Atlanta, GA BestFit, Inc. is excited to announce that it has been selected as a New Normal Fellow, a fellowship specifically designed for 4.0 Schools alumni working on COVID-19 relief projects in their communities.

The New Normal Wave is a virtual fellowship designed for recent graduates of 4.0 School’s Essentials and Tiny Fellowships, and alumni of our previous programming. All of the new fellows are focusing on projects supporting students, families and teachers as they re-enter into the Fall 2020 school year and adapt to the “new normal” that COVID-19 has created.

Fellows will receive $5,000 and coaching to run projects targeting youth, families or educators and responding to problems caused, or exacerbated, by the COVID-19 crisis. For this wave, funding is prioritized for three focus areas: Ideas focused on social emotional learning Ideas focused on trauma and healing support Ideas focused on supporting early childhood caregivers

Moreover, BestFit is thrilled to announce that the Fellowship includes a formal research partnership with the University of Delaware Center for Research in Education and Social Policy. This ensures that BestFit’s pilot design and data collection are rooted in sound research and evaluation methodologies.

BestFit intends to use the grant to execute a semester-long pilots with existing university partners, with the goal of connecting more vulnerable students to basic needs and social support services for the upcoming academic year

About BestFit, Inc.: BestFit is a web platform that connects students to the resources they need, when they need them, so they can focus on what matters‒graduating. We empower students to build their own support systems by connecting them to on-campus, community, philanthropic, and corporate resources. Based in Atlanta, the team's nationally-recognized work is funded by organizations like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Cox Enterprises Social Impact Accelerator powered by Techstars. To learn more, please visit https://www.best-fit.app.

About 4.0 Schools: 4.0 invests coaching, community, curriculum, and cash in promising leaders to test tomorrow’s learning models with students and families in their local communities. The nonprofit organization has made over 1,000 investments in founders with bold ideas and lived experiences grounded in the conditions they want to improve. 4.0’s fellows have been recognized by Camelback Ventures, Echoing Green, Forbes 30 under 30, and Teach For America’s Social Innovation Award. Their 1,000+ alumni have raised millions of dollars and impacted the lives of over a million students nationwide. 4.0 believes that all people are capable of sparking real change in their communities when they have access to resources to develop their ideas at the earliest stages.

Learn more about 4.0 and our fellowships at 4pt0.org | Read our 2019 yearbook.