Education & Youth Leadership

“I am the only child on my mother's side of the family, because my father did not want me as his son. I have no idea why, but at this point in my life I don't care. I don't want anything to do with him.”

What is your guess on the context of why these words were written? Would you have thought of a college admission essay? I wouldn’t have. But, these words are from Phillip Herring’s personal statement—one that he wrote as a student for the nationally recognized nonprofit College Summit.

Reciprocity Foundation youth on ANTM

If you missed the most recent episode of Tyra Bank's America's Next Top Model, then you missed the linkage between modeling and social entrepreneurship. The show featured none other than 2007 Echoing Green Fellow Taz Tagore and Reciprocity Foundation youth. In their own words:

2007 Echoing Green Fellows Taz Tagore and Adam Bucko created The Reciprocity Foundation to enable homeless and high-risk youth to start meaningful careers in the Creativity Economy (such as fashion, design, marketing, and PR).

It’s a powerful concept, especially when you see the results. Their recently released video (below) is a testament to the creative potential of these youth and the organization.

Leave it to an Echoing Green Fellow to apply cutting-edge social media technology to the intractable cultural divide between the west and the Arab & Muslim world.  Soliya, the brainchild of 2004 Echoing Green Fellows Lucas Welch and Liza Chambers, provides video conferencing and training tools to facilitate dialogue between university students. Their powerful project was profiled in the lead story of CNN's Inside the Middle East last week.

Lucas recently reports:

1998 Echoing Green Fellow Adam Green and his organization, Rocking the Boat, will be featured on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy on Tuesday, October 30 at 9pm. Be sure to tune in to see Adam’s makeover, as well as a touching portrayal of the good work of Rocking the Boat.

See the schedule on Bravo's website.