The future of platform labor should be built by workers.

Co-op Fellows Program

Are you ready to be part of the alternative to platform monopolies?

As a Co-op Fellow, you will use your experience as a gig worker and a software engineer to build the next generation of worker-owned labor platforms.

About the Fellows Network

The Co-op Fellows Network offers a platform for software engineers with gig labor experience to join the cooperative movement and contribute to building a worker-owned economy. Co-op Fellows commit to a twelve-week residency in engineering with The Drivers Cooperative.

Through this twelve-week program, Co-op Fellows will be completely immersed in the operations of one of the world’s fastest-growing worker-owned cooperatives. Co-op Fellows will build products that will immediately be used by thousands of professional drivers and many more of the cooperative’s customers. Co-op Fellows will explore ways to use the latest technologies to build and expand the cooperative’s business.

As a Co-op Fellow you will:

  • Apply problem solving skills to challenges faced by the cooperative

  • Interface directly with co-op members of all kinds, including drivers, operations specialists, and other staff members

  • Learn to build with best-in-class new technologies and patterns

  • Ship products and improvements to co-op members and customers

Who should apply to be a Co-op Fellow?

We are looking for software developers early in their careers who have graduated from engineering programs or coding schools. We are interested in candidates who have worked in rideshare, food delivery, or on other gig labor platforms. 

Successful candidates bring:

  • A commitment to the cooperative movement and empowering workers through technology

  • An understanding of the gig labor economy gained through personal experience

  • Strong interest in technology and experience with modern software tooling

  • A successful track record in educational programs

  • Humility and groundedness about the role of technology in social change. We build technology to solve our members’ problems, not for its own sake.

Structure of the program

Each Co-op Fellowship will be unique but share in this general structure:

  • Week 1: Orientation

  • Weeks 2-4: Starter project, defined by the Co-op Fellowship Coordinator

  • Weeks 5-6: Capstone Project definition, in collaboration with the Co-op Fellowship Coordinator

  • Weeks 7-12: Build the Capstone Project

  • Week 12: Presentation of the Capstone Project at a special all-hands meeting of staff, drivers, investors, and wider co-op community

Co-op Fellows will report directly to the Co-op Fellowship Coordinator and work in close collaboration with them on a daily basis.

Location & Compensation

The Co-op Fellowship program is offered in person in San Francisco and New York City. Remote opportunities are also considered. The program offers a stipend of $12,000 paid bi-weekly over 12 weeks.

About The Drivers Cooperative

We are a driver-owned ridehailing cooperative in New York City. Drivers make more on each trip, all profits go back to drivers, and drivers have democratic control over the decisions that affect their lives.

Our mission is to end exploitative conditions in the for-hire vehicle industry through system change–putting drivers in the driver’s seat of the platform economy.

Application & Timeline

The Drivers Cooperative is now accepting applications for the Co-op Fellows program.

  • September 1: Applications close

  • September 2-14: Interviews scheduled

  • September 15: First-round offers extended

  • September 23: Subsequent offers extended

  • October 15: First week of program

Interested? Apply here.