Fellows Program
Join our global community of talented volunteers dedicated to using AI for humanitarian causes. The Fellows Program offers hands-on experience with cutting-edge AI projects, professional development, and networking opportunities with like-minded innovators committed to positive impact.
Start here
- Know your Project Manager. This is the person you report to every week. You're told who it is when you join your group. CC them on every renewal request. If you're not sure who it is, email hr@humanitarians.ai before you start work.
- Set up your fellows folder. In the fellows repository, create
fellows/first-name-last-initial/. Each piece of work gets its own dated folder inside it:YYYY-MM-DD-slug/. - Document your work every week. It's your evidence for OPT. That means 20 hours of documented work, two Brutalist videos, a Frictional log entry in each folder you worked in, and your code committed to your project's repository. The full list, and why it has to be weekly, is under Reporting requirements.
- Make every video open from a direct link. Post each video somewhere it opens from a direct link, and check that anyone with the link can view it.
- Track your own end date. Request your renewal at least seven days before your agreement ends. No one will remind you. See Requesting a renewal.
Renewals are your responsibility
- Request your renewal at least one week (7 days) before your current agreement ends. Later requests may not be approved in time, and agreements are never backdated.
- CC your Project Manager (the person you report to) on every renewal email, along with hr@humanitarians.ai and bear@humanitarians.ai.
- Send it Monday to Wednesday, business hours. Track your own end date: no one will remind you.
Joining Humanitarians AI
Unless you are invited onto a specific project, every new Fellow starts with a one-month trial letter working on the Brutalist project. Watching the Brutalist (Film as Code) tutorials is encouraged.
To join, email HR at hr@humanitarians.ai
Reporting requirements
These are due every week, from your first week to your last.
This is your evidence for OPT. Every week, you document the work you did that week: your hours, your videos, your Frictional log and your code. Together they're the dated record, made at the time, that your work is real and related to your degree. A record written each week is worth far more than one reconstructed months later, when the specifics are gone. That's why these are weekly requirements, not something you put together at renewal time.
This record supplements whatever your school's international student office requires; it doesn't replace it.
Due every week
- Hours. At least 20 hours of work, with a dated record for each week.
- Two videos made with Brutalist. One on any STEM or AI topic you choose, and one progress update on that week's work. Every week, for your whole fellowship.
- Your Frictional log. A running diary of what you did that week, including what didn't work. It isn't graded, but it is required every week. Add a dated entry to the FRICTIONAL.md in every work folder you worked in that week.
- Code in the project repository. If your project has its own GitHub repository, commit your code there as you work, not in one batch at the end. Your fellows folder holds your Frictional log; link from it to the specific commits or pull requests. Code that exists only in the fellows repository, or only on your own machine, doesn't count as evidence.
During your trial month
Your 20 hours break down this way:
- About 10 hours a week reviewing Brutalist videos.
- 10 or more hours a week on your research or project work. These hours can include joining meetings on existing projects.
Renewals
Your renewal report links to your weekly records; it doesn't replace them. To be renewed, you also need a clear plan for your research. Request the renewal at least one week before your agreement ends, with your Project Manager on CC. See Requesting a Renewal below.
Requesting a Fellowship Renewal
Request your renewal at least one week (7 days) before your current agreement ends. Renewals require approval, and agreements are not backdated.
Send your renewal request to hr@humanitarians.ai and bear@humanitarians.ai, and CC your current Project Manager (the person you report to). Send it Monday to Wednesday during business hours.
Before you send your request, watch the renewal videos in the Fellows playlist on YouTube: how to submit a renewal request, and how to organize your fellows folder.
Professor Bear needs a short executive summary: What did you accomplish? Are your weekly hours documented? Where is the evidence? Save your renewal report as a Markdown file in your own fellows folder. Email both recipients a short summary and a direct link to that report. Professor Bear is very busy and will not hunt through folders, playlists, or previous messages for evidence. Writing the clear report and making every supporting video, log, and artifact easy to open is the Fellow’s responsibility.
What to include
- Your request: name, project, current agreement end date, reporting period, and requested renewal dates.
- Two or three completed results: describe what you delivered, your personal contribution, and link each result to an artifact.
- Actual hours for each week: link dated work records and identify any week below 20 hours or with missing records. A monthly average can hide gaps.
- Videos and Frictional logs: provide direct links to each required video, the relevant dated log entry, and supporting work such as commits or pull requests in your project's repository, documents, review notes, or demonstrations.
- Your next steps: a clear research or project plan with specific deliverables and target dates, plus any unresolved issues.
Copy this email format
To: hr@humanitarians.ai; bear@humanitarians.ai
CC (required): Your current Project Manager who you report to
Subject: Fellowship renewal — [Name] — [Project] — [Requested dates]
Markdown renewal report: [Direct GitHub link to the report in your fellows folder.]
Request: Please renew my fellowship from [date] through [date]. My current agreement ends [date]. This summary covers [reporting dates].
Completed: [Two or three results, your contribution, and a direct evidence link for each.]
Hours status: [20+ hours documented for every reported week / exceptions / incomplete records.]
Degree relevance and supervision: [How the work relates to your degree; supervisor name and available review or feedback evidence.]
Authorization: [Authorization type and dates; current agreement dates. Send sensitive documents privately to HR, never in public logs.]
Next period: [Deliverable and target date.]
Outstanding issues: [Missing evidence, unfinished work, or other exceptions; otherwise None.]
| Week / dates | Actual hours | Video links | Log and work evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Date range] | [Hours worked] | [STEM/AI video] · [Progress video] | [Dated log] · [Project-repository commit or pull request, document, or artifact] |
Make evidence one click away. Use descriptive link titles with dates, check viewing permissions, and link to the specific item rather than a repository homepage or folder. Include both required videos for every week. A finished video or commit demonstrates an output; pair it with dated records of tasks and time worked to document hours. Report gaps honestly.
For post-completion OPT, document at least 20 hours of qualifying work per week. Hours alone do not establish full OPT compliance: the work must relate to your degree and meet applicable authorization, reporting, and employment requirements. Humanitarians AI provides agreements for OPT, not STEM OPT. Confirm individual requirements with your school's international student office. See SEVP guidance, section 7.2.1.
Application and OPT Agreement Information
What to include with your application
Please provide a resume, LinkedIn profile, GitHub ID, and/or portfolio link when you apply.
Important information for OPT volunteers
- Agreement dates begin after you have been approved for a project and we receive a copy of your valid, physical Employment Authorization Document (EAD) card and a valid form of identification.
- Initial agreements are for one month. If a renewal is approved, subsequent agreements run for two to three months. Volunteers are solely responsible for tracking their agreement dates and requesting renewals on time, at least one week before the current agreement ends, with their Project Manager on CC.
- For SEVP reporting guidance, contact Northeastern University's Office of Global Services (OGS) or your school's international student office.
- Our business address will appear on your agreement. We do not have a phone number to provide.
- This is a part-time, volunteer role. We currently provide agreements for OPT only, not STEM OPT.
- We recommend that you do not perform volunteer work until your agreement is active and your physical EAD card is in hand and valid.
- We do not backdate agreements for any reason.
Humanitarians AI cannot provide immigration advice. Confirm your individual reporting and eligibility requirements with your school's international student office.
When We're Open
Monday to Wednesday, business hours
The Board of Humanitarians AI is 100% volunteer and has other obligations. Only expect responses to email requests sent Monday to Wednesday during business hours.
If you need something, plan ahead.
Our Email Policy
It is very common to send email at any hour, every day of the year. Here, that is not OK. Email is about respect for other people's time. Three simple rules:
- No email on weekends.
- No email late at night.
- No email on holidays.
If a thought comes to you after hours, draft it, save it, and send it during working hours. Nearly every message can wait. Please watch the short film below. It explains why this matters.
Fellows Program
Join our global community of talented volunteers dedicated to using AI for humanitarian causes.
About the Project
The Humanitarians AI Fellows Program connects skilled volunteers with meaningful AI projects addressing real-world challenges. Fellows contribute their expertise while gaining valuable experience, mentorship, and professional recognition.
Our structured program ensures accountability through regular documentation, providing verifiable evidence of your contributions for recommendation letters and professional verification. Join our community of innovators using technology to create positive social impact through collaborative, open-source development.
Frictional Logs
Every piece of work carries a Frictional log — a short, dated, honest record of what was tried, where the work resisted, what was done about it, and what was learned. It lives in that work's own folder in the fellows repository beside the evidence it describes. Think of it as a diary: what you did this week, including the things that didn't work.
It isn't graded and it isn't a performance review, but it is required: a new entry every week. It exists because a finished artifact no longer shows the learning behind it — a working script, a rendered film, a clean repository can now be produced without the process they used to be evidence of. The log is how the training stays visible: it is documentation of practical learning, kept for the Fellow's own record and for the program's.
For Fellows on OPT or other practical-training status, this record is the program's contemporaneous documentation that the work is real, is related to the field of study, and is supervised. A weekly entry written at the time is worth far more than a summary reconstructed months later, when the specifics — which is what makes a record credible — are gone. Fellows remain responsible for whatever their own school's international office requires; this supplements those obligations rather than replacing them.
What a weekly entry contains
Five short answers. Bullet fragments are fine — this is a log, not an essay. Ten minutes a week, written while you work rather than at the end of it.
- The date, and what you were working on. Label any entry written later than the week it describes.
- What you tried, and what you expected. The expectation is the part people skip. Without it, nothing can turn out to be surprising.
- Where it resisted, and what you did next. Name the actual thing — the beat that would not render, the number that did not match. Dead ends are worth more here than the fix.
- What Claude or another person contributed — and what you accepted, changed, or rejected. AI use is expected here; undocumented AI use is the thing to avoid.
- What you understand now, and what you still do not. Naming something unresolved is a feature of a good entry, not a gap in it.
Where it goes
- One
FRICTIONAL.mdper work folder —fellows/first-name-last-initial/YYYY-MM-DD-slug/. Each one logs the process behind that piece of work and sits beside the evidence it describes. Append dated entries as you go; never rewrite an earlier one. Each week, add a dated entry to the FRICTIONAL.md in every work folder you worked in that week. - Point each entry at something a reader can open — a commit, a beat sheet, a review note, a capture in that same folder. The commit history is itself part of the record, so commit as you work rather than in one batch at the end.
- No credentials, no private conversations, no personal data about anyone else. If a week was quiet, write that it was quiet and say what you checked. An honest thin week is a good entry; an invented busy one is not.
Key Features
Real-World Impact
Work on cutting-edge AI projects with direct humanitarian applications, from enhancing literacy through music to developing accessible AI interfaces for underserved communities.
Professional Development
Build your portfolio with documented contributions, receive mentorship from industry experts, and gain valuable skills in project management, documentation, and collaborative development.
Entrepreneurship Pathway
Explore opportunities to transform volunteer projects into commercial ventures through our dedicated Entrepreneurship Program, with support for business model development and access to potential investors.
Global Community
Connect with a diverse network of talented professionals committed to using AI for good, participating in team collaborations and community events that expand your professional horizons.