Media Innovation Fellows

Backing the builders shaping progressive media and technology.

The Media Innovation Fellows program supports practitioners building tools and playbooks at the intersection of media, technology, and organizing. Our 2025 inaugural cohort of six was selected from more than 100 proposals, each backed by a $15,000 grant, mentorship, and coaching.

About the program

The Media Innovation Fellows program is the Progressive AI Lab's investment in people. It identifies practitioners with a clear idea at the intersection of media, technology, and organizing, then gives them the funding, mentorship, and coaching to build it.

Each fellow in the 2025 inaugural cohort received a $15,000 grant along with hands-on mentorship and coaching from the Higher Ground Institute team and its network. Fellows built tools and playbooks designed to be shared with and reused across the broader progressive movement.

Why it matters

Better tools are not enough on their own. The movement also needs the people who know how to build, adapt, and teach them. By backing that talent directly, the Fellows program helps ensure progressive innovation keeps pace with the technology.

Hear about the next cohort

Interested in a future Media Innovation Fellowship, or in supporting one? Join our newsletter or get in touch.