Well-Being by Design Fellowship

The Joan Ganz Cooney Center’s Well-Being by Design Fellowship is a professional development program for designers and producers of interactive kids’ technology and media. This is a FREE program supported by Pinterest with no fee or cost to participate.

The Cooney Center is an independent research and innovation lab at Sesame Workshop named for the founder of Sesame Street. We continue to ask Joan’s original question: How do we leverage today’s emerging media to benefit children of all ages? 

Our goal is to develop a supportive ecosystem that encourages tech and media creators to design with children’s best interests in mind, ultimately fostering a safer, more engaging, and more enriching digital environment for kids. We are thrilled to invite mid-career professionals who work in kids’ interactive tech and media to join us for the Well-Being by Design Fellowship.

In 2024, we convened our first cohort of fellows.

• Learn more about our 2024 fellows here.
• Check out their case studies here.

The application window for our next cohort is open between September 9 – October 11, 2024.

Deadline: October 11, 2024

Learn more about the process below:

GENERAL INFORMATION

Who is the fellowship for?

• Mid-career designers of interactive, digital technology and media for kids

What do you mean by “well-being?”

• For children, well-being is physical health and safety but also mental stability and positive emotion. Most importantly, well-being is social, linked to loving others, and being loved by family and friends. (UNICEF)

What does “interactive media and technology” mean?

• Interactive media and technology includes digital experiences that invite children to actively engage, not just consume. This excludes content creation that does not have an interactive component.

What do you mean by “children?”

• This refers to anyone under the age of 18 years old.

What are the benefits of participation?

• Gain a deeper understanding of designing technology and media for children’s well-being
• Workshop your current projects 
• Network with other children’s technology and media designers
• Learn from industry leaders
• Collaborate with a youth cohort for honest feedback
• Boost your understanding of child-centered technology and media design concepts so you can improve your own work

Why is the Cooney Center doing this?

Globally, nearly two billion children ages 0-14 are growing up in an increasingly digital world. We must therefore attend to children’s healthy development in the digital world as we do in the physical one – to put the well-being of children first. We believe this work requires a collaborative effort to answer questions that are critical to the growing movement to design digital spaces that advance children’s best interests. With this fellowship, we aim to  make children’s well-being a priority in the design of the online world by (1) putting the voices of children at the center and (2) providing industry with the tools to put the well-being of children first. 

Timeline

• Application opens: September 9, 2024 at 9:00am EDT 
• Application closes: October 11, 2024 at 11:59pm EDT 
• Selection decisions: All applicants will be notified by early-December with final decisions, and the fellowship will begin in January 2025

FAQs

• What is the Well-Being by Design fellowship?

• • • Our fellowship is a five-month professional development program for mid-career designers of children’s interactive media and technology.

• Who should apply?

• • • Designers of children’s media who have been in the field for at least 5 years (mid-career), have some experience working on children’s interactive technology and media, and want to prioritize designing for well-being at early stages in the development process

• How do I know if I’m eligible to apply?

• • • Participants must be a U.S. Citizen or permanent resident, and must be 21+ years old. 

• What do I need to submit in order to apply?

• • • An application form (link), resume, and link to your work (website, video, portfolio, etc)

• How will you select participants?

• • • Phase One: Anticipated to take place between October 15, 2024 and October 31, 2024, JGCC will screen all Applications to ensure that they are complete and all basic eligibility requirements have been met.
    • Phase Two: Anticipated to take place between November 1, 2024 and November 15, 2024, JGCC staff will review the Applications and select which Applications will proceed to the next phase.
    • Phase Three: Anticipated to take place between November 18, 2024 and November 22, 2024, representatives from JGCC will interview the remaining Applications, and choose approximately 8-10 Applications to move on to participate in the Program.

• How much does it cost to participate?

• • • It is completely free to participate

• Does the fellowship include funding?

• • • Fellows will not be paid to participate. 

• When does the application open and close?

• • • September 9 – October 11, 2024

• When does the fellowship start and end?

• • • January – May 2025

• When will the decisions of final participants be announced?

• • • Decisions will be announced the week of December 2, 2024

• How much of a time commitment is required?

• • • Sessions will take place virtually from January – May 2025. There will be approximately 7 sessions (2 hours each). These will likely take place in the evening ET. 

• What will I be expected to share?

• • • You should come prepared to share current work that you can workshop collaboratively with other participants to improve the design with well-being in mind.

• Why does my employer need to approve my commitment to participate in the fellowship?

• • • We trust that in applying for the fellowship you have the full support of your employer, if applicable. Participants will be expected to share and workshop current work with the group. Please make sure you are comfortable doing so.

• Is there any travel involved?

• • • While most of the fellowship will be conducted virtually, we are planning an in-person gathering (1.5 days) at Sesame Workshop in NYC to kick off the fellowship in January 2025. Participants will receive travel stipends. Details to come.

• What happens at the end of the fellowship?

• • • The Cooney Center plans to measure the impact of the professional development experience based on new design ideas to improve children and youth well-being. Participants should expect to share their plans for their project. Participants are encouraged to stay in touch with one another and continue the community formed from this fellowship.

• What does “interactive media and technology” mean?

• • • Interactive media and technology includes digital experiences that invite children to actively engage, not just consume. This excludes content creation that does not have an interactive component.

• What do you mean by children?

• • This refers to anyone under the age of 18 years old.

Terms & Conditions

• Please read the Terms & Conditions here.