Fourth Class of Fellows with Global Reach Chosen from 500+ Nonprofit and Social Enterprise Applicants
Focus Areas Include: Healthcare Access, Rural Agribusiness Financing, Solar Energy Access, Tech Vocational Training, Food and Agriculture, Social Work and Child Welfare
New York; October 18, 2017 — GLG (Gerson Lehrman Group, Inc.), the world’s leading membership for one-on-one professional learning, today announced the fourth class of its Social Impact Fellowship (GLGSocialImpact.com). The six new Fellows and their organizations are tackling pressing and difficult challenges – from implementation of solar energy to increasing diversity in the tech industry to financial empowerment in Africa. The 2017 Fellows will receive two years of free, unlimited access to GLG’s learning resources, including its 500,000+ expert Network Members.
“We are transforming how the world’s top professionals learn and share expertise—and thus more successfully impact and lead their organizations,” said GLG CEO Alexander Saint-Amand. “We are always looking for opportunities to leverage our learning resources in service of the common good and to support social innovators with tangible and innovative ideas for affecting lasting change.”
The 2017 GLG Social Impact Fellows are:
- Matilda Ho – Founder, YIMISHIJI; Shanghai, China (food and agriculture)
- Jukay Hsu – Founder & CEO, C4Q; Long Island City, New York (tech vocational training)
- Josh MacAlister – Founder & CEO, Frontline; London, United Kingdom (social work and child welfare)
- Anushka Ratnayake – Founder & CEO, myAgro; Bamako, Mali (rural agribusiness financing)
- Steph Speirs – Co-Founder & CEO, Solstice; Cambridge, Massachusetts (solar energy access)
- Kiah Williams – Co-Founder, SIRUM; San Francisco, California (healthcare access)
Fellow bios and organization overviews are available at GLGSocialImpact.com/fellows.
This week, GLG formally welcomed the 2017 Fellows in Austin, Texas, where one of the company’s largest offices is located. The new class joins GLG’s global learning community of innovators, thought leaders, and practitioners, which includes business leaders, scientists, academics, former public sector leaders, and the foremost subject matter specialists.
“It is our privilege to welcome the 2017 Fellows into the GLG community and to support the inspiring work they are doing,” said GLG Social Impact Director Jennifer Field. “This year’s Fellow organizations span four continents and focus on issues as diverse as child welfare, food sustainability, and redistribution of unused medicine. By speaking with an industry-related GLG expert, a Fellow can more quickly problem-solve—and thus more quickly and effectively change the world.”
GLG launched its Social Impact Fellowship in 2014, extending the benefits of GLG’s one-to-one learning model to select mission-driven leaders in the social sector. In the past, GLG Network Members have worked with Fellows on critical social challenges, including water and sanitation in Bangladesh, sustainable home design, empowerment of women and girls in Africa, veteran support, economic mobility for low-income families across the U.S., and the use of big data solutions to address global social problems.
A recent, independent evaluation conducted by Social Strategy Associates LLC concluded that GLG’s Social Impact Fellowship has successfully “advance[d] the footprints of mission-driven, social impact-focused organizations around the globe” thanks in large part to GLG Network Members who “constitute a remarkably diverse group of 500,000 individuals.” While most Fellows had previously participated in similar fellowships, they agreed, “that the GLG Social Impact Fellowship is unique and valuable because of the access it provides to its network of experts,” according to the evaluation.
About GLG / Gerson Lehrman Group
GLG is the world’s leading membership for professional learning. Business leaders, investors, consultants, social entrepreneurs, and other top professionals rely on GLG to learn in short- and long-term engagements from more than 500,000 members and other experts. Clients partner with GLG to address their most complex strategic challenges, make better business decisions, and advance their careers through conversations, mentorships, small group meetings, surveys, and other interactions—all within a rigorous compliance framework. Headquartered in New York City, GLG’s 1,400 employees work from offices in 12 countries. For more information visit www.GLG.it.
About GLG Social Impact
GLG Social Impact is an initiative of GLG, the world’s leading membership for one-on-one professional learning, to advance learning and decision-making at distinguished nonprofit organizations and social enterprises. The GLG Social Impact Fellowship is its flagship program, providing GLG’s learning resources to a select group of nonprofits and social enterprise leaders for two years, at no cost. Other Social Impact clients include: leading foundations, impact funds, consultancies, nonprofits, and social enterprises.