Prestigious Fellowship program announces first of two annual fellowship cohorts creatively solving societal challenges and advancing civil and human rights, health equity, and economic empowerment worldwide.

New York, NY — April 12, 2022 — Echoing Green, a leading global fellowship program for emerging social innovators, today released its list of spring 2022 Fellows. The Fellowship program will help to further the work of 18 social entrepreneurs advancing innovative solutions for entrenched social problems, from systemic racism to health inequity, economic disparity, and poverty.

Since 1987, Echoing Green has accelerated the work of some of the world’s best and brightest social innovators. This Fellowship cohort will be the first of two for the year, with each Fellow receiving $80,000 over 18 months, a community of practice, and a continuum of support valued at $200,000 per Fellow, including leadership development, wellness programming, and access to a network of industry peers. Previous Fellows include former U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama (’91), political commentator Van Jones (’94), and the organization’s own President, Cheryl L. Dorsey (’92).

The spring 2022 Class of Fellows include:

• Shelly Anand, co-founder of Sur Legal Collaborative, Inc. (Atlanta, GA)
• Christiana Bukalo, co-founder of Statefree (Germany)
• Leslie Credle, founder of Justice For Housing, Inc. (Boston, MA)
• Dion Dawson, founder of Dion’s Chicago Dream, Inc. (Chicago, IL)
• Nasser Diallo, founder of Clinic+O (Guinea)
• Zeenith Ebrahim, founder of Jamii Life (South Africa)
• Omar Freilla, co-founder of Collective Diaspora (Bronx, NY)
• Aideé Granados, founder of Rosa Es Rojo, Inc. (Plano, TX)
• Shaman Gupta, co-founder of Tweet Foundation (India)
• Gregory Jackson, Jr., co-founder of Repaired Nations Cooperative, Inc. (Oakland, CA)
• Hemakshi Meghani, co-founder of Indian School of Democracy (India)
• Helga Mutasingwa, co-founder of Afya Pamoja (Tanzania)
• Iregi Mwenja, founder of the Psychiatric Disability Organization (Kenya)
• Peter Okwoko, co-founder of Takataka Plastics (Uganda)
• Osariemen Omoruyi, founder of Restorative Justice for Africa Initiative (Nigeria)
• D’Seanté Parks, founder of 1000 MORE, LLC (Brooklyn, NY)
• Patrice Sulton, founder of DC Justice Lab, Inc. (Washington, D.C.)
• Summia Tora, founder of Dosti Network (Afghanistan)

To learn more about the 2022 Fellows click here.

“Working across an array of timely and deeply entrenched issues, this class of Echoing Green Fellows expands our view of what is possible when the world’s systems are rooted in justice, equity, and community. In this class, we’re witnessing innovations that have the potential to transform the lives of millions globally — from tech solutions that dismantle health and civic participation barriers for communities in the U.S., India, and West Africa; to digital resource hubs and communities for migrants, refugees, and stateless people,” said Cheryl L. Dorsey, president of Echoing Green. “These extraordinary innovators should inspire us all to harness our own talents and imagination to support transformational efforts for a more equitable world.”

This class of Fellows was selected from a pool of over 1,400 applicants working in over 100 countries. These new Fellows are driving social change with and for their communities in 10 countries: Afghanistan, Germany, Guinea, India, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and the United States. For the third class in a row, one hundred percent of this Fellow class identify as Black, Indigenous, or people of color.

As an organization long committed to investing in innovative leaders who boldly combat and transform unjust systems, Echoing Green launched its Racial Equity Philanthropic Fund in 2020 to build deeper pathways of funding for next-generation leaders advancing racial equity globally. By mid-2024, Echoing Green will launch and scale 500 social enterprises, including 100 new Fellows, focused on racial equity in the U.S. and globally. This will be the first year that Echoing Green offers two Fellowship classes to accelerate that ambitious goal.

Partners who have joined the call and supported the Racial Equity Philanthropic Fund include leading support from the Jerome L. Greene Foundation, the Skoll Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Comcast NBCUniversal, the Citi Foundation, Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women, Barclays, The Allstate Foundation, Walmart Foundation, BlackRock, World Education Services (WES) Mariam Assefa Fund, and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Additional Fund supporters can be found here. To date, the Fund has raised $65 million.

To accelerate the impact of the Racial Equity Philanthropic Fund and in alignment with Echoing Green’s work to mobilize funds to proximate leaders working closely with their communities, the organization is collaborating with key partners and initiatives to grow and build a more diverse pipeline of social innovators.

Support from the WES Mariam Assefa Fund will underwrite three Fellows in this class toward a joint initiative goal to shift power and resources to leaders addressing systemic issues at the intersection of racial equity, immigration, and economic mobility in the U.S. and Canada.

About Echoing Green:
For 35 years, Echoing Green has been on the front lines of solving the world’s biggest problems, raising up the transformational leaders willing to speak truth to power and challenge the status quo. The organization finds emerging leaders with the best ideas for social innovation as early as possible and sets them on a path to lifelong impact. Echoing Green’s community of nearly 1,000 social innovators includes past Fellows such as First Lady Michelle Obama and the founders of Teach For America, Center for Black Innovation, BlocPower, and One Acre Fund. Built and refined over three decades, Echoing Green discovers tomorrow’s leaders today, and then funds, connects, and supports a new generation of social impact leaders.