Mesh/Funding

Grants

• Awesome Foundation - Knowledge Chapter
• Awesome Foundation - Open Web
• Awesome Without Borders
• Awesome Foundation - SF
• The Pollination Project

We already applied for and received this one in 2014 ($1000)

• Open Tech Fund

Applied for OTF’s Internet Freedom Fund in Jan 2016 and declined with this message:

Determination status: Dropped

Goals and principles: This sounds like a great community project, but we does not fall under our remit. OTF’s Internet Freedom Fund generally funds tools and technologies that can be immediately used in repressive regimes to counteract censorship and surveillance. NYC has awesome mesh networks, Red Hook being the most famous. There is a huge project here funded by the city to bring mesh to other boroughs. Also, this seems like a project that should be funded by the local community - is there similar funding for San Fran for something like this? That might be more in line with the community approach this project is taking.

Technical merit: Reasonable, realistic and sustainable:

Other comments: Please refer to our list of alternative sources to see if any of them might be a better fit. https://www.opentech.fund/apply/alternative-sources-support

• Knight Foundation

Applied for Knight Foundation Journalism and Media Innovation grant in Dec. 2015 and declined.

• NL Net Foundation
• Internet Society's Community Grants
• The Buckminster Fuller Challenge
• Open Society Foundations Transparency and New Technologies Initiative
• Google Impact - 500K grant to social change nonprofits in the Bay Area.
• ">Web We Want
• Renewable Freedom Foundation
• World Wide Web Foundation
• Mozilla Foundation
• Access Now
• Jigsaw (Google)

Security

• National Science Foundation - Cybersecurity and Computer Systems Research
• Information Safety and Capacity Project
• [ttps://www.coreinfrastructure.org/grants Core Infrastructure Initiative]
• NLNet Foundation
• Linux Foundation
• AirVPN
• Network of Excellence in Internet Science
• Information Society Innovation Fund
• Berkman Assembly
• Kantara Initiative
• Prototype Fund

Digital_Democracy

• Ford Foundation
• Media Democracy Fund
• National Endowment for Democracy (NED
• Arab Public Participation Fund
• Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA)
• European Union’s Digital Agenda for Europe
• Open Society Foundations Information Program
• Finland Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation
• Cisco Foundation
• Metamorphosis

Human_Rights

• Humanity United
• Oak Foundation
• Open Society Foundations Human Rights Initiative
• Freedom House Human Rights Defense
• MacArthur Foundation
• Sigrid Rausing Trust
• Hivos
• Nexus Fund
• Overbrook Foundation
• Euro-Mediterranean Foundation of Support to Human Rights Defenders (EMHRF)
• Fund for Global Human Rights
• Human Rights First
• International Federation for Human Rights
• Protection International
• Democracy Council
• Internet Society Beyond the Net
• Comic Relief
• Skoll Global Threats
• UNICEF
• American Council of Learned Societies Digital Extension Grant
• Human Rights Foundation
• The Digital Fund
• European Endowment for Democracy (EED)

Digital_Protection

• Frontline Defenders
• Hivos’ Digital Defenders Program
• Hivos’ Digital Integrity Fellowship Program
• Global Journalist Security
• The Hague Training Course for Human Rights Defenders on Security

Internet_Access

• United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
• International Development Research Centre
• Microsoft
• Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
• Comcast Innovation Fund

Startup_Assistance_Incubators

Garage 48 CyberGhost Privacy Accelator Program Mach37 iHub Hackers/Founders IranCubator 3fs USAID Development Innovation Ventures NSF Small Business Innovation Research / Small Business Technology Transfer Program National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Small Business Innovation Research Program Google for Entrepreneurs PeaceTech Accelerator

Fellowships

Coding Fellowships

• Outreachy.org
• Mozilla Developer Network
• Rails Girls Summer of Code
• Google Summer of Code
• Linux Foundation
• Code 2040
• Code for Progress
• General Assembly
• Voqal Fellowship<
• Walkley Coding Scholarships for Journalists

Policy_Fellowships

• Ford Foundation-Mozilla
• Open Society Foundation
• Shuttleworth Foundation
• Open Knowledge
• Human Rights Watch
• United States Mission to the United Nations Internet Freedom Fellowship
• Google Policy Fellowship
• National Endowment for Democracy
• Echoing Green
• Harvard University’s Berkman Center
• Ashoka
• Data Society
• Internet Law Policy Foundry
• Internet Society
• Institute of Technology and Society
• Electronic Privacy Information Center
• Georgetown Law School
• C. Edwin Baker Media Policy Fellowship
• Internet Policy Observatory
• Article 19

Other Fellowships

• Ashoka Social Change Fellowship
• The Thiel Fellowship
• NSF Graduate Research Opportunities Worldwide
• NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program
• Horowitz Foundation for Social Policy
• Sloan Foundation Research Fellowships
• Tinker Foundation Field Research Grants
• Google RISE Awards
• Nonprofit Technology Network Digital Inclusion Fellowship
• Kairos Fellowship

Crowdfunding

For our initial batch of crowdfunded hardware, we ran a 60-day campaign on WePay. See this page for details on that campaign, purchases and standing funds.

Sustainable Business Models

Preliminary Notes/Brainstorm

• cost
  • buying routers
  • people adopt routers
  • people buy routers
• couple of full time real employees
  • mounting routers/antennae
  • managing of network
• bandwidth
• electricity
• advertising on splash page
• name the wifi network as the web address
• sell service to business districts
• digital bulletin boards
• skill share board
• begging for cash model
  • OLPC model: people pay 2x for themselves and someone else
• ISPs ToS don’t allow you to share bandwidth
  • get local ISPs to contribute
  • monkeybrains?
  • competing with Unwired, and their radio frequency
• legal advisers???