India’s First Fellowship Program for Inclusive Product Management


The Inclusive Product Management Fellowship is a specialized program designed to equip product managers and designers with the skills and knowledge necessary to create products that are accessible and valuable to a diverse range of users. It emphasizes professional growth and learning in the realm of inclusive product design. The fellowship does not offer a stipend, underscoring its focus on the long-term career benefits of participating, such as acquiring invaluable knowledge, networking opportunities, and experience in the field of inclusive design. The aim is to foster a generation of product leaders who can integrate inclusivity into the core of their product development processes, thereby addressing the needs and preferences of underserved users.

The Fellowship is primarily based in Bangalore, known for its vibrant innovation and technology scene. It uniquely blends virtual activities with in-person sessions to foster deeper connections among participants and facilitate hands-on learning experiences. Spanning five months, the program is thoughtfully structured to balance in-depth learning with practical application, requiring approximately 60 hours of commitment. This part-time structure is designed to accommodate professionals who are balancing other obligations, allowing them to immerse fully in the program without compromising their current roles.

The Fellowship’s training program covers a wide array of topics, including the foundational principles of inclusive design, user research methodologies with marginalized communities, prototyping for inclusivity, and strategies for scaling inclusive products. It is highly interactive, combining expert-led sessions with practical workshops and collaborative projects. Fellows are expected to engage actively in discussions, participate in hands-on projects, and collaborate with peers, ensuring a dynamic and comprehensive learning experience. Direct interaction with marginalized user groups is a critical component, offering real-world insights and fostering empathy-driven design perspectives.

Direct engagement with users from marginalized communities is a cornerstone of the Fellowship. It facilitates these interactions to provide fellows with a firsthand understanding of the challenges and barriers these users face. This approach ensures that the solutions developed by fellows are grounded in real user needs and are designed to be genuinely accessible and inclusive. Through such engagements, fellows gain valuable insights that inform the development of products that truly meet the needs of underserved populations.

The Fellowship is underpinned by the principles of inclusivity and a focus on serving underserved users. “Underserved users” refer to individuals or communities that have historically been overlooked or inadequately served by technology, including people with disabilities, those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and individuals in remote areas. “Inclusion” in product design means creating products that are accessible, usable, and valuable to as wide a range of people as possible, actively considering the diversity of user needs. This approach ensures that technology advancements benefit everyone, especially those who have been marginalized or excluded in the past.

The Fellowship provides extensive support and resources for fellows to develop and implement inclusive projects. This includes mentorship from industry experts, access to a global network of professionals, and resources for prototyping and user testing. Additionally, fellows receive guidance on market intelligence and business case development to ensure that their projects are not only impactful in terms of inclusivity but also commercially viable. This comprehensive support framework is designed to enable fellows to bring innovative, inclusive products to market, thereby making a significant social impact.

The Inclusive Product Management Fellowship is a structured product development program designed not merely as a training initiative but as an incubator for creating inclusive features in tech products. It equips Product Managers with the skills to think critically about inclusivity, and also provides prototyping support, user research sessions, access to a panel of experts and users with underrepresented backgrounds. All of this, thus, adds significant business value to participating organizations. The inaugural cohort of the Fellowship program is priced at a highly subsidized INR 100,000 per Fellow or INR 200,000 per participating organization (two Fellows). This goes towards supporting the comprehensive suite of resources, expert mentorship, and prototyping support provided, ensuring participants can make tangible progress in their inclusivity goals within the program’s timeframe. We are also offering complete and partial scholarships, particularly for companies & Fellows working on products that promise deep social impact at scale. This flexibility ensures that the Fellowship is accessible to a wide array of organizations committed to enhancing inclusivity in their products and services. For those interested in exploring exemption options, detailed instructions are provided within the application process, facilitating a straightforward approach to apply.

There are four key dates for the Fellowship:

• Application deadline: The Fellowship applications are due 9pm India time on the 26th of April 2024
• Cohort selection announcement: Selected Fellows and companies will be informed on the 6th of May 2024
• Commencement: Fellowship activity will start on the 20th of May 2024
• Conclusion: The Fellowship will conclude in the second half of October 2024 with demo-day

The application process is explained in detail on the “Fellowship Details” page on the website. It involves filling an application form thoughtfully and also getting senior management buy-in from the participating companies.