The 2018 Fellows
When we opened applications for the inaugural Obama Foundation Fellowship, over 20,000 people from 191 countries applied. From that incredible pool, we’ve selected 20 inaugural Fellows who represent 11 countries around the world.
These Obama Foundation Fellows are powerful examples of the many pathways we can take to improve our communities. These civic leaders bring a variety of disciplines and skill sets to their work – including community organizing, healthcare, technology, and the arts – and they apply those talents to a range of missions, from empowering parents and teachers to improve our schools, to ensuring deaf children have equal access to literacy tools, to bringing trauma-informed care to the criminal justice system and refugee camps, to working with partners across the healthcare system to treat addiction collaboratively.
These leaders are working hand-in-hand with their communities to build better futures. They understand that creating change often requires reaching out across the lines that divide us. And their successes to date show how collaborative, community-driven work can lead to strong, imaginative, and long-lasting solutions – even on some of our most intractable and polarizing problems.
Meet our inspiring class of 2018 Fellows below – and learn more about the Fellowship here!
THE FELLOWS GATHERINGS
The 2018 cohort of Obama Foundation Fellows met for the first time this past April to get to know one another and to prepare for their journey as Fellows. They also heard from President and Mrs. Obama. They met again to discuss their progress and next steps this past November. Check out photos from the multi-day gatherings below.
