A Community Response to COVID-19

Our community has mobilized for rapid response, and many of us are working to expand and extend programs and services to those who need it most. Learn how you can support our community right now.

Support our response efforts

Our Fellows are addressing the challenges brought on by this global pandemic from innumerable angles. Pictured: Quardean Lewis-Allen, founder Youth Design Center in Brownsville, NY.

Fellows Taking Action

Our community knows that the impact of this pandemic will be hardest on the poor and other vulnerable communities, and that a systems change approach that includes a rapid response mechanism is what’s needed to prevent avoidable harm. Some of the patterns we are seeing in their responses include:

Public Health: immediate or long term health response, direct or indirect
Economic Impact: at all levels, societal to individual
Vulnerable Communities: specific targeted support to those most at risk for far reaching negative effects
Future Proofing: minimizing the effects of shocks and stresses of future events
Advocacy: influencing responses of others, often government or other seats of power

On the Front Lines

Tony Weaver, Weird Enough Productions

Weird Enough Productions, a national nonprofit using comics for social good, is making over 400 pages of comics, lesson plans, and activities free on their website. “It's the right thing to do.” Says Executive Director, Tony Weaver, Jr. “Teachers are working with limited resources and now more than ever, students need something positive. Graphic novels have been proven to increase student literacy and engagement at record levels, and right now, I think we all could use an escape.” Their creative team is also doing visits to virtual classrooms.

Michelle Miller and Jess Kutch, Coworker.org

Coworker.org is a global platform for employees to run workplace campaigns, share information, and learn organizing strategies from one another. With millions of employees in crisis, Coworker.org is aggregating organizing efforts related to coronavirus and providing worker resources via their medium account.

Christina Mansfield and Christina Fialho, Freedom for Immigrants

Freedom for Immigrants is deeply concerned that the government’s response to COVID-19 will only result in more harm to vulnerable populations inside jails and prisons, especially US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention centers. They are, with a coalition of partners, mobilizing a national advocacy campaign for the immediate release of individuals from these centers.

Find Out More

Here are more than 50 examples of Fellows' early responses to the crisis.

Echoing Green is Responding

Echoing Green is dedicating all efforts to developing an emergency response fund, innovating our programming to be nimble and responsive, galvanizing our global ecosystem, and ensuring our community thrives to continue our work long into the future.

Providing Immediate Relief: For the first time, we are providing emergency funds to current and prior Fellows as they adapt their work for maximum impact in the current climate.
Supporting Rebuilding: We are rapidly scaling our resources to support Fellows through training, technological capabilities, and wellness.
Leading the Way on Reimagining. Together with some of the smartest business leaders in the world, we are re-envisioning what a robust and inclusive global economic system must look like to be prepared and resilient in the face of future worldwide crises.

We Need Your Help

For over 30 years, Echoing Green has invested in emerging social entrepreneurs who are fighting the world’s toughest problems, often long before those crises reach their peak.

120

Fellows on the front lines of our biggest healthcare problems

258

Fellows fighting systemic poverty and wealth disparity

86

Countries impacted by our Fellows’ efforts

$47M

Invested by Echoing Green in Fellows and their work

The Fund to Mobilize Against COVID-19

Partner with us now, as we mobilize this extraordinary community against the COVID-19 pandemic and advance our model for tackling global issues.

Fund Co-Chairs
Rajesh Panjabi, MD, MPH
CEO, Last Mile Health, and Asst Professor, Harvard Medical School

Carter McClelland
Chairman, Union Square Advisors

Priorities of the Fund to Mobilize Against COVID-19 are:

Rapid Response to Support Fellows

Emergency grants to first responders
Technical resources and trainings
Health and well-being support

Future Proofing Our Work & Our World

Convene and engage our community
Fund new solutions to systemic issues exposed or exacerbated by this crisis

Donate to the Fund to Mobilize Against COVID-19

Questions: CJ@echoinggreen.org

Fellowship Programs

Fellowship Application

Advancing Racial Equity

Invest in Black Leaders

Join Us