Echoing Green

A major focus of the organization is education. It was one of the first supporters of what ultimately became Teach For America (TFA), a left-of-center education organization. ¹

Another major focus of the organization is the environment. It supports expanding the use of weather-dependent electrical generation technology such as solar. ²

Background

Echoing Green is an organization that seeks to support “social entrepreneurs” and activists. It provides fellowships and funding to those advancing left-of-center ideas on improving education and the environment. The organization inducts a new class of fellows that it supports every year. ¹

The organization was founded in 1987 by the growth equity firm General Atlantic. It supported its first young entrepreneur that year, Diana Propper de Callejon, who was working on an alternative economic base for those who lived in the Amazon rainforest region whose economy was not based on deforestation. De Callejon remained on the board of directors for the organization as of 2023. ¹

The organization has worked with numerous left-of-center figures and made them fellows of the organization. Former fellows of the organization include former First Lady Michelle Obama and Obama administration official Van Jones. ³

The organization also played a major role in the founding of the left-of-center education organization, Teach for America. Its founder, Wendy Kopp, received a fellowship from the organization based on the creation of what eventually became Teach for America. ³

Support Areas

In addition to supporting the creation of Teach for America, the organization has worked to increase the number of teachers of color in schools. However, in an op-ed the organization published, it lamented the fact that people of color were trying to seek higher paying opportunities to escape the poverty they grew up in rather than going into teaching, which paid less. ⁴

The organization also supports efforts to expand the use of weather-dependent electricity generation sources such as solar power. The organization published an op-ed supporting the development of “community solar” which is where a community comes together and builds a solar farm. ²

The organization supports increasing what it calls “racial and gender equity.” It announced a $50 million racial equity fund in 2020 that sought to launch and build 500 enterprises based on racial equity and create opportunities for those seeking racial equity. ⁵

Leadership

Cheryl L. Dorsey is the president of Echoing Green. She assumed the role in 2002. Prior to this, she worked in the Clinton administration. She was an Echoing Green fellow in 1992 when she launched The Family Van, which was a community-based mobile health unit in Boston. During the Obama administration, Dorsey served as Vice Chair for the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships. ⁶

Funding

According to its 2020 tax return, Echoing Green had $9,670,493 in revenue and $8,471,371 in expenses. It reported $9,638,299 in assets. ⁷

Among its donors are left-of-center organizations such as the MacArthur Foundation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and the Skoll Foundation, which each donated over $1 million. The organization has also been supported by the Tides Foundation, Goldman Sachs, and numerous other institutions. ⁸