THE LEWIS LATIMER FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM TO INTRODUCE THE INCOMING COHORT OF EXCEPTIONAL FELLOWS AT THE 2024 EDISON AWARDS

FORT MYERS, Fla., April 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The incoming cohort of Lewis Latimer Fellows will take the stage at the 2024 Edison Awards, on April 18, marking the third year since the program's inception. In 2021, the Edison Awards introduced the Lewis Latimer Fellowship Program (LLFP) to a packed audience. Since the inaugural cohort of six unique and impact-driven fellows was announced, the program has garnered more support and name recognition. It has become synonymous with the celebration of Black Genius and Innovation.  

Lewis Howard Latimer was a key hidden innovator to Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell in the perfection of their respective inventions. His contributions are why these household products remain in our world today. The goal of the LLFP is to continue to identify, activate, and support modern-day transformative and creative intellects like Latimer who create, innovate, and inspire others through their brilliance.

The 2024 Latimer Fellowship Program will announce and welcome Adrian Burrell, a third-generation Oakland, California artist utilizing photography, installation, and experimental media to examine issues of race, class, and intergenerational dynamics, coupled with collective storytelling for remembering; Tiffany Griffin, the CEO, Co-Founder, and Co-Owner of Bright Black, a North Carolina-based social enterprise that pioneered the art of using scent to share positive stories about the beauty and brilliance of Blackness; Sidney McLaurin, Jr, the CEO of Fleet Robotics, a simple, automated mobile robot platform to help industrial companies proactively maintain large industrial structures; John Pasmore, the founder and leader of Latimer.ai, a new platform aiming to make generative AI more inclusive by reflecting the experience, culture, and history of Black and brown people more accurately; and Sian Proctor, a professor of Geoscience, Afrofuturism Space Artist, and Astronaut. Dr. Proctor is the first female commercial astronaut spaceship pilot and the only African American woman ever to be a mission pilot.

According to Frank Bonafilia, the executive director of The Edison Awards, and Jon Cropper, co-founders of the LLFP, "the Latimer Fellows are futurists, designers, storytellers, innovators, and creative thinkers among many other exemplary attributes. The LLFP seeks Fellows who embody the spirit of the late Lewis Howard Latimer, who we consider a renaissance man, as he was an inventor, poet, draftsman, artist, and musician."

This new group of modern-day superheroes will ascend in Fort Myers, FL later this month to embark upon a year-long journey of building resilience, harnessing their superpowers, networking with some of the most brilliant and innovative minds around the globe, and receiving mentorship through the exclusive connections of the Latimer Fellowship Program and its co-founders. The Latimer Fellowship Program is supported by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Black & Veatch, Bracken Darrell, visionary CEO of VF Corp, and others.

For more information about the LLFP, visit www.latimerfellowship.com.

About The Lewis Latimer Fellowship Program  
The Lewis Latimer Fellowship Program is an organization dedicated to providing special access and mentorship to a select group of exceptional Black innovators. Announced at the Edison Awards in Fort Myers in April 2022, the organization centers around the tenets of technological, behavioral, futuristic, systematic, and design-oriented thinking to transform innovation and combine ideas across cultures. The Lewis Latimer Fellowship Program employs a one-year, hybrid learning experience designed to help participants unlock the potential of exponentially advancing technologies and provide them the resources to build societally beneficial and profitable new ideas. 

About The Edison Awards 
Established in 1987, and held in Fort Myers since 2021, the Edison Awards are dedicated to recognizing, honoring, and fostering the best in global innovations and innovators. Named after Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931), the annual competition honors excellence in global new product and service development, marketing, design, and innovation. Past award recipients include Steve Jobs, Carmichael Roberts, and leaders of global corporations such as Coca-Cola, Apple, Lenovo, SpaceX, Babcock Ranch, IBM, Black & Veatch, Genentech, General Electric, IBM, and Campbell Soup Co. In 2021, the Edison Awards introduced the inaugural Lewis Latimer Fellowship program designed to celebrate, connect, and bring together a community of innovative Black and Brown thought leaders. The Edison Awards are considered the Oscars of Innovation and will be held at the Luminary Hotel in Fort Myers, FL on April 17-18, 2024. For more information on the Edison Awards visit EdisonAwards.com.  

Contact: Rachel Reed
The Edison Awards
[email protected]
www.latimerfellows.com
www.edisonawards.com 

SOURCE Edison Awards