If you have a question not answered below, we welcome the conversation. Reach the Digital Residency team at [email protected].
Established founders, operators, and senior leaders building across borders, in regulated industries, or in emerging markets. Fellows are past the earliest stage of building but not yet at institutional scale, and they are prepared to give as generously as they receive in a cross-border peer room.
Tuition is discussed in the admission conversation, not in the Seat Request stage. The Fellowship is a meaningful financial investment, comparable to established executive programs at the fellowship tier. Travel to in-person Convenings is the Fellow's responsibility. Founding Fellow scholarships are available for high-strategic-value Fellows from underserved and emerging-market contexts.
The Fellowship is deliberately curated. There is no numeric cap on the annual class; admission is determined by fit, quality, and strategic composition. We screen by fit, not by algorithm or revenue threshold. Every Seat Request is read personally by Dr. Da'Cruz.
You will receive an immediate confirmation that your Seat Request has been received. Full 2027 Inaugural Fellowship details, including admission decisions and next-step conversations, will be announced by early Fall 2026.
The Fellowship convenes monthly virtually (approximately two hours per session), quarterly one-to-one with the founder (approximately one hour per conversation), and in person across two or more cities per year (multi-day Convenings). Alumni membership continues after the primary Residency year.
A ten-year, ten-million-dollar institution-building commitment supporting the Fellowship, ongoing peer-reviewed research on cross-border entrepreneurship, and technology built to serve Fellows and the wider global community of leaders operating across borders.
Four pathways are available: Endorsement, Co-Programming, Fund Contribution, or Host Site Partnership. Each can be pursued independently or in combination. Initial conversations are exploratory and carry no expectation of commitment.
The Digital Residency operates under a hybrid institutional structure. Programmatic operations are held by an aligned 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor, enabling tax-deductible contributions from foundations and eligible donors. The Digital Diplomat LLC holds brand and intellectual property assets and continues commercial advisory work.
Yes. Founding partners may earmark contributions to any of the five Fund allocation categories: Technology Platform, Fellowship and Convenings, Research Program (TTT), Founding Fellow Scholarships, or Institutional Reserve. Multi-year commitments and matched-funding arrangements are welcome.
Founder of At the Desk Advisory. Appointed Speaker with the U.S. Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Speaker Program. Senior International Consultant to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. Lecturer in Entrepreneurship and Strategy at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Doctor of Business Administration from the University of Michigan-Flint, where her research introduced the Triangular Trade of Transactions (TTT) framework. Co-founder of the Virtual Global Consultant Group, LLC, an AI-driven digital practice helping people, companies, and organizations become virtually global. CEO of The Mushroom Angel Co., Inc., a Detroit-based food manufacturer recognized by the U.S. Department of Commerce as MBDA's Minority E-Commerce Firm of the Year.
Digital Diplomat™ is Dr. Da'Cruz's registered trademark and long-standing professional identity, reflecting over a decade of work bridging entrepreneurs, ideas, and digital platforms across borders. The Digital Residency is her institutional platform for compounding this work at scale, with and through Fellows across the world.
The Triangular Trade of Transactions (TTT) is Dr. Da'Cruz's doctoral research framework, examining how founders in regulated and emerging-market industries mobilize three interdependent resources (Talents, Terms, and Techniques) to navigate cross-border transactions. It is the intellectual anchor of the Fellowship. Learn more on the Tenets page.
We welcome the conversation. Reach us at
[email protected] or submit a Seat Request to begin the formal process.