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.

We are thrilled to announce a call for applications for our third year of the Well-being by Design Fellowship. We invite mid-career professionals who work in interactive kids’ technology and media to apply to join our five-month program, in which participants will workshop their current projects, network with other children’s technology and media designers, learn from industry leaders, and collaborate with a youth cohort for honest feedback. Boost your understanding of child-centered technology and media design concepts so you can create great products for young people.

Learn more about the program below:

Applications will open on September 15, 2025

Office Hours

If you are interested in applying but have questions, please join us for our upcoming office hours via Zoom.

General Information

Who is the fellowship for?
Mid-career designers of interactive, digital technology and media for kids

What are the benefits of participating?

  • 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 15, 2025 at 9:00am EDT 
  • Application closes: October 13, 2025 at 11:59pm EDT 
  • Selection decisions: All applicants will be notified by early December with final decisions, and the fellowship will begin in January 2026

Terms & Conditions

Please read the Terms & Conditions here.

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 five 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 14, 2025 and November 7, 2025, JGCC will screen all Applications to ensure that they are complete and all basic eligibility requirements have been met and decide which applications will proceed to the next phase.
    • Phase Two: Anticipated to take place between November 17, 2025 and November 25, 2025, representatives from JGCC will interview the selected Applicants, and choose approximately 10 Applications to participate.
  • 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 15 – October 13, 2025
  • When does the fellowship start and end?
    January – May 2026
  • When will the decisions of final participants be announced?
    Decisions will be announced the week of December 8, 2025
  • How much of a time commitment is required?
    Sessions will take place virtually from January – May 2026. There will be approximately 8 sessions (2 hours each). These will likely take place at 12:00 pm ET with occasional evening sessions, approximately every other week.
  • 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 at the end of January 2026. 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 child and youth digital 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.

Learn more about our 2025 fellows Learn more about our 2024 fellows

 

 

Sponsors

TAGS: , , , , , ,
More Content to Explore

©2025 The Joan Ganz Cooney Center