Echoing Green is a leading organization in the field of social innovation and through funding and leadership development resources, its mission is to ensure continued progress for social justice momentum around the world. Since its inception in 1987, Echoing Green has invested more than $50 million dollars in Fellows, providing seed funding and leadership development to social entrepreneurs advancing racial justice in education, criminal reform, technology, climate and health care.
This year's Fellows class includes 44 social entrepreneurs working to create systemic change as they address racial and economic inequality, disparities in access to healthcare, and working to create new opportunities for inclusive education. Each Fellow will receive $80,000 in unrestricted funding during the 18-month Fellowship, one element of a multi-faceted support model that includes capital, capacity, and community support.
Here are this year's Fellows working globally to advocate for greater access to healthcare:
- Amisa Rashid Ahmed of Nivishe Foundation - is based in Nairobi, Kenya, working to accelerate mental health outcomes for marginalized youth through the Nivishe Mental Health Fellowship addressing the global crisis of under-resourced mental health services for young people in Africa.
- Ashley Williams of Clymb is based in Upper Marlboro, MD, where she is closing the mental health gap for students of color by leveraging artificial intelligence to offer culturally responsive, personalized mental and emotional wellness resources.
- Ashu Martha Egbe of For Mom and Baby Foundation is based in Douala -Bonamoussadi, Cameroon, working to reduce maternal mortality rates and complications in childbirth for Women in underserved communities with limited access to healthcare by distributing emergency kits and misoprostol.
- Barnabas Nomo of Goliath Robotics is based in Accra, Ghana, working to improve the quality of life of mobility-impaired Ghanaians and their family members through greater independence by making affordable assisted mobility devices which are tailored to the local context
- Esperance Luvindao of Osaat Africa is based in Windhoek, Khomas Region, Namibia, educating women in rural & semi rural areas about SRH in their native languages using animation then provide access to contraceptives, STD treatment & HIV prevention through an automated vendor
- Gabriella Wong of accesSOS is based in San Francisco, CA is saving lives with a free, 24/7 mobile app, providing vulnerable communities an accessible, fast way to request emergency help, increasing survival during medical crises.
- Ida Mehezaa Solitoke of Baobaby is based in Lekki, Togo working to fight baby hunger in rural areas of Togo and beyond by using local vegetables to produce affordable and nutritious baby formulas distributed back in rural communities.
- Isaac Esene of GoodWorks is based in Upper Marlboro, MD, To reduce preventable deaths among at-risk youth in the national capital region, we will provide child-friendly, evidence-based first aid workshops to schools and local youth organizations that lack capacity.
- Joy Cooper of Culture Care is based in Oakland, CA, is working to infuse equity and luxury into the black women's healthcare experience by creating a telemedicine platform of Black doctors giving second opinions to Black women.
- Juliana Busasi of Tanzania Health and Medical Education Foundation (TAHMEF) is based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, is promoting equitable health access for Tanzanians through building and providing digital healthcare services.
- Lea Kilenga Masamo Bey of Africa Sickle Cell Organisation is based in Taveta, Kenya is working to increase the survival and well-being of sickle cell patients and households in rural Kenya by improving access to comprehensive, high quality, timely and affordable sickle cell care where they live
- Naom Monari of BENA CARE LTD is based in Nairobi, Kenya is working to reduce health care costs for chronically ill patients in middle to low-income families by building a network of healthcare workers and empowering family caregivers with caregiving skills.
- Sylivia Kyomuhendo of Infants' Health Foundation is based in Namayingo town/Eastern Uganda, is working to Improve maternal and child healthcare access for vulnerable low-income mothers, and children in remote, marginalized, and underserved Ugandan communities through free monthly one-day comprehensive mobile clinics and capacity-building for health-workers.