2022 Atlantic Fellows for Racial Equity announced
The Atlantic Fellows for Racial Equity (AFRE) program has announced its fifth annual cohort of fellows working to end anti-Black racism in the United States and South Africa and build a more equitable world.
Established in 2016 through a 10-year, $60 million grant from the Atlantic Philanthropies, the year-long non-residential program is based at Columbia University in New York City and the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg, South Africa, and is dedicated to building the capacity of the racial equity field through leadership development, network building, innovation, and collective action. To that end, the program provides each fellow opportunities to engage with new thinking, access to a global network of leaders in the racial equity field, coaching, and up to $20,000 in support of their efforts to strategically advance racial equity in their communities. To date, the program has named 100 fellows.
This year’s 20 fellows include Krysten Aguilar (Castanea Fellowship), Aaron Butler (Office of the Federal Public Defender, Western District of Texas), Musawenkosi Cabe (New Frame), Siphelele Chirwa (Activate Leadership), Mekaelia Davis (Ballmer Group), Keesha Gaskins-Nathan (Rockefeller Brothers Fund), Liz Gres (Service Employees International Union-SEIU), Erin Heaney (Showing Up for Racial Justice), Emile Jansen (Heal the Hood Project), Blu Lewis (North Carolina’s Black Leadership and Organizing Collective), Ntokozo Mbuli (Sugar Bean Pictures), Khanyisa Nomoyi (National Business Initiative), Itumeleng Qhali (Qhama Social Housing Institute), Tanzeem Razak (Lemon Pebble Architects and Urban Designers), Tisa Rodriguez (Consultant and Environmental Planner), Simran Singh (Aspen Institute Religion & Society Program), Pumla Vilakazi (Sasopsbiz Foundation), Ronald Wesso (Beneficial Technologies), Tsione Wolde-Michael (National Museum of American History), and Lwando Xaso (Including Society).
“Some of the questions that animate us at AFRE are, ‘What kind of leadership does racial justice require? How might the imagination yield greater impact? And what possibilities exist in this unique constellation of leaders?’” said AFRE executive director Sebabatso Manoeli-Lesame. “As we welcome this fifth cohort of inspiring change makers, we will live into these lines of inquiry and build toward collective action.”
For a complete list of fellows, see the AFRE website.
(Photo credit: Atlantic Fellows for Racial Equity)
