NEW YORK, June 14, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
Converting carbon dioxide into valuable chemicals and fuels...
Redesigning the architecture of courthouses and prisons...
Providing free legal assistance through mobile devices...
These are some of the projects identified by Echoing Green that could to solve the world’s biggest problems.
Echoing Green, a global organization that supports social entrepreneurs, today announced its 2016 Fellowship class. These 33 exceptional innovators will develop social enterprises that address some of the world’s most intractable challenges around economic development, racial and gender equity, food security, and the environment.
Each Fellow will become part of a global network of leaders identified by Echoing Green as dramatic, scalable, and important to the progress of the world. Fellows will access a community of funders, investors, and entrepreneurs across issue areas, geographies, and disciplines. Seed funding of up to $90,000 will also be available to them for two years to support the growth of their organizations.
For nearly 30 years, Echoing Green has provided a launch pad for projects with a purpose. It serves as an early and important investor in the growing field of social entrepreneurship. This year, the organization reviewed 2,077 applications from 120 countries, which represent meaningful trends from the front lines of social change.
This year’s Fellows are split almost evenly between for-profit (43 percent) and nonprofit organizations (39 percent). An additional 14 percent have a hybrid model, and 4 percent are not yet decided.
“As an institution that sees entrepreneurship as a means to disrupt narratives and create pathways for social change, Echoing Green is so inspired by the talent and vision held by each member of the 2016 class,” says Echoing Green president Cheryl L. Dorsey. “Global warming, racism, pollution, food and water scarcity – these are just some of the world’s most daunting problems. We believe in the tremendous power of these projects to bring about solutions.”
Echoing Green has invested more than $42 million in seed-stage funding and strategic assistance to over 700 world-class leaders driving positive social change in more than 70 countries. Echoing Green also supports the Fellow community long after their initial funding period through ongoing programs and opportunities at critical points in their careers.
“Echoing Green’s community is unparalleled,” Dorsey said. “As these new Fellows join this community, their leadership is strengthened by the support and influence from a group that intimately understands the challenges they will face as they launch their enterprises.”
Echoing Green’s Fellowship program is made possible through private contributions and the generous support of funders, including the Walton Family Foundation, the U.S. Global Development Lab of USAID, the Jerome L. Greene Foundation, The ZOOM Foundation, and the Campaign for Black Male Achievement, with support from the Open Society Foundations.
About Echoing Green
For nearly 30 years, Echoing Green has supported next-generation talent in solving the world’s biggest problems. These leaders spend their lives working with purpose and define their generations. They make society better.
Echoing Green has established a global community of emerging leaders – over 700 and growing – who have launched Teach For America, City Year, One Acre Fund, SKS Microfinance, and more. Echoing Green is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that raises funds to support its mission. Through its Fellowships and other innovative leadership initiatives, Echoing Green unleashes tracks down the best and the brightest leaders, brings them together, and launches them on their path to success.
Echoing Green drives social progress further, faster.