2022 Annual Report
Investing in innovation and transformational impact for over 35 years.
Since 1987, Echoing Green has been on the front lines of solving the world’s biggest problems, raising up the transformational leaders willing to speak truth to power and challenge the status quo. We find emerging leaders with the best ideas for social innovation as early as possible and set them on a path to lifelong impact by funding, connecting, and supporting new generations of social impact leaders. Our community of nearly 1,000 Fellows—including past Fellows such as First Lady Michelle Obama and the founders of Teach For America, BlocPower, and One Acre Fund—are challenging the status quo to advance racial equity, climate justice, economic opportunity, and more worldwide.
PHOTO CREDITS: Photographs included in this report come from Echoing Green’s photo library and were provided by Fellows.
35 YEARS OF INNOVATION, INSPIRATION, AND IMPACT
“Over the last 35 years, the core of our model has stayed true to backing tomorrow’s leaders today. That’s why we have a best-in-class global Fellow community that is diverse along racial, ethnic, religious, gender, economic, and geographic identities and experiences. That diversity directly informs our deep proficiency in redefining investment and impact for the future of social innovation.
As Echoing Green grows this robust community every year, we imagine the difference these visionaries will make in another 35 years. Their potential impact moves us.”
Building an Ecosystem of Change
Echoing Green drives change at the intersection of social justice and social innovation, backing bold innovators leading the charge on human rights, climate justice, life-saving health care, and racial equity globally. Over the course of 35 years, Echoing Green has invested $54 million in 901 Fellows working in over 86 countries. We then provide these leaders with an ecosystem of support valued at $200,000, including leadership development, wellness programming, and an unrivaled network of industry leaders. Our investment in these bold change-makers has resulted in profound impact:
- $7.5B+ raised by Fellows, in service of social change worldwide
- 5 MacArthur fellows
- 35+ Fellow-founded organizations have received funding from MacKenzie Scott
Advancing Racial Equity
Transforming the world for the better requires an intentional, explicit, and sustained focus on advancing racial and ethnic equity. As a part of our 2020-2024 impact plan, Echoing Green’s $75 million Racial Equity Philanthropic Fund fuels our work to invest in visionary social innovators around the globe.
Check out our bold goals to advance racial equity, and the progress we’ve made toward achieving them:
Our Progress:
As of December 2022, we have achieved nearly 30% of this goal, providing seed funding and follow-on investments for more than 130 social enterprises.
Our Progress:
As of December 2022, we have achieved 36% of this goal, reaching over 2,215+ leaders of all levels of experience through racial justice programming and workshops.
Our Progress:
As of December 2022, we have connected with nearly 7,000 employees through workshops and skill sharing engagements with social entrepreneurs.
Meet the 2022 Fellows
In 2022, we selected 38 new Fellows with bold, transformative, world-changing ideas. These leaders are bringing innovative approaches to the fight for climate justice, civil and human rights, equitable health care, and beyond, in more than 10 countries around the world.
Meet the 2022 Fellows announced in April
Meet the 2022 Fellows announced in October
Meet two changemakers
Dion’s Chicago Dream increases access to healthy food options for the over 500,000 Chicago residents experiencing food insecurity. The organization delivers food to the doorsteps of more than 375 households every week. Since the organization’s founding in 2020, they have distributed over 200,000 pounds of fresh produce to Chicago residents.
Summia Tora ’22 launched Dosti Network in August 2020 as a response to the fall of the Afghan government. By leveraging a network of local and international partners, Dosti Network is connecting Afghan families with the information and resources they need to access physical, social, and economic security and live safer lives. To date, they have supported more than 100 Afghans to navigate resources related to evacuation, resettlement, and safety.
Championing Our Community Through Sustained Support
In 2022, Echoing Green granted $1 million in follow-on funding to alumni Fellows advancing racial equity globally at the intersection of health, climate, education, immigration, and economic opportunity. Fellows like Deborah Ahenkorah Osei-Agyekum ’11, the founder of Golden Baobab, a nonprofit and annual literary award committed to increasing African representation in children’s literature. With an established market in Ghana, Golden Baobab will use the follow-on funding from Echoing Green to scale to three additional countries: Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya —reaching even more African readers with stories they can see themselves in.
By mid-2024, Echoing Green plans to disburse more than $10 million in follow-on investments.
Invest in Black Leaders
Echoing Green’s Invest in Black Leaders campaign calls for sustained support for Black innovators building a world where all people can thrive. Featuring a short documentary and report, the campaign presents insights from Black leaders supported through Echoing Green's Black Male Achievement Fellowship.
Subscribe for updates on our Invest in Black Leaders Campaign
Unwavering: The Power of Black Innovation explores chronic underfunding of Black-led organizations, all the while celebrating the optimism and perseverance of Black innovators from across the U.S.
Watch the trailerWritten with Equivolve Consulting, Black Voices, Black Spaces: The Power of Black Innovation explores the possibilities for the field of social innovation through a series of critical reflections on Echoing Green’s last decade of investment in Black social innovators.
Read the reportAMPLIFYING A MOVEMENT OF BLACK INNOVATION
We are grateful for the partnership and generous support of Comcast NBCUniversal, Barclays, Bloomberg Philanthropies, General Atlantic, Allstate, and Moody’s.
February 2022
Unwavering on NBC
In partnership with Comcast NBCUniversal, a documentary special of Unwavering: The Power of Black Innovation launches on 15 NBC-owned and affiliated stations in the U.S.
March 2022
NewSchools Venture Fund Annual Summit
A screening of Unwavering is followed by a panel discussion featuring Mario Jovan Shaw ’15 and Jacob Allen ’16 on how Black innovation is shaping the education sector.
May 2022
Virtual Premiere of Unwavering & Martha's Vineyard Film Festival
Echoing Green’s virtual film premiere features conversations with William Evans ’19, Deanna Van Buren ’16, and Felecia Hatcher ’17; as well as Emmy-award winning journalist Jamil Smith.
Unwavering is screened at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival.
August 2022
Report Launches & Black Philanthropy Month
Black Voices, Black Spaces: The Power of Black Innovation is released.
Echoing Green President Cheryl L. Dorsey pens an op-ed for The Chronicle of Philanthropy calling for significant and sustained support for Black leaders.
September 2022
Morehouse College Human Rights Film Festival
Unwavering is nominated for “Best Documentary Short” at the Morehouse College Human Rights Film Festival.
November 2022
Unwavering Screens at Afrotech & Facing Race
Unwavering is featured at AfroTech followed by a panel discussion on building supportive Black tech ecosystems with Melissa Bradley (1863 Ventures), Daquan Oliver ’17, and Felecia Hatcher ’17.
An exclusive screening of the film and panel discussion on the role of joy in movements for change featuring Reyna Montoya ’17 and Sirrita Darby ’21 is shared at Facing Race & Race Flicks Film Festival.
Accelerating Partnerships
Echoing Green builds partnerships with institutions across sectors to accelerate change. Work we are proud to continue includes:
Audio Storytelling with Citi Foundation
In partnership with Citi Foundation, Echoing Green launched the third season of On Course—a podcast that connects the personal leadership journeys of social innovators to broader social change ecosystems. Season three featured 12 Echoing Green Fellows in dialogue with each other about leading in times of crisis, finding community on the entrepreneurial journey, and holding on to their optimism in the face of disrupting the status quo.
Listen
Growing the Social Impact Talent Pipeline with Goldman Sachs OMBW & World Education Services
Through critical partnerships with partners like Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women and World Education Services (WES) Mariam Assefa Fund, Echoing Green is growing and supporting the pipeline of bold social innovators transforming systems at, respectively, the intersection of race and gender, and race and immigration.
Goldman Sachs OMBW
World Education Services
Celebrating 35 Years of Echoing Green with General Atlantic
In October 2022, Echoing Green hosted its Big Bold Benefit to celebrate 35 years of Echoing Green’s impact. The program honored the longtime leadership and legacy of Board Chair Emeriti Maya Ajmera ’93 and David C. Hodgson, founding board member and Vice Chairman of General Atlantic. We are grateful for the early and sustained commitment of funders like General Atlantic who have laid the foundation for where Echoing Green is today.
Read more
Looking ahead to 2023
From launching our first-ever documentary, Unwavering: The Power of Black Innovation, to making strides on our Racial Equity Philanthropic goals, 2022 has been an exciting year of impact for Echoing Green.
35 years ago, we could have never imagined the progress we have made together and yet, there is still urgent progress to be made. We deeply appreciate all our partners who have joined us over the last couple of years to ensure that the boldest leaders and solutions in the space are resourced to scale and impact.
Our work is part and parcel of a tableau that makes the struggle for justice, for equity, and for change worth fighting. Echoing Green Fellows bring their hopes, dreams, and passion for change to us with an unparalleled level of fierceness and vulnerability. It is really our privilege to celebrate their commitment and be a part of their journey to make their visions a reality.
It’s been an incredible journey so far. And we look forward to continuing on in this journey with our partners to select even more Fellows, serve more communities, and work across sectors to create new and shared value all over the world.
Thank you to our supporters
Our deepest thanks to all our supporters, including the following donors and partners who contributed to our work in FY22 (July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022).
FY22 Donors $500,000 and Up
FY22 Donors $100,000 and up
Amgen Foundation
AT&T
Bloomberg Philanthropies
Chicago Beyond
Comic Relief US
Dan Weiss and Amy Berkower Weiss
The Estée Lauder Companies Charitable Foundation
Godley Family Foundation
Guy and Kitty De Chazal
Johnson & Johnson Impact Ventures, an Investment Fund within the Johnson & Johnson Foundation
Josh Mailman and Monica Winsor
Larry and Gayle Wieseneck
Marc and Stacey Saiontz
Marie Kelly
McCance Foundation
Metlife Foundation
Moody’s Foundation
Noah Walley
Peggy Segal and David Topper
Robb and Jenny Vorhoff
Robert China and Tia Breakley
T. Rowe Price
UPS
FY22 Donors $25,000 and up
American Express Foundation
Andrew Kassoy and Margot Brandenburg
Anonymous
David and Lisa Issroff
Esther T. Benjamin
Guggenheim Partners
Jes Staley
Jim Cashel and Anne Ching
John and Gwen Smart Foundation
John Burchett
KKR
Linde
Mario Morino
Maurice Amado Foundation
Maya Ajmera and David Hollander
Melinda Wolfe and Ken Inadomi
Miranda Family Fund
MUFG Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ
Pace Able Foundation
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Verizon Foundation
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