The racial equity-focused fellowship and social enterprise incubator in New York attracted a pool of more than 2,000 applicants tackling challenges in inclusion, education access, climate justice, human rights and health equity.
The cohort of 44 fellows includes Siza Mukwedini of Zimbabwe’s Matamba Film Labs for Women, a media enterprise that trains women filmmakers; Kartik Sawhney of the Global Network of Young Persons with Disabilities, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit that aims to empower young leaders with disabilities; Maryanne Gigachanga of Kenya’s AgriTech Analytics, which uses satellite imagery and sensors to provide intelligence on crops and soil to smallholder farmers; Raju Kendre of nonprofit Eklavya India Foundation, which empowers first-generation university students; and Tatiana Blanco of Bolivia’s Uru Uru, which is working to restore a lake crucial to Indigenous communities.
Inclusive cohort
The new cohort is Echoing Green’s most geographically diverse, with fellows from more than 21 countries. More than half of the fellows are from Africa. “From the planet’s hottest year yet, to ongoing global threats to democracy, to backsliding on hard-fought progress on racial equity — these are challenging times,” said Echoing Green’s Cheryl Dorsey.
Since 2020, Echoing Green has supported 120 fellows and awarded $12 million in follow-on investments.
Catalytic Capital
Each fellow will receive $80,000 in unrestricted funding during the 18-month fellowship. The combined total of $3.5 million comes from Echoing Green’s Racial Equity Philanthropic Fund, a $75 million fund backed by the MacArthur, Skoll, Citi and Walmart foundations as well as by Goldman Sachs’ One Million Black Women initiative, World Education Services and Comcast.
Future cohorts will be backed by Echoing Green’s new “Signal Fund,” which has raised $15.6 million to provide $100,000–$500,000 in follow-on catalytic funding to 20 Echoing Green fellows.
