the gem fellowship

From guest author, Mike Perham (@mperham), creator and maintainer of Sidekiq.

I’m happy to announce the Gem Fellowship, a grant partnership with gem.coop, the new open source cooperative in the Ruby community. Contributed Systems, my company behind Sidekiq Pro and Sidekiq Enterprise, is committing to provide $100,000 in grants for each of the next three years. These grants are meant to provide funding to the altruistic people who maintain and improve the open source tools freely available to the Ruby community.

Quick Details

• These awards are meant for existing projects, this is not meant as seed funding for the creation of new projects.
• People can apply during the month of December 2025.
• Decisions and notifications will follow in January 2026.
• Applications will be reviewed by four active members of gem.coop plus @mperham.
• Grants will be awarded in increments of $2,500.
• The maximum award for a single project is $25,000.
• A minimum of 5 different projects will be funded.

FAQ

Q. What are grant winners required to do?
A. Your grant proposal in December should have a description of the work you’d like to perform and a requested grant amount. The award committee will reach out if your proposal is accepted. You do the work. You then email a final work summary with payment details once the work is substantially complete; we will verify your work and pay out the agreed stipend within one month.

Q. Can other companies add additional funds to increase the size or number of Fellowships?
A. Yes! Gem.coop wants to represent the broader open source Ruby community, and we would love to increase the impact of this program with support from your company.

Q. Can a project publicly blog or link back to their Gem Fellowship?
A. Yes! We will publish a page annually with the list of winning projects which you can link in your README, for example.

Q. Can I apply if I don’t own the project I want to work on?
A. You should clearly document that the project is interested in mentoring you or accepting your completed work. Like any open source contribution, it’s best if you open an issue and discuss it with the team.

Q. Can I apply if I am an individual?
A. These fellowships are intended for individuals, so yes!

Q. Can I apply if I live outside the United States?
A. Yes, but we need to be able to pay you somehow. If your proposal is accepted, we’ll be in touch regarding payment. If there are payment concerns, please note any issues in your proposal.