About the fellowship
Ceviz
Fellowship
A tree that grows slowly, roots deep, and shelters those who come after. It takes years before it gives anything back — and then it gives for decades. That is the shape of the program, and it is why we did not name it after a rocket.
- Who
- Young people, first project
- What
- Open source software
- For
- Real organizations
- Structure
- Non-profit
Structure
Non-profit, and we mean the boring version
No profit distribution. Formal registration — an association or an Estonian MTÜ — comes once the model proves itself. Until then it is an operating commitment, not a certificate.
The cohort unit
A cohort is self-contained
Its own budget, partners and mentors. Scaling means running the same template again.
- 10 weeks
- Duration
- 10 fellows
- 5 TR · 5 international
- 2 teams
- 5 people each
- 3 mentors
- PM · dev · design
Roles
Five people,
five different jobs
You apply for a role, not a seat. PM and design applications ask for product sense, not code.
Product Manager
Owns the organization relationship and the scope. No code required.
Developers
Data model to deploy, on the AI or web track. Mentor-reviewed.
Design / UX
Interfaces for people who are not developers. The least fake brief you will get.
Mentors
One hour a week.
That is the whole ask.
Three volunteers — PM, developer, designer — each supporting their role across both teams. Ten to twelve hours across the whole cohort. Unpaid, and we keep the load honest so it stays that way.
Project tracks
The kind of thing a team of five actually finishes
- Drafting grant and donation applications
- Classifying and matching volunteer applications
- Question answering over an organization's document archive
- Turning meeting notes into structured reports
- Volunteer management — registration, shifts, attendance
- Donation transparency pages
- Beneficiary or inventory tracking
- Event registration and attendee management
Roadmap
Proof first. Everything else is downstream of it.
Proof → sponsor & organization revenue → stipends and management pay → better applicant pool → better output → stronger proof
Cohort 01
$0
Unpaid pilot. Output is the proof: two delivered projects and the templates.
Cohort 02
$4,000
The proof sells. Stipends and management pay begin.
Cohort 03
$6–8,000
Three to four projects. Formal non-profit registration.
Cohort 04+
Compounds
Parallel cohorts, led by alumni PMs.
The first cohort’s measure of success is not project count. It is whether both projects were actually delivered — and are actually being used.
Want a seat in cohort 01?
Fellows, mentors, organizations and sponsors all start in the same place.