Introducing The Grid Fellowship: Meet the New Generation of Tech Leaders Looking to Serve NYC

New York City’s tech ecosystem has never been stronger. Today, there are more than 200,000 tech jobs, representing 41% of the city’s net job growth since 2019. New York is recognized as one of the largest and most valuable tech hubs in the world — and a global leader in AI — and our sector is undeniably powering the city’s economy and its future.

As the tech ecosystem skyrockets, so does its responsibility. If New York is the best place to build and grow a tech company — and since Tech:NYC’s founding in 2016, it has been our mission to ensure that it is — then the tech sector must also be the best corporate citizen of New York. The companies that thrive here must also contribute to the civic health and vibrancy of the city, and Tech:NYC has always partnered with our members to work toward that goal. 

That’s why today, we are proud to announce the launch of The Grid Fellowship, Tech:NYC’s inaugural civic fellowship.

Why The Grid Fellowship Matters

The growth of the tech industry has created immense opportunities, but it has also highlighted a gap: while tech leaders are incredibly skilled at solving problems inside their companies, there hasn’t always been a clear path for them to apply those skills to the city’s public challenges. The systems of New York — from housing and sanitation to transit and governance — are complex, sprawling, and often opaque.

The Grid Fellowship is designed to change that.

“There is so much opportunity here to bring the best qualities of tech to address some of New York’s most pressing problems,” said Julie Samuels, President and CEO of Tech:NYC. “The bias to action, the optimism that sees solutions to problems, the drive for efficiency — these are all traits that city government can and should use. The Grid Fellowship channels our tech leaders’ desire for impact towards New York’s need for it.”

The Grid Fellowship Experience

Through a nine-month immersive program, the fellowship will prepare senior leaders — founders, operators, and C-suite executives — to understand and engage with the civic systems that make New York run. 

Over the course of the program, fellows will get firsthand exposure to the city’s operational backbone and infrastructure – from the Department of Sanitation’s Central Repair Shop and private-public partnerships at Cornell Tech to an exploration of the City of Yes rezoning initiative. 

Each experience is designed to achieve one or more of the program’s core goals: connecting fellows to one another as a network, exposing them to civic systems, and creating avenues to meaningfully contribute to New York.

Building the Pipeline for Civic Leadership

The Grid Fellowship is a long game. It is designed to cultivate a new generation of leaders who can step into roles of civic service, whether through nonprofit board participation, advisory positions, or future roles in city leadership.

In doing so, the fellowship will help create a pipeline of tech executives who, while they are growing companies in New York, are also strengthening the fabric of the city. Over time, this network of alumni will become an enduring civic asset: a community of leaders who are fluent in both the language of innovation and the realities of city governance.

We believe that the best corporate citizen is an engaged one: a founder who lends their expertise to a local nonprofit board, a CTO who partners with city agencies to modernize services, a CEO who weighs in on policy to ensure growth is equitable and sustainable.

The potential of the Grid Fellowship is to create a training ground and a peer network that channels the impetus to help New York. The inaugural cohort of Grid Fellows will serve as trailblazers for what we believe will become a long-standing, city-shaping program. They will test, refine, and grow this model, ensuring that each year, more leaders step forward to serve the city.

As the program matures, so too will its impact. A growing alumni network will keep fellows tied to one another and to the city, creating an ever-stronger bridge between the tech and civic sectors. 

To learn more, please email gridfellowship@technyc.org.