Relational Technology Fellow (Service Year Position)

Thread•Baltimore, MD

About The Position

Thread is seeking three individuals for a new Service Year cohort focused on Relational Technology. This role involves using AI tools to design and build simple apps that strengthen relationships and address needs within Baltimore communities. Fellows will learn a hands-on, learning-by-doing process over 9-10 months, which includes identifying community problems, building apps with AI and no-code tools, gathering user feedback, and iterating on the designs. The program follows a structured Development Cycle: community engagement for ideas, building, reflection, and sharing. Fellows will initially practice within Thread before applying the cycle with a community partner. No prior technical experience is necessary; the emphasis is on curiosity, follow-through, and community interest.

Requirements

No prior coding or software development experience required — you'll learn AI-powered and no-code tools on the job.
Genuine curiosity about AI tools and a willingness to learn new platforms.
Comfort, or a willingness to build comfort, talking with community members to understand their needs.
Strong communication and active-listening skills.
Comfort with ambiguity and iteration — willing to define your own problems to solve.
A genuine interest in community-building, youth development, or civic technology.
Maryland resident, age 18+, and meets MC/SYO eligibility requirements (Service Year Option track: ages 18-24 with a high school diploma or equivalent; Maryland Corps track: any eligible adult 18+, no education requirement).
Able to commit to full-time service (30-40 hrs/week, generally Monday-Friday during business hours) for the full 9-10 month term, along with required MC/SYO professional development training.

Responsibilities

Authentically engage in relationships with colleagues, community members, and mentors, modeling and practicing the Thread Core Competencies: (a) Show all the way up; (b) Fail forward; (c) Treat relationships as wealth; and (d) Learn from all voices.
Share your own journey of personal and professional growth with the young people, volunteers, and staff you work alongside.
Demonstrate the willingness and resilience to engage in an agile and flexible way as projects and priorities shift.
Acknowledge that each person and community you work with brings a unique vantage point, and approach every conversation as a chance to learn.
Learn and practice the Development Cycle: get into the community and collect ideas, build the ideas, reflect on the process, and share out to collect feedback.
Identify a specific, observable, local community problem — something concrete enough that a simple app could make a measurable difference.
Learn to write clear, effective prompts as the foundation for building high-quality apps with AI and no-code tools.
Practice structured reflection throughout the process, capturing thoughts, ideas, and concerns as you go.
Bring early app ideas into Thread spaces to share work-in-progress and collect real input from young people, volunteers, and staff.
Start with guidance and support from Thread staff, gradually taking more ownership of the process as skills and confidence grow.
Share in-progress apps with real community members and gather specific, actionable feedback.
Revise and improve your app based on that feedback, helping the community see their input reflected in a real product.
Once comfortable with the Development Cycle, partner with a community organization aligned with your interests to understand their needs firsthand.
Apply the Development Cycle to build a tool that supports that partner's real community work — meeting people where they live and work.
Participate in an intensive development week working alongside Thread's Data Team and the Relational Technology Project (RTP) team, stress-testing the Development Cycle by attempting to replicate a core feature of the Thread app in a week-long hackathon.
Document your work throughout the term and produce a final portfolio: the problem you solved, how you approached it, and what you learned about using AI as a tool.
Present your portfolio, potentially alongside other cohorts exploring how AI can foster relationships and build community.