Tech in the World
Tech in the World is a national global health fellowship for top computer science students. We select the best and brightest fellows, in both technical talent and leadership capacity, put them in teams of 4, partners with overseas organizations in global health, and send them to develop software with them in the field for 4 weeks. We provide an unparalleled experience in professional development, personal growth, and global immersion. We are developing tomorrow's leaders in technology.
It is generally recognized that technology is growing in important in the developing world, and that numerous technology solutions have enormous opportunity to impact lives. However, we as computer science students ourselves have found many barriers to entering the field of global health: There are no overseas opportunities; the peers in the field are not of high caliber; working at an overseas non-profit can be a career risk; it is difficult to evaluate opportunities; funding is difficult to obtain; and so on.
Our fellowship program addresses all of these barriers and more. We have a fellowship model similar to that of Teach for America. We find the best students and take care of much of the process for them (e.g., around evaluating partners or logistics). We also provide them with world-class mentorship and guidance, and introduce them to a select group of fellows of the same caliber.
Tech in the World was founded only two months ago, but it has made spectacular progress since. We have formed a board of advisers, put together a stellar founding team, won our first grant, developed partnerships, and make progress toward our first pilot program (details below). We also won a social venture challenge hosted by the Resolution Project. Progress has been strong, but we need to continue to work hard to create a phenomenal pilot program and to build institutional partnerships for long-term sustainability.