Announcing the Devcon Scholars Program

Welcome!

The Devcon Scholars Program is an Ethereum Foundation initiative designed to provide an opportunity for Ethereum ecosystem-members from underserved communities, unique circumstances, or developing areas to attend the largest annual gathering in the Ethereum ecosystem.

Now in its second year, the Devcon Scholars Program provides full scholarships to many around the world to learn, connect, and grow with others in the blockchain space, culminating in an experience to attend Devcon 5 in Osaka.

In collaboration with ecosystem leaders including UNICEF Innovation, ConsenSys and Bounties Network, the Ethereum Foundation selected 50+ scholars from around the world to participate in the program. The selected scholars represent various walks of life, as well as wide-ranging levels of blockchain knowledge. Their skill sets include design, software engineering, academia, policy experience and much more. Recipients are provided travel and conference accommodations, exclusive programming, professional networking opportunities and individual guidance from a group of amazing volunteers. Scholars are invited to publish articles on the transformative potential of blockchain technology and later on their experiences at the conference. We hope that each Devcon Scholar finds a home in the Ethereum community and that the opportunity to attend Devcon helps to jumpstart a future career in this dynamic ecosystem.

Demographics of 2019 Cohort

We believe that working to increase diversity in our community is an investment in the future of Ethereum. The Devcon Scholars Program aims to promote diversity and inclusion within our burgeoning industry and to democratize access to Ethereum education.

The 2019 Devcon Scholars cohort represents individuals from 15 different countries including Afghanistan, Argentina, Egypt, Nigeria, Sweden and Syria among others. The demographic breakdown of the cohort is as follows:

• 50% of Scholars self-identify as blockchain beginners, with the other 50% identifying as intermediate or experts in Ethereum technology.

• Approximately 80% of Scholars are between the ages of 18 and 34 years old, and a majority of Scholars are female.

• The Scholar cohort identifies as 18% Hispanic or Latino, 22% Asian/Pacific Islander, 27% Black or African American, 9% White, with 24% identifying as multi-ethnic.

The Devcon Scholars Program is supported in part by generous contributions from many organizations including:

ConsenSys: $30,000 in educational programming and certification opportunities provided by ConsenSys Academy

UNICEF Innovation: UNICEF’s Boost (BST) Token is being used on the Bounties Network to teach blockchain concepts and encourage multinational engagement and to bring new voices to the ecosystem. There have been over 140 bounty submissions in July 2019 alone.

Bounties Network: Developed the bespoke ETHScholars environment and is funding the gas fees for all Scholars’ transactions throughout the program.

In the coming weeks, the Ethereum Foundation will recognize a number of Scholarship Supporters as we unveil this year’s Devcon Sponsors.

Finally, following Devcon, Bounties Network will release Devcon Scholar Videos to highlight their experiences in Osaka.

For more information on the Devcon Scholars Program, check out the Ethereum Devcon Scholars Medium, which will be authored by the Scholars themselves and managed by program partners.

Please join us in congratulating this year’s class of Devcon Scholars. We look forward to meeting everyone in Osaka!

P.s. – As mentioned in our last Devcon blog, we’re running two on-chain ticket distribution mechanisms this year, with any proceeds to benefiting the Devcon Scholars Program. These will be on a relatively small scale since we’re trying out this approach for the first time, but may expand in years to come. The first is on chain auction that will employ a small fee as a Sybil resistance measure, and it will begin two days following this post and last for 48 hours. Stay tuned for more details, coming Thursday via blog and Twitter!

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devcon team