Kairos Fellowship

Activities

Although not formally founded until 2021, the Kairos Fellowship claims to have begun initial operations in 2016 following the growth of the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement as well as the death of Michael Brown earlier in 2014. The foundation advocates for digital activists to use technology and media to promote left-of-center policies. Applicants are given opportunities to win fellowships which include job training in its fellowship program as well as a assisting with earning a position with digital activism following graduation. Overall, Kairos claims to have held four cohorts and graduated 43 participants. ³ Applicants must be African-American or “must possess deep ties to communities of color, a passion for social justice, a commitment to disrupting anti-blackness, trans-phobia, and structural violence in all forms” to be considered for the fellowship. ⁴

Some of the groups with which Kairos Fellowship has partnered include Daily Kos, MoveOn.org, 18MillionRising, SumOfUs, OUR Walmart, the Sierra Club, Fight for the Future, Win Without War, Democracy for America, BYP100, and MPower Change. ⁴

After the death of George Floyd in 2020 , Kairos launched its Tech Is Not Neutral campaign, which urged tech companies to end partnerships with local police departments. Kairos also began running digital user-centered campaigns, such as its “Facebook Log Out campaign,” when more than 55,000 people took the pledge to log out of Facebook and Instagram to protest the platforms’ alleged lack of algorithm transparency. ^{3  5}

The Kairos Fellowship website maintains a list of its media hits and articles which have cited its employees. These include articles and op-eds discussing topics such as increased abortion protections, criticism of Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s purchasing of Twitter (later rebranded as X) in 2022, and support for both Black Lives Matter (BLM) and the Movement for Black Lives (MBL). ⁶

The Kairos Fellowship also has a sister organization, Kairos Action. Kairos Action is the 501(c)(4) political action arm of the group that advocates for left-of-center technology policies. ⁷

Leadership

Jacqueline Brooks is the Executive Director of the Kairos Fellowship. She began working at Kairos as a program associate in 2019 and became the executive director in January 2025. Before joining Kairos, Brooks was a communications coordinator at iMatter Youth and a communications and operations coordinator at the Women’s Congress for Future Generations. Brooks received her bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Grinnell College in 2015. ⁸

Finances

In 2023, the Kairos Fellowship reported $5,191,018 in total revenue, $1,595,791 in total expenses, and $4,252,531 in total assets. ⁹ In 2022, Kairos reported only $475,000 in total revenue, $0 in total expenses, and $475,000 in total assets. ¹⁰

The Kairos Fellowship previously received funding from the Ford Foundation, including a $1 million grant in 2022 and a $400,000 grant in 2024. ^{11  12} In 2022, the Tides Foundation issued a $250,000 grant to Kairos. ¹³ In 2023, NEO Philanthropy issued a $37,500 grant to Kairos. ¹⁴ In 2023, the MacArthur Foundation issued two grants to Kairos totaling $684,000. ¹⁵

In 2023, Kairos Action reported $612,283 in total revenue, $137,776 in total expenses, and $1,090,753 in total assets. ¹⁶