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ECHOING GREEN

There are some very dedicated students who desire to give back to their community before they settle into a lifelong career. In some cases, they seek an experience of two or so years before they enter a graduate school of the health professions.

Very often, these students are attracted to the Peace Corps, but there is a less well known foundation that you might look into: Echoing Green. For an intelligent, hard working individual who truly cares about people and is capable of taking charge, this foundation could provide a unique opportunity.

Echoing Green is a non-profit organization that was founded in the early nineties by a venture capitalist. The idea behind Echoing Green is to give social entrepreneurs the money and resources they need to start and run their own community service programs. Your goal must be to have an effect in the community: Echoing Green does not handle research grants.

Why would a prehealth student take an interest in this non-profit organization? Well, up to now, Echoing has funded some twenty health-related projects. That is a small but significant percentage of the total number of fellowships that have been awarded.

Three projects will give you an idea of the broad sweep of the organization: a Garment Workers Health and Safety Project in NYC, an Ecuadorian Tuberculosis Control Project, and a Safe Womanhood Initiative Program in Addis Ababa.

Applying for an Echoing Green Fellowship is a complicated, demanding process that involves a great amount of work (You need to know what you are talking about, and have a feasible plan that can accomplish good in the community.), but if it sounds interesting to you, here are a few key points to remember:

  • The foundation provides capital for original, creative public service projects.

  • The fellowship that is awarded consists of a $30,000 a year stipend for two years, health benefits, internet connectivity, training and support.

  • Stipend money can be used to start a public service organization or a project.

  • Organizations and projects must be new and original.

    • You need to be 18 or older to be eligible to apply for an Echoing Green Fellowship. There are additional restrictions on the fellowship money: it can't be used for lobby, and your project must be in the initial stages.

    Visit the web site to get the full story on eligibility and procedures for application. Make sure to search for health related fellowships so that you can get a sense of what projects have already been done.


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