Cheryl Dorsey, President

An accomplished social entrepreneur with expertise in health care, labor issues, and public policy, Cheryl Dorsey was named President of Echoing Green in May 2002. She is the first Echoing Green Fellow to lead this global nonprofit, which has awarded more than $28 million in start-up capital to over 471 social entrepreneurs worldwide since 1987.

Dorsey received her education at Harvard-Radcliffe Colleges where she earned a degree in history and science in 1985. In 1992, while training to be a pediatrician at Harvard Medical School, she received an Echoing Green Fellowship. With it, she launched the Family Van, a community-based mobile health unit that provides basic health care and outreach services to at-risk residents of inner-city Boston neighborhoods.

As a public policy innovator, Cheryl served as a White House Fellow from 1997-1998, serving as Special Assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Labor, advising the Clinton Administration on health care and other issues. She was later named Special Assistant to the Director of the Women’s Bureau of the U.S. Labor Department, where she helped develop family-friendly workplace policies and spearheaded the labor secretary’s pay equity initiative.

Cheryl was most recently appointed Vice-Chair of the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships, after serving as a team member of the Innovation and Civil Society subgroup of the Obama Presidential Transition's Technology, Innovation, and Government Reform Policy Working Group. Cheryl serves on the board of City Year (national), DonorsChoose.org, Freelancers Insurance Company, Inc., a for-profit insurance company and subsidiary of Working Today, and Green City Corps. She also serves as an advisory board member of the Action Tank for Social Entrepreneurs, America Forward, and the Lex Mundi Pro Bono Foundation. Dorsey is a 2006 Henry Crown Fellow through the Aspen Institute, a 2007 Prime Movers Fellow through the Hunt Alternatives Fund, and a member of the John F. Kennedy School of Government’s Visiting Committee.

Cheryl has received numerous awards and honors for her commitment to public service, including the John C. Whitehead Social Enterprise Award, Pfizer Roerig History of Medicine Award, the Robert Kennedy Distinguished Public Service Award and the Manuel C. Carballo Memorial Prize. She holds a B.A. in History and Science from Harvard-Radcliffe Colleges, an M.D. from the Harvard Medical School and an M.P.P. from the John F. Kennedy School of Government. She writes and speaks widely on minority affairs, social justice, social entrepreneurship, and maternal and child health issues.

Why do you do what you do?

wdydwyd sign: Champion Change!

We are at a moment in history where we truly have all of the resources we need to take on and solve some of our toughest social problems. We also have a cadre of committed social change agents, such as the Echoing Green Fellows, who are fully dedicated to leading the charge to end poverty, homelessness, educational inequity, global warming, etc. They are leading a quiet revolution, a revolution for positive social change and I truly believe that in my lifetime, we'll see the end of some of these terrible afflictions that rob people of equal opportunity and hope.

Favorite change-making song?

I'm totally old school so most of the songs on my iPod are pre-1990! Nothing comes close, for me, to Public Enemy's 1989 hit "Fight the Power." It was for many folks like me my anthem that spoke to my racial pride, the power and responsibility I had to make a difference, and how rap music gave voice to so much of my generation's concerns.

Click the play button below to listen to the entire Echoing Green staff playlist.

What's your favorite YouTube/Internet Video?

I just told you that I am old school so I actually don't watch many internet videos. The last one I watched was the one with the two guys who went back to the wild and found the lion they had raised as a cub. It's the video set to Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You." I cried like a baby (I'm tearing up even as I type this.)

What's your favorite recipe?

I don't cook so this is so not my question. The only things of value to me in kitchen are my notebook of takeout menus and my microwave. Even though I don't cook, I am an excellent dishwasher. So I'm a great guest at a pot luck dinner party. I won't bring a dish but I will bring great drinks or a dessert and I'm always happy to do the dishes and clean up afterwards.

What's the product you wish you invented and why?

I watch a ton of television. All kinds of television. All times of the day and night. I'll state it publicly--I'm a tv junkie (interventions have been staged in the past, none successful). So I wish I had invented TIVO and/or DVR. That technology is such a step above the VCR! I used to get paralyzed when I wasn't home and wanted to tape two programs on at the same time. Now I can do it. It’s really improved my quality of life!

Any tips for surviving the recession?

This is one time when advanced age is a good thing! I've lived through a number of recessions so I know that we'll get through this one. Reminding yourself what you do have, rather than what you don't, i.e. gratitude, is a nice daily practice during these trying times. Also, helping those less fortunate is a balm for the soul. As soneone once said, we are only as strong as the most vulnerable in our society. We prosper or perish together.

What was your nickname growing up?

My Dad and Godfather always called me "Boo" after Yogi Bear's sidekick, "Boo Boo". I loved that nickname but am glad it didn't stick with my friends!