New Industry Partners Join MLH Fellowship

Adobe and American Express have signed on as partners for the Summer 2021 session of the MLH Fellowship, powered by GitHub. They join Facebook, Dev.to, and AWS in supporting the program, which pairs student developers with open source projects under the guidance of experienced engineers.

What Fellows Gain

The Fellowship launched in Summer 2020 as a response to pandemic-driven internship cancellations. In the months since, it has helped hundreds of students build confidence and practical skills. Program organizers highlight three core outcomes from participant data:

  • Hands-on experience with real-world tools: 93% of fellows said the program made them more confident contributing to open source, and 72% rated it better than other internships they'd held.
  • Measurable impact on software projects: 76% of maintainers said their open source projects were in better shape after working with MLH fellows.
  • Career traction: Among eligible fellows interested in jobs at one partner company, more than 20% received offers from that company.

The program also gives students practice with remote and global collaboration—skills that remain relevant even as COVID-era restrictions ease. Enrollment is open now for the Summer 2021 cohort, while the Spring 2021 session is currently in progress.

Why Partners Are On Board

For sponsors, the appeal centers on engaging emerging developers and strengthening the open source ecosystem. American Express CIO Marc Gordon stressed the company's commitment to diversity in engineering: "We are committed to ensuring that software engineering students from a variety of diverse backgrounds are able to reach their full potential."

Adobe's Ash Ryan Arnwine, Sr. Manager of Developer Experience & Evangelism for Creative Cloud, pointed to the company's developer platform and its interest in early-career engagement: "We can't wait to help the fellows get some commits in and bring new ideas to life."

Facebook's Head of Open Source, Kathy Kam, described the Fellowship as an evolution of the company's broader open source investment: "What started as a targeted initiative to address the global need for tech internships last summer has quickly become one of the most exciting and impactful partnerships that Facebook Open Source is currently investing in."

Companies interested in participating can find more information on the MLH Fellowship partner page.