 2025.
Fellowship Structure
The fellowship will commence from 1 September, 2024 and end on 31 August, 2025
Application Process
