Bergel Institute Fellowship - FT1: Using AI to Expand Economic Opportunity Grant

Bergel Institute Fellowship - FT1: Using AI to Expand Economic Opportunity Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: The Bergel Institute
Amount: US $30,000
Last Updated: February 03, 2026

Summary

Overview

Note: Below are the other Bergel Institute Fellowships: FE1: Bringing an End to the Poverty-Violence Connection in the U.SFE2: Building a Fully-Resourced CommunityFS1: Cutting Edge or Pseudoscience?FH1: Expanding our Understanding of Health and HealingFE3: The Creation of the Mentoring Industry in the United States The Bergel Institute The Bergel Institute is dedicated to the advancement of human knowledge and the human condition. The Institute focuses on six major areas: Economics ScienceTechnology Consciousness Health Culture The common theme in all of the Institute’s work is the pursuit of what is possible. It brings a commitment to critical thinking and the questioning of accepted norms and approaches to issues that lie at the foundation of what we think and how we live. In every discipline, assumptions are tested against evidence. In addition to its research and programmatic endeavors, the Institute offers fellowships. Fellowships come with high expectations and are supported with structure and active mentorship. Bergel Institute Fellowships The Bergel Institute offers Fellowships to individuals of all ages who wish to spend a year in intensive study and project development in a subject area that aligns with the advancement of human knowledge and the human condition. Each year, the Institute will list specific fellowship topics within these areas. Applicants may pick one or propose a different topic, as long as it aligns with the Institute’s goals. Fellowships run from June to May and are primarily virtual, with two paid Institute visits (to the home office in Florida) as the only in-person expectations during the Fellowship year. Fellows are expected to work approximately 20 hours per week and to bring a strong intrinsic motivation for the project. They will spend the year conducting intensive research and/or project development, supported by Institute staff, with monthly meetings and quarterly progress reports to help maintain momentum. The Fellowship is also intended to function as an incubator, providing time, guidance, and structure for work that continues beyond the Fellowship year. As noted above, Fellows travel to the Institute twice during the Fellowship year to present to leadership: once in August, at the end of Q1, and again in May, at the end of the Fellowship year. The May presentation focuses on what was accomplished during the year and the Fellow’s plans for next steps. Final work may take many forms, including detailed manuscripts, the launch of a business or organization; or a video series, documentary films, etc. Travel and lodging for both presentations are covered by the Institute. Upon completion of the Fellowship year, all Fellows are required to serve as mentors for future Fellows, ensuring that accumulated knowledge and experiences are passed to their successors. FT1: Using AI to Expand Economic Opportunity During the past ten years, many in the U.S. and around the world have worried that AI and AI-related technologies will reduce the need for human labor, shrink the number of jobs, and push more people into economic instability. The Bergel Institute has a different perspective: rapid improvements in communications and access to information can expand economic opportunity and open new entryways into the mainstream economy. This Fellowship will explore where AI can remove long-standing obstacles to stability, including translation issues on forms, limited English proficiency when searching and applying for jobs online, navigating cost-of-living differences across regions, and making informed relocation decisions by comparing pay to real-world expenses. The Fellowship will also examine applications that expand opportunity by reducing shocks and removing barriers to stability. AI and satellite imagery may improve mapping relative to who is living in poverty so providers of aid and assistance can reach towns, villages, or households missed by traditional survey methods, helping families access support sooner and re-enter the mainstream economy faster. AI tools can also strengthen disaster relief and recovery so households are not impacted as intensely or for as long, protecting livelihoods, savings, and continuity of work and school. Given that many people in poverty around the world live and work on small farms, AI can help identify crop issues and disease and optimize production, strengthening household income. In education and skill development, new platforms can deliver quality, affordable education to remote areas, reducing geographical and transportation obstacles and expanding pathways into better-paying work. By the end of the Fellowship, the Fellow will produce a credible roadmap for what can be built, who must be involved, what barriers to adoption exist, and what can be implemented in the near term.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. Applicants do not have to be enrolled in or associated with a school or academic program of any kind. Applicants may also be enrolled in a graduate program at an insititution anywhere in the world. Either way, Fellowship subject matter must fall within one of six major areas: Economics, Science, Technology, Consciousness, Health, or Culture.