As a global public resource, technology must remain open, accessible, and dedicated to advancing the common good. The Next Billion Fellowship program is a testament to this vision, seeking to capture the stories of communities whose lives are being changed for the better. Today, we are proud to feature seven individuals who have remarkable stories to share. Their stories offer insight into their diverse contexts and possible futures—futures that we cannot fully predict but that elevate humanity. Drawing inspiration from the stories of the Next Billion Fellows, we hope to imagine a future where this open protocol for human coordination serves as a public good for billions of people.
Next Billion Fellows Cohort 4
David Uzochukwu is leading an initiative to improve Ethereum decentralization by educating the African community on how to run an Ethereum node. By exploring barriers such as lack of stable internet access and power outages as well as possible solutions, this project seeks to make visible the considerations that need to be put in place for decentralization and inclusion.
Eddie Kago works on Antucrosa platform that digitizes production records and farm metadata to create on-chain reputation scores. Its goal is to provide affordable working capital to smallholder farmers and cooperatives in Kenya by standardizing farmer data for interoperability. Eddie seeks to unlock low-cost credit and scalable agricultural insurance.
Guo Liu works for freedom of information as co-founder of The business citya censorship-resistant digital space and publishing platform. Its project aims to support high-quality open-access content by merging advertising protocols with the Harberger tax and quadratic funding.
Lefteris Arapakis grew up in a fishing family and quickly realized that fishermen were collecting a lot of plastic from the ocean. He started a social enterprise called Enaleiawhich focused on reducing marine plastic pollution, starting first in Greece and then expanding to the rest of the Mediterranean. As part of his fellowship, Lefteris will implement a system enabling the traceability of recycled marine plastic on Ethereum.
Mercedes “Meche” Rodriguez Simon conducts practical research on the use of web3 solutions to support human rights organizations in Venezuela. As a dedicated human rights activist and key member of Ethereum Venezuela, Meche aims to put her knowledge to work to address the political and humanitarian crises in Venezuela.
Rebecca Mqamelo studies the integration of EVM-based local currencies into traditional economic practices in Africa. His research, with Popular economywill compare two different models of community currencies: traditional digital vouchers backed by government agencies and a model where the community pools its future productive capacity as a pledge.
Tomislav “Tomo” Mamić works on the Municipal Quadratic Financing Initiative (MUFI)a project designed to help cities use quadratic voting (QV) and quadratic financing (QF) mechanisms to allocate funds to public projects. Its pilot project in the city of Split in Croatia will experiment with QF in the areas of culture and green spaces, with the aim of introducing transparency, efficiency and citizen participation in the management of public resources.
What’s next?
Over the next six months, each Fellow will complete a small project that aims to achieve larger goals in their story. Fellows will share their progress at Devcon 7 in Southeast Asia, November 12-15. Follow @EFNextBillion for updates. Need financial support to attend Devcon? Check out the Devcon SEA Scholars program and apply before July 7, 2024!
