New Voices welcomes 10th class of Fellows for intensive media and advocacy training program aimed at rebalancing the global development discussion.
Washington, DC, January 26, 2022 — The Aspen Institute announced today the 2022 class of the New Voices Fellowship, welcoming the tenth cohort of experts from Africa, Asia and Latin America who will take up more powerful roles as advocates and policymakers in the global development discussion.
“These are the people policymakers should be listening to,” said New Voices Fellowship Director Andrew Quinn. “With world-class expertise and personal, lived experience of basic development challenges, these Fellows can explain how policy shifts can accelerate progress on the ground.”
The 2022 Class of New Voices Fellows is the 10th since the program launched in 2013. In total, 189 New Voices Fellows from 47 countries have worked with the Fellowship to write close to 2,000 Op-eds in outlets ranging from the New York Times and Al Jazeera to AllAfrica and STAT News.
Fellows have given more than 1,600 talks and scored more than 10,000 media mentions, leading to increased visibility into more prominent roles as advocates and policymakers.
The 2022 class is made up of 15 Fellows from 10 countries including Afghanistan, Brazil, Cameroon, India, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
They include a Zimbabwean public health expert overseeing equitable distribution of vaccines to some 73 low- and middle-income countries around the world, an Indian doctor delivering first-class healthcare to poor communities through a chain of low-cost hospitals, and the first deaf lawyer in Uganda who is fighting in court to stop the marginalization of his community.
The full list of 2022 Fellows and descriptions of their work can be found here.
Intensive Media and Advocacy Training
The 2022 Fellows will undertake a program of intensive media and advocacy training and mentorship to reach a broader global audience and advocate for better, more sustainable policies.
The New Voices Fellowship is a flagship program of the Aspen Global Innovators group that cultivates a vibrant global network of innovators who are creating solutions to persistent or overlooked challenges. Supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Open Societies Foundation, the New Voices Fellowship aims to shift power to those with proximity to the communities they serve by providing the skills, platforms, visibility and networks to create positive change.
Along with their writing and advocacy work, New Voices Fellows have delivered numerous TED talks and professional speeches and participated in expert panels around the world. Under a training partnership with The Moth, a non-profit organization dedicated to the art and craft of storytelling, New Voices Fellows have told their stories to live US audiences and through radio and podcast syndication.
Application to the Fellowship is by nomination only, and nominations will open in August 2022 for the next class.
2022 Aspen New Voices Fellows
Desmond Jumbam, Cameroon
Health Policy Advisor, Operation Smile Inc
Egerton Neto, Brazil
LGBTI+ Activist
Elmer Aluge, Nigeria
President/Programs Coordinator, Sickle Cell Aid Foundation
Ifeoma Malo, Nigeria
Co-Founder / CEO, Clean Technology Hub
Imo Etuk, Nigeria
Co-Founder and CTO, mDoc Healthcare
Isabel Barbosa, Brazil
Senior Associate and Adjunct Professor of Law, Georgetown University
Keghah “Roger” Nuah, Cameroon
Director, Community Agriculture and Environmental Protection Association
Kevin Lunzalu, Kenya
Co-Founder, Kenyan Youth Biodiversity Network
Margaret Nigba, Liberia
Attorney/Executive Director, Her Voice Liberia
Nour Sharara, Senegal
Public Health Scientist, Biobot Analytics
Pashtana Durrani, Afghanistan
Executive Director, LEARN Afghanistan
Shuchin Bajaj, India
Founder/Director, Ujala Cygnus Healthcare Services
Sylvie Djacbou, Cameroon
Forest Campaigner, Greenpeace Africa
Thabani Maphosa, Zimbabwe
Managing Director of Country Programs, Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance
Timothy Egwelu, Uganda
Advocacy Office, Creative Director, Uganda National Association of the Deaf
The Aspen Institute
The Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit organization committed to realizing a free, just, and equitable society. Founded in 1949, the Institute drives change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve the most important challenges facing the United States and the world.
For more information, visit www.aspeninstitute.org.
For more about the New Voices Fellowship, visit www.aspennewvoices.org or email aspennewvoices@aspeninst.org. Follow all the fellows on Twitter here and the Fellowship at @aspennewvoices.