Fellow News

2009 Echoing Green Fellow Esra'a Al Shafei and founder of Mideast Youth would like you to stand for freedom of speech.

March 18, 2009 Omid Reza Mir Sayafi died in Evin Prison in Tehran. An Iranian blogger and journalist, Omid was in prison for "allegedly insulting religious leaders, and engaging in propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran."

In Omid's memory, Mideast Youth created the March 18th Movement. From this year forward, Mideast Youth asks that bloggers, journalists, and all supporters unite on March 18th to show their commitment to free speech.

2008 Echoing Green Fellow and co-founder of Embrace, Jane Chen delivered a powerful presentation at TEDIndia.

A 2009 TEDIndia Fellow, Jane's speech about Embrace's cost-effective solution to high infant mortality of premature babies appears on the front page of TED.com this week.

To learn more about Embrace and what inspired Jane to take on such a huge challenge, check out "Jane Chen: A warm embrace that saves lives" at TED.com.

Congratulations to 2009 Fellow Eric Glustrom for winning numerous awards and grants this year for his organization Educate! To top off the accolades, Eric's face can now be found on bags of Doritos across the nation.

Read more about what a great year it has been for Educate! in "Nonprofit Educate gains momentum internationally."

Seeding Labs created quite a buzz in the news this week. 2007 Fellow Nina Dudnik founded Seeding Labs in order to encourage well-funded institutions in the developed world to donate their previously overlooked surplus of scientific equipment.

Last Saturday marked the 25th anniversary of India's anti-Sikh riots of 1984. Over 3,000 Sikhs were killed and many families were torn apart during four days following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. According to an Ensaaf press release, "survivors are still waiting for justice."

The following post was written by 2007 Echoing Green Fellows Kevin Lee and Gemma Bulos in response to the recent typhoons in the Philippines.

After winning a gold medal, 18 year-old South African runner Caster Semenya received a great deal of media attention. Not because of Caster's victory, but because Caster's sex was called into question. This event spawned a number of discussions around intersexuality, including The Economist article "Intersexuality: A question of sex." 

2008 Fellow Anne Tamar-Mattis and founder of Advocates for Informed Choice, was featured in the article, and she gives her expert advice on the topic of intersexuality in American society.

We are so excited to learn this week that 2007 Fellow Gemma Bulos (Co-founder and Executive Director of A Single Drop for Safe Water) received the 2009 Ernst & Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year Phillippines Award.

This is the third year of collaboration in the Phillippines between Schwab Foundation and Ernst & Young to recognize the amazing work of social entrepreneurs.  

How can China solve the growing income gap in their economy? According to 1998 fellow Vikram Akula and colleague Tahrun Khanna, bringing microfinance to China is the answer.

Vikram co-wrote "Microfinancing China," which was featured in the October 7th edition of the Wall Street Journal. Although China has the third-largest economy, the country also has the second-largest number of citizens living in poverty. Vikram and Tahrun explains "millions of poor people in China could benefit from the opportunities provided by a small but powerful loan."

Echoing Green Fellows Michael Bengwayan (PINE Tree), Gemma Bulos, and Kevin Lee (A Single Drop for SafeWater) were both in the Philippines last month when Typhoons Ketsana and Parma struck.  The typhoons killed more than 600 people and left a path of destruction damaging homes, businesses, and infrastructure.

We received the following letter from Dr. Michael Bengwayan and are reprinting it here in its entirety: