Applying for LinkedIn Ad Grants for Humanitarians AI

Applying for a grant program you don't fully understand yet is a familiar position for anyone running a nonprofit, and this walkthrough captures that honestly: Professor Bear works through a LinkedIn ad grants application in real time, uncertain about exactly how the ad credits work but confident about why the underlying mission fits what LinkedIn says it wants to support.

What the application actually asks for

The LinkedIn ad grants process, at least as encountered here, turns out to be a simple form rather than an elaborate proposal process. Applicants are asked for basic information, an email, a name, and importantly, a LinkedIn company page ID, and then LinkedIn reviews applications periodically and notifies applicants of a decision. Beyond that basic information, LinkedIn is described as being interested in essentially three things, with an emphasis on diversity and workforce development, which lines up closely with what Humanitarians AI already does.

The fellows program as a bridge

At the center of the application is the Humanitarians AI fellows program, described as a bridge program that supports people, many of them first-generation college students, in the gap between graduating and landing that first real job. The problem this addresses is a familiar one at many US universities: institutions take significant tuition, sometimes eighty to a hundred thousand dollars, and effectively step back once a student graduates, only reconnecting once that student has a stable job and disposable income to give back. In that gap, graduates, especially international students, are largely on their own.

Why volunteer work is the mechanism

The fellows program addresses that gap primarily through volunteer work, which matters for a specific practical reason: it allows participants, particularly international students, to legally continue working and developing their skills while they search for a permanent role. Unlike most volunteer opportunities elsewhere, which typically ask for something like a six-month commitment and then end, this program's stated goal is to keep supporting and upskilling participants for as long as it takes until they land a strong job, not to cap support at an arbitrary time limit.

Learning by doing

While participants volunteer, they build real AI projects rather than working through abstract exercises, and Professor Bear notes that people frequently report learning more through this hands-on volunteer work than they did across two years in a master's program. That claim is central to the program's pitch: it isn't classroom instruction about AI, it's building real things, which is framed as a more effective way to develop genuine AI fluency than conventional coursework.

Why this fits LinkedIn specifically

The reasoning for why this program should appeal to LinkedIn in particular comes down to alignment of mission: LinkedIn's whole purpose centers on people finding jobs, and Humanitarians AI's fellows program is built around exactly that same goal, helping recent graduates and career changers get into stable employment. The program also serves a second, related population: mid-career professionals who need to build AI fluency quickly. That need is described as urgent and no longer optional, since AI fluency tests are already becoming a standard part of job interviews, and candidates who lack that fluency often see their interview end quickly regardless of how polite the process looks on the surface.

A commitment to diversity

Diversity is described as a defining characteristic of the community the program serves, with roughly 98% of participants coming from backgrounds most people would consider underrepresented, including many first-generation college students whose parents never attended college. That combination, a bridge program built on volunteer work, a focus on rapid AI upskilling, and a strongly diverse participant base, is presented as a natural match for LinkedIn's own stated priorities around career development and diversity.

Key takeaways

• The LinkedIn ad grants application process is a simple form requiring basic contact information and a LinkedIn company page ID, reviewed periodically by LinkedIn.
• The Humanitarians AI fellows program is a bridge program supporting graduates, especially first-generation and international students, between graduation and their first stable job.
• Volunteer work is the core mechanism because it lets international students legally continue working and building skills while job searching, with no fixed time limit on support.
• Participants report learning more through hands-on project work in the program than in some formal graduate programs.
• Roughly 98% of the program's community comes from underrepresented backgrounds, aligning with LinkedIn's stated focus on diversity and career development.

Who this is for

This video is aimed at anyone curious about how a nonprofit approaches applying for platform ad grant programs, as well as prospective fellows or supporters interested in the Humanitarians AI fellows program itself, which serves both recent graduates seeking their first tech role and mid-career professionals building AI fluency.