Ethereum Foundation Introduces Cohort 4 of the Next Billion Fellows

The Ethereum Foundation has announced the fourth cohort of its Next Billion Fellowship Program, featuring seven remarkable individuals from diverse backgrounds. These fellows are set to drive innovative projects aimed at improving communities globally, according to the Ethereum Foundation Blog.

The Next Billion Fellows Cohort 4

David Uzochukwu leads an initiative focusing on enhancing Ethereum’s decentralization by educating the African community on running Ethereum nodes. His project addresses barriers such as unstable internet access and power outages to promote inclusivity.

Guo Liu co-founded Matters Town, a censorship-resistant publication platform. Liu’s project merges advertisement protocols with Harberger tax and quadratic funding to support high-quality open-access content.

Lefteris Arapakis created the social enterprise Enaleia, which aims to reduce marine plastic pollution. Arapakis plans to implement a system on Ethereum to trace recycled marine plastic, starting in Greece and expanding across the Mediterranean.

Mercedes “Meche” Rodriguez Simon is researching web3 solutions to support human rights organizations in Venezuela. A key member of Ethereum Venezuela, Simon aims to address the country's political and humanitarian crises.

Rebecca Mqamelo collaborates with Grassroots Economics on integrating EVM-based local currencies with traditional economic practices in Africa. Her research compares community currency models backed by government bodies and those based on future production capacity commitments.

Tomislav “Tomo” Mamić is working on the Municipal Quadratic Funding Initiative (MUQA). This project aims to help cities use Quadratic Voting and Quadratic Funding for public project funding, with a pilot in Split, Croatia, focusing on culture and green spaces.

An anonymous fellow is developing a platform to digitize production records and farm metadata, creating on-chain reputation scores. This initiative aims to provide affordable working capital to smallholder farmers and cooperatives by standardizing farmer data for interoperability.

What’s Next?

Over the next six months, each fellow will advance their projects, sharing progress at Devcon 7 in Southeast Asia from November 12-15. Updates can be followed on @EFNextBillion. Financial support for attending Devcon is available through the Devcon SEA Scholars Program, with applications open until July 7, 2024.