Application-based · Online · Grades 10–11 · Worldwide · First cohort January 2027

Real AI skills. Real nonprofits. Real leadership experience.

A 10-week online AI fellowship for 10th and 11th graders worldwide. Students find local nonprofits and build AI tools that solve their problems. Practical leadership experience, hands-on AI building and, most importantly, real results for their communities.

Join the founding-cohort waitlist See how it works

Created by Keshav Rao: Stanford + Wharton, experienced investor and advisor, and founder of Cedris Capital.

Grades 10–11 (IB DP1 / Year 11–12)About 4–5 hours a weekOpen worldwideNo coding experience required

The gap

Students use AI every day. Employers expect them to build with it. Schools aren’t teaching that.

84%

of US high schoolers already use generative AI for schoolwork.

80%+

of US students were never explicitly taught how to use it.

70%+

of business leaders would rather hire a less experienced candidate with AI skills than a more experienced one without.

Using AI is now the baseline. The skill that matters, in college and at work, is taking a real problem, building something that helps, and measuring whether it did. That’s the gap we close.

Sources: College Board (student AI use); RAND, 2025 (AI instruction); Microsoft & LinkedIn 2024 Work Trend Index (hiring leaders, 31 markets).

Proof points

Measured impact, signed by the nonprofit.

Every project ends with results the nonprofit confirms: what your student built, what changed, and by how much. A clear record of what they built and what changed, written so anyone can check it.

Signed impact reportThe before-and-after numbers, confirmed and signed by the nonprofit that uses the tool.
Their own work, on the recordStudents build; mentors coach and review. Build logs show who did what, and the report says whether the students found the nonprofit or we matched them.
A portfolio pageA short write-up and demo of the tool that anyone can open and check, with the nonprofit’s permission.
A story built on real workCoaching helps students explain what they did, what they learned and why it mattered.

Builders, not just users

Students build AI tools that keep working after the program ends.

Asking AI a question is the easy part. Students learn the rest: understanding the problem, connecting real information, testing, launching the tool and measuring whether it helped. These are the skills that carry into college and work.

Asking AI once

"Summarize this week's intake forms."

Answers once. Someone has to paste the forms in again next week.

A tool that keeps working

Every Monday 7:00 → read new forms → update inventory sheet → email the coordinator a digest → log errors for review

Runs on its own, a person checks it, and the nonprofit keeps it.

Build with leading AI toolsHands-on work with the AI tools professionals use, such as Claude and OpenAI Codex, set up and guided by the program.
Built to last, used responsiblyEvery tool is handed over with simple instructions the nonprofit can run, pause or switch off. Each build is reviewed for privacy, accuracy and where a person must stay in the loop.

Leadership, practiced

A real leadership team: two co-leads and a mentor.

Civic AI Fellows operate as co-leads, sharing the decisions, the nonprofit relationship and the results. A dedicated mentor meets them live for 30 minutes every week and reviews each milestone, and a small regional group of peers gives feedback along the way. It’s the closest thing to running a real project team.

Co-leads

Two students who share leadership: they set the plan, run the nonprofit relationship and make the calls together.

Mentor

An experienced builder or operator who meets the pair live every week, reviews their work, and never builds it for them.

Nonprofit partner

The organization the pair works for. It sets the problem and confirms the results.

Regional group

Four to five pairs in similar time zones who share ideas, give feedback and present together.

Leadership modules. Setting a vision, outreach and persuasion, client discovery, scoping and project management, giving and receiving feedback, and responsible AI. Students practice each one on their own project, starting with finding a nonprofit partner.

Leadership feedback. At the midpoint and finish, each student gets written feedback from their co-lead, peers and mentor on communication, ownership, judgment and follow-through, shared with the family.

How it works

From application to demo day.

Apply
A short written application and a conversation with the student and a parent. No coding test.
Learn, then pair up
Weeks 1–3: short practical lessons on building with AI, alongside leadership modules on vision, outreach and client discovery. Each student is paired with a co-lead and joins a regional group with a vetted mentor.
Partner with a nonprofit
Weeks 3–4: the pair finds a local nonprofit, learns what it needs, and agrees on a project together. Mentors guide every step, parents are kept informed, and any pair without a partner by week 4 is matched with a vetted one.
Build and launch
Weeks 5–9: the pair builds a working AI system, tests it with the nonprofit, and hands it over working.
Show the impact
Week 10: the nonprofit signs the impact report, and pairs present at a global online demo day.

Sample projects

The kind of work fellows take on.

Illustrative These are examples of scope, not past projects. Each pair finds and partners with its own nonprofit, so projects reflect students’ own communities.

Nonprofit · food pantry

Intake forms to inventory, automatically

Problem: Volunteers spend evenings re-typing paper intake forms.
System: A form reader that fills the inventory sheet and sends a weekly digest.
Measure: Volunteer hours on data entry per month, before and after.

Public office · parks department

Resident requests, sorted on arrival

Problem: Requests arrive by email and web form, and get sorted by hand.
System: A triage assistant that categorizes requests and drafts work orders for staff to approve.
Measure: Average time from request to assigned work order.

Charity · health research foundation

A charity walk that thanks every fundraiser

Problem: Two staff track hundreds of walk registrations, fundraising pages and thank-you emails in spreadsheets.
System: A tool that syncs registrations, flags fundraisers who have gone quiet, and drafts personal thank-you and reminder emails for staff to approve.
Measure: Staff hours on walk admin, and the share of donors thanked within 48 hours.

Nonprofit · youth sports league

Fewer emails, more time on the field

Problem: Volunteer coordinators answer the same parent questions and chase missing forms by email and group chat.
System: An assistant that answers common questions from the league handbook, sends schedule-change alerts and tracks missing forms.
Measure: Volunteer hours on email per week, and missing forms at the start of the season.

Programs

One fellowship. Ten weeks. A real nonprofit project.

Fellowship

Online Fellowship

$2,500

10 weeks, about 4–5 hours a week on your student’s schedule; a new cohort starts every month from January 2027
Co-lead team, a dedicated mentor with a 30-minute live call each week, and a regional group
Real nonprofit project, signed impact report, global demo day

Join the waitlist

Founding class: $1,999 per student for our first cohorts, a pilot price while we refine the program with our first families.

Founding-cohort pricing. Final pricing and cohort dates will be confirmed before applications open. Joining the waitlist costs nothing and commits you to nothing. Deposits, when offered, are fully refundable until the cohort starts.

Admission

Small groups. Admission by application.

Every fellow is admitted through an application. We look for curiosity, follow-through and care for the people being served. Prior coding is not required.

Application-basedEvery student applies and has a short conversation with us before being admitted.
Personalized projects and mentoringEach project is shaped around the pair’s interests and their nonprofit’s needs, with a mentor meeting them live every week.
Nonprofits never payPartner nonprofits receive the work free of charge.

Safeguarding, privacy & responsible AI

Built for students from the start.

Your student works with real organizations and powerful tools, so the guardrails are part of the program design.

Program-managed AI tools

Students build with leading AI tools through accounts set up and managed by the program, not personal ones, with mentors guiding how information is handled.

Vetted, background-checked mentors

Every mentor and coach is interviewed, reference-checked and background-checked before working with students.

Supervised, virtual nonprofit contact

Nonprofit meetings happen online. A program coordinator joins the first call, is copied on project emails, and students never meet a nonprofit contact one-on-one. Data is handled under a short written agreement.

Parents stay informed

Parents are the account holders, receive progress updates, and are invited to demo day. We communicate with students only through channels parents approve.

Who’s behind it

Created by Keshav Rao, founder of Cedris Capital.

Keshav created Civic AI Fellows as a program of Cedris Capital, an AI-focused investment and services platform he founded. He saw a gap in practical AI literacy for the next generation: students learn to use AI, but rarely to build systems that solve real-world problems. Civic AI Fellows closes that gap with real projects for real organizations.

Keshav Rao, founder. Undergraduate degree from Stanford; MBA from Wharton.
Finance, strategy and investing. Former Goldman Sachs and BCG; former investor with Soros- and Bezos-backed investment platforms.
An operator network. Technology, finance and product operators who support the program and its students.

Questions parents ask

FAQ

Does my child need to know how to code?

No. Fellows learn to build with modern AI tools during the program. Students who already code will go further on the technical side, and every pair also needs strong client, project and impact leadership.

How much time does it take?

About 4–5 hours a week for 10 weeks, mostly on your student’s own schedule. Each week includes a 30-minute live call with their mentor, written feedback on that week’s milestone, and an optional group call set for their region’s time zone. Short check-ins with the nonprofit are arranged around school hours.

We live outside the US. Can my child apply?

Yes. The founding cohort is open to students worldwide. Fellows are placed in regional groups so that live moments fall at reasonable hours, and clients may be in the pair’s own region or work with them online. The program runs in English.

Why co-lead pairs instead of bigger teams?

Two co-leads is a real leadership team: big enough to share the work and challenge each other, small enough that both students lead and both build. With a mentor and a regional group around them, no one works alone.

Is this “AI cheating”?

No. Students use AI to build a tool for a nonprofit, not to write schoolwork. Every step is logged and reviewed by a mentor, so the record shows exactly what each student did. Mentors coach and review; they never build the project for the students.

Does it count toward IB CAS?

The project is designed to fit CAS service and creativity, but each school makes its own decision. We provide a record of hours and outcomes your CAS coordinator can review.

Which AI tools will students use?

The same leading AI tools professionals use, such as Claude and OpenAI Codex, through accounts the program sets up and manages. Students don’t need personal accounts on consumer AI apps, many of which have age limits.

Which nonprofits do students work with?

Local nonprofits with a real operational problem, found by the students themselves. Partners must be registered nonprofits, charities or community organizations (or the local equivalent) and pass a short check by the program before work begins. Nonprofits pay nothing.

Does my child really have to find the nonprofit?

Yes, with plenty of help. Finding an organization, explaining an idea and building a partnership are leadership skills most students never get to practice. Students get outreach templates, a simple method for finding nonprofits, and mentor feedback at every step.

If a pair hasn’t found a partner by the end of week 4, we match them with one of our vetted partner nonprofits, so no one is left without a project.

Is it safe for students to contact organizations?

Yes. Outreach goes from a program account with the program team copied, all meetings happen online, a program coordinator joins the first call, and students never meet a nonprofit contact one-on-one. Organizations handling sensitive personal data are out of scope, and every nonprofit signs a short data agreement before work begins.

Which grades can apply?

Students in 10th or 11th grade, or the international equivalent (roughly ages 15–17). Current 9th graders can join the waitlist for a future cohort.

What if it isn’t the right fit?

Joining the waitlist is free and commits you to nothing. Founding-cohort deposits are fully refundable until the cohort starts, and full refund terms are shared before enrollment.

Will this get my child into a particular college?

No program can promise that, and we don’t. What we can offer is real work with measured results, confirmed by the nonprofit, that your child can explain in their own words.

What happens after I join the waitlist?

You’ll get first access to founding-cohort applications and an invitation to a parent information session. There is no payment and no commitment, and you can unsubscribe at any time.