EII Fellowship
A small cohort of researchers, lawyers, designers, journalists, and former regulators who publicly affiliate with EII for a one-year term. The first class launches with v1.0 of the standard in Q4 2026.
Why the Fellowship exists
A standards body is only as credible as the people associated with it. EII is launching the Fellowship to: bring domain expertise to the v1.0 specification, co-sign quarterly briefings, contribute patterns to the Library, propose standard additions, and — frankly — be the bench of named experts that regulators, journalists, and procurement teams can point to when citing EII.
In return, Fellows get: affiliation with a public-interest standards body, co-authorship on published work, a first look at v1.0 development, invitation to the annual working meeting, and an expense-reimbursable platform for the emotional-safety work most of you are already doing.
Three tracks
Research Fellow
Academics, independent researchers, think-tank staff. Contributes methodology rigor, literature review, empirical validation of patterns, invited essays. 5–8 hours/month. One-year term. Modest stipend ($1–2K/year) plus expense reimbursement for approved travel.
Practitioner Fellow
Lawyers (privacy, product, regulatory), former regulators, underwriters, procurement specialists, policy staff. Contributes regulatory mapping, RFP language, compliance framing, real-world fit-testing of the standard. 3–5 hours/month. One-year term. Unpaid; affiliation only.
Editorial Fellow
Journalists, technology critics, writers. Contributes invited essays to State of Emotional Safety, co-signs case studies, occasional editorial review. 2–4 hours/month. One-year term. Paid per piece; affiliation included.
Who we're looking for
We are small, so the criteria are narrow:
- Demonstrated public work on emotional/ethical/consumer-safety issues in digital products.
- Ability to be publicly associated with EII (no blocking employer conflicts).
- Willingness to disagree publicly with EII when you disagree. We don't want a cheerleading cohort.
- Comfort with the non-commercial, standards-body posture — EII is not a consultancy, and Fellows don't solicit consulting from reviewed products.
How to apply
Email hello@thebluealgorithm.com with "Fellowship Application" in the subject line. Include:
- Name, current role, current affiliation.
- Track. Research · Practitioner · Editorial.
- What you'd contribute. One paragraph — the specific area you'd bring.
- Public work sample. Links to two representative pieces. Papers, essays, regulatory filings, case commentary — whatever's most representative.
- Conflicts. Disclose any current or recent relationships with products EII might review.
- Why EII. 2–3 sentences.
Timeline
- Apr – Jun 2026. Applications open. Acknowledgment within five business days.
- Jul 2026. Shortlist conversations. We talk to everyone shortlisted.
- Aug 2026. First class announced. Fellows affiliated on the Fellowship page.
- Q4 2026. First Fellowship work — essays, reviews, v1.0 contributions — coincident with v1.0 release.
On compensation
The Research Fellow stipend comes from certification review fees. Editorial Fellows are paid per piece at industry-standard essay rates. Practitioner Fellows are unpaid because the affiliation itself is the value exchange — we don't think we should pay lawyers and ex-regulators to be associated with us, but we also won't pretend they owe us time. Fellowship expectations scale to compensation.
Citation: EII-FEL-2026-Q3 · EII Fellowship · Inaugural Class Application · April 2026.