Ashoka Announces 2016 Class of Fellows Who Are Making a Difference

14 Social Entrepreneurs Changing the World in Big Ways!

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Oct 11, 2016, 10:10 ET

WASHINGTON, Oct. 11, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, Ashoka celebrates the 14 new social entrepreneurs elected into the prestigious Ashoka Fellowship in the United States. These social innovators, who hail from all over the US, are boldly tackling some of the country's biggest problems – from immigration detention reform and environmental justice to labor rights and the empowerment of rural youth.

"We believe it is time to help craft a new national story for the US," says Konstanze Frischen, VP and Director of North America Programs. "One that views the country through a lens of solutions rather than one of fear and anger, and one that acknowledges the breadth and diversity of changemakers across the nation."

Ashoka is the oldest and largest network of social entrepreneurs in the world with a history dating back more than 35 years. It supports over 3,200 Fellows, systems-changing visionaries, in 90 countries, connecting them to the people, ideas and resources needed to grow and deepen their impact.

This year's class of US Fellows is redrawing the map of social entrepreneurship in the US and proving that impactful ideas often come from underrepresented voices and places.

Meet the Ashoka US class of 2016!

Jennifer Bailey, Nashville, TN
Faith Matters Network
Equipping a new generation of faith leaders as changemakers.
Tiffiniy Cheng, Worcester, MA
Fight for the Future
Building a new political process centered around online action and voice.
Jeff Dykstra, Minneapolis, MN
Partners in Food Solution
Advancing food security by reimagining the relationships between small and large food companies.
Mark Edwards, Boston, MA
Upstream USA
Ensuring all women receive same-day access to all modern contraceptive methods.
Angelou Ezeilo, Atlanta, GA
Greening Youth Foundation
Cultivating youth of color to be stewards of the environmental conservation movement.
Christina Fialho, Los Angeles, CA
CIVIC
Building community-based alternatives to immigrant detention centers.
Lennon Flowers, Los Angeles, CA
The Dinner Party
Transforming the experience of life after the loss of a loved one from an isolating experience into a tool for connection.
Kohl Gill, Sunnyvale, CA
LaborVoices
Facilitating transparency in labor markets by crowdsourcing intelligence from mobile phone surveys.
Imran Khan, Chicago, IL
Embarc
Providing experiential learning for urban youth outside school walls.
Megan Marcus, Houston, TX
FuelEd
Integrating emotional wellbeing and intelligence into teachers' recruitment and training.
Katie Orenstein, New York, NY
OpEd Project
Expanding the representation of marginalized voices in the media
Noran Sanford, Laurinburg, NC
Growing Change
Empowering rural youth to turn decommissioned prisons into community hubs.
Paula Segal, New York, NY
596 Acres
Transforming vacant public land into an opportunity for community organizing.
Casey Woods, Miami, FL
Ethics with Arms
Leveraging law enforcement's ability to stop the illegal flow of guns.