[DCAD] Announcement: DCAD Fellowship Grants Awarded for IGF 2025

Sun Jun 8 15:09:24 PDT 2025

Congratulations everyone! Here's to a great fellowship! I hope I get to
make it to join you! All the best!!

On Sun, Jun 8, 2025, 3:21 PM Nicodemus Nyakundi via DCAD <
dcad at lists.igf-dcad.org> wrote:

> Warmest congratulations to the selected DCAD Fellows!
>
> As a proud alumnus of the program, I know firsthand what an extraordinary
> opportunity this is. You're about to embark on the most incredible journey
> to advocate for internet inclusion for persons with disabilities and truly
> make a difference in the world of digital inclusion. Wishing you all the
> very best for a phenomenal DCAD Fellowship experience for IGF 2025!
>
> My sincere gratitude goes out to the DCAD leadership for their continuous
> dedication to ensuring persons with disabilities are meaningfully included
> in the IGF.
>
> Best wishes,
> *Nicodemus Nyakundi*
> *Digital Rights and Accessibility*
> @*KICTANet* <https://www.kictanet.or.ke/>
>
>
> On Fri, Jun 6, 2025 at 10:45 PM Mustapha Abdulkadir via DCAD <
> dcad at lists.igf-dcad.org> wrote:
>
>>
>> ---
>>
>> **Subject:** Congratulations to the DCAD Fellows & Inquiry About
>> Membership
>>
>> Dear Dr. Shabbir and the DCAD Team,
>>
>> Congratulations to the selected fellows—Ngwa Jolenta Rose Afanwi, Sarah
>> Kekeli Akunor, Emmanuel Oruk, and Raynom Pitakaka—for this well-deserved
>> opportunity! Thank you also to the Fellowship Selection Committee, Google
>> LLC, and Vint Cerf for your tireless efforts and support in advancing
>> accessibility and inclusion in digital governance.
>>
>> I do have a question regarding DCAD membership. Despite being subscribed
>> to the mailing list for three months, I’ve been unable to locate my name in
>> the official member directory on the website. Could you kindly clarify the
>> steps to formalize community membership? Any guidance would be greatly
>> appreciated.
>>
>> Thank you for your time and continued work toward a more inclusive
>> internet.
>>
>> Best regards,
>> **Martins Nwanakwere**
>> Student Researcher
>> US Research Software Engineering Society
>>
>> ---
>>
>> ### Key improvements:
>> 1. **Structure**: Separated congratulatory remarks from the membership
>> inquiry for clarity.
>> 2. **Tone**: Kept it professional and courteous while being concise.
>> 3. **Specificity**: Explicitly named the fellows/contributors to show
>> attentiveness.
>> 4. **Actionable Ask**: Clearly stated the issue and requested next
>> steps.
>>
>> For Mustapha’s note: If you’d like to add a similar inquiry, replace the
>> signature and adjust the wording slightly (e.g., "I’m also unsure how to
>> confirm my membership status—could you advise?").
>>
>> On Fri, 6 Jun 2025, 8:28 pm Adebunmi Akinbo via DCAD, <
>> dcad at lists.igf-dcad.org> wrote:
>>
>>> Congratulations DCAD Fellows.
>>>
>>> On Fri, Jun 6, 2025, 6:57 PM Conrad Harris via DCAD <
>>> dcad at lists.igf-dcad.org> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Congratulations to the four selected Fellows.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> C. Harris.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 6/4/2025 11:37 PM, mshabbirawan--- via DCAD wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Dear DCAD Community,
>>>>
>>>> I am pleased to share that, following a rigorous and highly competitive
>>>> selection process, the *Dynamic Coalition on Accessibility and
>>>> Disability (DCAD)* has awarded *Fellowship Grants* to support the
>>>> participation of persons with disabilities at the upcoming *Internet
>>>> Governance Forum (IGF) 2025*, to be held in *Lillestrøm, Norway, from
>>>> June 23 to 27, 2025*.
>>>>
>>>> This year’s fellowships include both *in-person participants*, who
>>>> will receive support for travel, accommodation, and accessibility related
>>>> costs, and *remote participants*, who will be supported to ensure
>>>> effective and meaningful engagement in the IGF online. All fellows are
>>>> expected to attend DCAD sessions, complete the *Disability Leadership
>>>> in Internet Governance and Digital Rights* course offered by the
>>>> Internet Society, and share a written or multimedia reflection following
>>>> the event.
>>>>
>>>> We received a significant number of high-quality applications from
>>>> around the world for a limited number of fellowship slots. After thoughtful
>>>> and diligent evaluation, the following fellows have been selected:
>>>> *In-Person Fellows*
>>>>
>>>>    - Ngwa Jolenta Rose Afanwi
>>>>    - Sarah Kekeli Akunor
>>>>
>>>> *Remote Participation Fellows*
>>>>
>>>>    - Emmanuel Oruk
>>>>    - Raynom Pitakaka
>>>>
>>>> All the selected fellows have been contacted through separate emails.
>>>> The fellow selection was carried out by the *DCAD Fellowship Selection
>>>> Committee*, composed of:
>>>>
>>>>    - *Deirdre Williams*
>>>>    - *Cato Lie*
>>>>    - *Gunela Astbrink*
>>>>    - *Judith Hellerstein*
>>>>
>>>> We extend our heartfelt congratulations to the selected fellows and
>>>> express our deep appreciation to all applicants for their dedication and
>>>> continued advocacy for accessibility. A special thank you goes to our
>>>> Fellowship Selection Committee for their time, wisdom, and care in
>>>> reviewing the applications and making these difficult decisions.
>>>>
>>>> We are also deeply grateful to *Vint Cerf* and *Google LLC* for their
>>>> continued and generous support for DCAD’s mission and the 2025 Fellowship
>>>> Program. Their longstanding commitment has been instrumental in enabling
>>>> the meaningful participation of persons with disabilities in global digital
>>>> policy processes.
>>>>
>>>> We look forward to the impactful contributions our fellows will bring
>>>> to IGF 2025 and to advancing our shared goal of a more accessible and
>>>> inclusive Internet for all.
>>>>
>>>> With sincere thanks,
>>>> *Dr. Muhammad Shabbir*
>>>> Coordinator
>>>> IGF - Dynamic Coalition on Accessibility and Disability (DCAD)
>>>> Member, Global Leadership Council – IAAP
>>>> Twitter: https://twitter.com/MShabbirPhD/
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> DCAD mailing list
>>>> SEND MESSAGE - DCAD at lists.igf-dcad.org
>>>> SETTINGS - http://lists.igf-dcad.org/listinfo.cgi/dcad-igf-dcad.org
>>>> MEMBERS - https://igf-dcad.org/members/
>>>> WEBSITE -  https://igf-dcad.org/
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> DCAD mailing list
>>>> SEND MESSAGE - DCAD at lists.igf-dcad.org
>>>> SETTINGS - http://lists.igf-dcad.org/listinfo.cgi/dcad-igf-dcad.org
>>>> MEMBERS - https://igf-dcad.org/members/
>>>> WEBSITE -  https://igf-dcad.org/
>>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> DCAD mailing list
>>> SEND MESSAGE - DCAD at lists.igf-dcad.org
>>> SETTINGS - http://lists.igf-dcad.org/listinfo.cgi/dcad-igf-dcad.org
>>> MEMBERS - https://igf-dcad.org/members/
>>> WEBSITE -  https://igf-dcad.org/
>>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> DCAD mailing list
>> SEND MESSAGE - DCAD at lists.igf-dcad.org
>> SETTINGS - http://lists.igf-dcad.org/listinfo.cgi/dcad-igf-dcad.org
>> MEMBERS - https://igf-dcad.org/members/
>> WEBSITE -  https://igf-dcad.org/
>>
> _______________________________________________
> DCAD mailing list
> SEND MESSAGE - DCAD at lists.igf-dcad.org
> SETTINGS - http://lists.igf-dcad.org/listinfo.cgi/dcad-igf-dcad.org
> MEMBERS - https://igf-dcad.org/members/
> WEBSITE -  https://igf-dcad.org/
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.igf-dcad.org/pipermail/dcad-igf-dcad.org/attachments/20250608/72690bd1/attachment.htm>