The Yard Fellowship · Cohort 1

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25 fellows. 5% acceptance. CCA-F certified. Leave your details and we'll send you the fellowship brochure — then unlock the AI challenge.

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Applications opening soon · Nairobi, Kenya

An AI
fellowship
for Africa.

12 months. Full-time. In-person. Early-career Kenyans trained to use AI, placed in nonprofits, startups and government agencies — and paid a living wage to do it. Powered by Claude, accessed via M-Pesa.

Join the waitlist How it works
50–100
Fellows · Cohort 1
12
Months · full-time
KSh120K
Stipend · Phase 2
∞
Claude token budget
Powered by CLAUDE · AWS BEDROCK

Every fellow receives an expansive Claude token budget, accessible via M-Pesa — no USD card required. The Yard's API gateway is purpose-built for the African context.

The problem we're solving

AI is changing everything.
Africa can't access it.

Every major AI API requires a USD credit card. Claude, Gemini, GPT — none of them accept M-Pesa. Kenya has 50,000 active developers and 200,000 graduates entering the job market every year, with a 33% youth unemployment rate. The tools that could transform their careers are locked behind a billing system that excludes them.

The gap
No AI access
Most Kenyan developers, nonprofits and job seekers cannot access frontier AI tools. The Yard Fellowship fixes this — fellows get an expansive Claude token budget, M-Pesa topped, from Day 1.
The waste
Skills going unused
Kenya's nonprofits and NGOs are sitting on data, problems and potential they cannot unlock without technical capacity. Fellows bridge that gap — in-person, full-time, for a year.
The model
Proven elsewhere
This model works. Anthropic's Claude Corps programme in the US has committed $150M to exactly this approach — proof that AI fellowships at scale deliver. The Yard Fellowship is building an African equivalent now — before anyone else does.
Fellows working at The Yard
The Yard · Mombasa Road · where fellows work

The fellowship

How it works.

Week 1–4
Phase 1 — The Forge
3 months, full-time at The Yard. One goal: pass the CCA-F exam. Every session in the Code & Build Lab. Every project mapped to an exam domain. Ship Night every Friday. At week 12 — you sit the exam.
Month 2
Phase 2 — The Placement
9 months at a host organisation. Host orgs apply to The Yard and are approved. Fellows choose from the approved list — both sides must match. You arrive as a CCA-F certified architect. The host org pays your stipend.
Months 2–12
Fridays back at The Yard
Every Friday during Phase 2, the cohort returns to The Yard. Share what you built that week. Debug together. Learn from each other. Ship Night is where the community stays alive across 9 months of placement.
Month 12
Graduation + portfolio
Fellows graduate with a verified AI skills portfolio, a year of real-world impact, and a career that is ready for the AI economy. Host organisations have tools and systems that outlast the fellowship.

Fellow benefits

What you get.

Compensation
KSh 120,000 / month
A full living wage in Nairobi for 12 months. Paid monthly via M-Pesa. No unpaid internships here.
AI access
Expansive Claude token budget
Claude via AWS Bedrock, topped up in KSh via M-Pesa. No USD card. No billing barrier. The same tools as any developer in San Francisco.
Training
5 hrs/week structured learning
Ongoing AI curriculum. Hands-on, practical, Claude-first. Not a course — a career transformation.
Workspace
The Yard — 24hrs
Full access to The Yard's open floor, Code & Build Lab, GPU rigs and The Vault. The best workspace in Nairobi.
Community
Ship Nights + cohort network
Weekly demo nights. A cohort of 50–100 peers building in the same space. The network that lasts beyond the fellowship.
Impact
Real work, real missions
You are not a side project. Host organisations depend on you. Your work matters from Week 1.

For organisations

Host a fellow.

Host organisations receive a trained, Claude-powered fellow embedded in their team for 12 months — at no cost. The fellowship pays the stipend. You provide the mission.

Who can host
NGOs & nonprofits
Any registered Kenyan nonprofit with a real mission and a manager who will invest in the fellow's growth.
Who can host
Tech startups
Early-stage Nairobi startups that need technical AI capacity but cannot yet hire full-time.
Who can host
Government agencies
County governments, national agencies and public institutions ready to embed AI in their services.
Register as a host org
The Yard open 24 hours
The Yard · open 24 hours · the fellowship home base

Built on global best practice

What makes a
great fellowship.

The Yard Fellowship is built on the structural DNA of the world's best AI training programmes — Faculty AI in London, Insight Data Science in San Francisco, Recurse Center in New York. Five elements separate the good from the ones people talk about for the rest of their careers.

01 — Public outputs
Every fellow publishes
Every Yard Fellow must publish one public case study of the Claude system they built at their host organisation. Twelve case studies from Cohort 1 become the most powerful proof of concept in East Africa for what AI can do in nonprofits. Your work doesn't disappear into a hard drive — it lives on the internet with your name on it.
02 — Alumni network
The network lasts forever
The Yard Alumni Network launches with Cohort 1 — a WhatsApp and Slack community that never closes. Job postings, gig opportunities, collaboration, wins. Insight Data Science's 1,000 alumni work at Apple, Netflix, LinkedIn and Facebook. The Yard Alumni Network will be the most concentrated pool of Claude-certified AI talent in East Africa.
03 — Employment promise
80% placed in 90 days
We commit to a measurable outcome: 80% of Yard Fellows employed in AI roles within 90 days of graduation. The CCA-F credential, a year of production deployment experience, and a published case study make this achievable. We track it publicly. We publish the number every cohort.
04 — Selectivity
Acceptance is the credential
The best programmes make acceptance itself a signal of quality. We will publish our acceptance rate from Cohort 1 onwards. Being selected for The Yard Fellowship — before you've even started — is something you put on your LinkedIn. We are building something people compete to join, not something people settle for.
05 — Alumni compute access
The GPU rigs don't disappear after graduation
Yard Fellows retain discounted access to the Code & Build Lab — GPU rigs, AI workstations, and Claude tokens — after their fellowship ends. Alumni rate: KSh 4,000/month. This is how we keep the talent in Nairobi instead of watching it leave for London or San Francisco.
KSh 4K
Alumni lab rate / month

Before you apply

Start learning
today.

Every Yard Fellowship applicant must complete two Anthropic Academy courses before the AI Challenge. Both are completely free — no credit card, no subscription, email only. Start now and be ahead of the queue when applications open.

The full catalogue has 13+ courses. We recommend completing all of them during Phase 1 — they map directly to the CCA-F exam domains. But start with these two.

Required for application

Complete both before submitting the AI Challenge

Course 1 of 2 · ~1 hour · Certificate
AI Fluency: Framework & Foundations
Not about any specific tool. Builds a mental model for how AI works, what it can and can't do, and how to think about it strategically. The clearest on-ramp for non-technical applicants.
Beginner ~1 hour Free certificate
Start course →
Course 2 of 2 · ~1 hour · Certificate
Claude 101
Core features, practical workflows, and best practices for using Claude in real work — not toy demos. If you have never explored Claude seriously, start here after AI Fluency.
Beginner ~1 hour Free certificate
Start course →

The full Anthropic Academy catalogue

All free · All on anthropic.skilljar.com · 18–22 hours total

● Beginner
AI Fluency: Framework & Foundations
How AI works · mental model · strategy · ~1hr
Claude 101
Core features · workflows · best practices · ~1hr
AI Capabilities and Limitations
How LLMs work · real limits · boundaries · ~1hr
Introduction to Claude Cowork
Agentic desktop agent · non-technical · ~1hr
◆ Intermediate
Building with the Claude API
API fundamentals · RAG · agentic · 8+ hrs
Introduction to Agent Skills
Build agentic workflows · configure agents · ~2hr
Introduction to MCP
Connect Claude to external data · APIs · ~2hr
Introduction to Subagents
Delegate to sub-agents · reduce noise · ~1hr
▲ Advanced
Claude Code 101
Agentic coding · Explore-Plan-Code · requires API key
Claude Code in Action
Production use · real codebase · ~3hr
Claude with Google Cloud Vertex AI
Deploy via Google Cloud · enterprise · ~2hr
Teaching AI Fluency
For educators and trainers · team rollout
Ready to apply after the courses?
Complete AI Fluency and Claude 101, download your certificates, then come back for the AI Challenge. 25 places. 5% acceptance. Africa-wide.
Join the waitlist → Take the AI Challenge →

Graduation requirement

Graduate with a
global credential.

Every Yard Fellow must pass the Claude Certified Architect — Foundations (CCA-F) exam from Anthropic Partner Academy. This is not optional — it is a graduation requirement. 10,000+ professionals globally have earned it since March 2026. A Yard Fellow who passes is credentialed for the global AI economy.

CCA-F CREDENTIAL Issued by Anthropic Academy
Full name
Claude Certified Architect — Foundations
Format
60 questions · 120 minutes · proctored · 5 domains
Domains tested
Agent architecture · MCP integration
Claude Code · Prompt engineering · Reliability
Recognised by
Accenture · Deloitte · KPMG
Cognizant · PwC · Infosys

The 12-month curriculum path

1
Weeks 1–8
Foundations
Claude API, prompt engineering, reliability patterns. Complete all Anthropic Academy 200-level courses.
2
Weeks 9–16
Integration
MCP servers, tool use, agentic systems, Claude Code. Deploy first production tool at host org.
3
Weeks 17–32
Architecture
Multi-agent systems, production deployment, capstone project live at host org. Presented at Ship Night.
4
Weeks 33–36
Certification
Two full mock exams, domain drills, scenario practice — then sit the real CCA-F exam.

What the CCA-F opens for you

Global jobs
International hiring
Accenture, Deloitte, KPMG and Cognizant are all hiring CCA-F certified architects. A Nairobi fellow can apply globally.
Kenyan market
Only certified architects in Kenya
Every company deploying AI in Nairobi will want to hire you — or hire The Yard to train their team.
Career signal
Verifiable, not just claimed
This is a proctored exam — not a course completion badge. It proves you can architect real AI systems in production.

How to get in

Under 10%
are selected.

We are Africa-wide, skills-based, and open to anyone regardless of degree, background or experience. What we select for is curiosity, drive and demonstrated potential. The process is rigorous because the credential has to mean something.

Geography
All of Africa
Africa-wide from day one. No country excluded.
Experience
No limit
Career changers, fresh graduates, self-taught builders — all welcome.
Education
No degree required
Skills-based entry. A GitHub repo beats a certificate every time.

The 4-stage process

1
Rolling · 48hr review
Application
150 words on your background. 200 words on why AI. One thing you've built. Blind review — names and photos removed before scoring.
FREE for Cohort 1
2
7 days · take-home
Build challenge
Use the Claude API (access provided free) to build something real for a Kenyan nonprofit. Not judged on polish — judged on whether you actually built something and learned from it.
3
30 min · video call
Interview
No trick questions. No whiteboard coding. Walk us through what you built, tell us how you think, ask us hard questions. We assess curiosity by what you ask.
4
2 days · Nairobi
Cohort weekend
Finalists come to The Yard. Build something together. Meet host orgs. Offers made. Travel and accommodation covered for non-Nairobi finalists.

Diversity targets — hard, not aspirational

50%
Women
60%
Under 30
5%+
Disability
30%
Outside Nairobi
20%
Career changers

How to get in

Under 10%
are selected.

Africa-wide. No degree. No experience limit. We select on five globally recognised AI fellowship criteria — AI comfort, learning speed, communication, self-direction, societal impact — plus three Yard additions: curiosity, African context, and build evidence. The process is rigorous because the credential has to mean something.

Geography
All of Africa
Africa-wide from day one. No country excluded.
Experience
No limit
Career changers, fresh graduates, self-taught builders welcome.
Education
No degree required
Skills-based. A GitHub repo beats a certificate every time.

The 4-stage process

Matched to Claude Corps best practice · Anthropic-inspired

1
Rolling · open year-round
Application
Short form + complete two free Anthropic courses (AI Fluency + Claude 101) + two short-answer questions. Blind review. Names removed before scoring.
FREE for Cohort 1
2
7 days · take-home
Assessment
A practical skills-based challenge using Claude (access provided free). Judged on judgment and approach — not technical polish.
3
25 min · video call
Conversation
A 25-minute conversation with our team. Walk us through your assessment. Tell us how you think. We assess curiosity by what you ask us.
4
Super Day · Nairobi
Final round
Two 1:1 interviews at The Yard. Meet host orgs. Offers made same day. Travel covered for non-Nairobi finalists.

Diversity targets — hard, not aspirational

50%
Women
60%
Under 30
5%+
Disability
30%
Outside Nairobi
20%
Career changers

After the fellowship

Fellows become
founders.

The best Yard graduates can apply to the Yard Incubation Lab — 10 dedicated desks for 5–10 startups building Claude-powered solutions to the problems they encountered during their placement. Fellowship graduates only. Two rules: Claude must be central. Impact must be measurable.

Stage 1
Apply
5% acceptance Africa-wide
Stage 2
The Forge
3 months CCA-F at The Yard
Stage 3
Placement
9 months at host org
Stage 4
Graduate
CCA-F + case study + network
Stage 5
Incubation Lab
Build a Claude-powered company
Stage 6
Founder
Revenue · investment · exit
Rule 1
Fellowship graduates only
There is no other path in. Not money. Not connections. Not a great pitch deck. The only credential that opens this door is completing the Yard Fellowship. You earn your desk by doing the work.
Rule 2
Claude is central. Impact is measurable.
For-profit, nonprofit, social enterprise — all welcome. The only gates: Claude must be core to the product, and there must be a real-world impact metric attached to it. This is not a general incubator.

Mission areas — what incubatees build

Workforce
Job matching for informal workers
AI-powered placement and skills assessment via WhatsApp + Claude
Food security
Crop disease detection
Mobile camera + Claude for smallholder farmers · advisory in Swahili
Public health
Community health worker AI
CHW support tool · TB/malaria screening · medication adherence
Education
Adaptive learning tool
Low-connectivity classrooms · teacher planning · local language support
Financial inclusion
Credit scoring for the unbanked
Alternative credit · M-Pesa-native · savings coaching via SMS + Claude
Legal access
Plain-language legal aid
Land dispute advisory · tenant rights chatbot in Swahili · justice access
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Fellowship Waitlist · Cohort A

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waitlist.

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First cohort size
50–100 fellows
Stipend
KSh 120,000 / mo
Duration
12 months
Location
The Yard · Mombasa Rd · Nairobi
AI access
Claude · M-Pesa topped
Who can apply
Any Kenyan · under 2 yrs exp · any background
⚡ Join Fellowship Waitlist