TOWARD FAIRER, HEALTHIER, MORE INCLUSIVE SOCIETIES
Contents
Our mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 A connected community of changemakers . . . . 4 About The Atlantic Fellows . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Health Equity US + Global . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Featured Project: Christina Rosenthal . . . . . . 10 Social Equity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Featured Project: Jody Barney . . . . . . . . . . 14 Equity in Brain Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Featured Project: Tala Al-Rousan . . . . . . . . 18 Collaboration for Impact . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Social and Economic Equity . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Featured Project: Johnny Miller . . . . . . . . . 24 Racial Equity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Featured Project: Alberto Retana . . . . . . . . 28 Health Equity in Southeast Asia . . . . . . . . . 30 Featured Project: Nila Tanzil . . . . . . . . . . 32 Health Equity in South Africa . . . . . . . . . . 34 Featured Project: Thami Hukwe . . . . . . . . . 36 About The Atlantic Institute . . . . . . . . . . . 38 About The Atlantic Philanthropies . . . . . . . 40 2
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A BETTER WORLD BEGINS WITH YOU
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OUR MISSION
To empower catalytic communities of leaders to advance fairer, healthier, more inclusive societies.
Exceptional leaders in their field of work with a deep resolve for a more equal and just world.
Atlantic Fellows are greeted by refugees when they visited Za’atari refugee camp during a thematic forum in Jordan
United in their pursuit of equity, Atlantic Fellows come from all walks of life and a variety of professions. They include advocates, artists, journalists, lawyers, business professionals, health practitioners, government officials, academics, and researchers. Atlantic Fellows are courageous, compassionate, and collaborative thinkers and doers, who collectively seek to bring lasting improvements to their communities and the world.
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A Connected Community of Changemakers
ATLANTIC FELLOWS ARE:
At an inflection point where the program provides the resources to increase their potential for significant impact Willing and able to navigate and learn from diverse perspectives and complexity on a local and global scale
1 Canada 100
Committed to work with and support others to achieve individual and collective impact
US
1 Bermuda 3
Mexico 4 Costa Rica 1 Colombia 3
Peru
Cuba 1 Jamaica Trinidad 1 and Tobago 9
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Brazil 2 Chile
4 Argentina
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Active Fellows by country as of June 2020
Over the next two decades, the network of Atlantic Fellows will grow to thousands. By the end of 2020, around 500 Fellows will be active in 60 countries.
The Netherlands United Kingdom Ireland 11
29 1
1 Sweden Denmark
1 33
1 Lithuania
Germany 1 Austria 3 Belgium
Lao PDR 1 Armenia 2 Nepal 4 Turkey France 1 12 1 Iraq Greece 1 Thailand 3 Jordan 1 China Myanmar 3 Israel Pakistan 8 Egypt 7 6 Senegal 6 18 India 18 15 1 Nigeria Philippines 17 Vietnam Sierra 1 1 Ethiopia 8 1 Ghana Leone 1 2 5Cambodia Uganda 9 Liberia Brunei Kenya Malaysia 1 11 Spain
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2 77
1 Malawi
Zimbabwe
1 Botswana
South Africa
Indonesia 1 Singapore
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One Shared Vision. Seven Programs. One Common Purpose: Equity.
Within and across the interconnected Atlantic Fellows programs, Fellows collaborate across disciplines and borders to understand and address the root causes of pressing global problems. Each of the seven Atlantic Fellows programs is distinct and grounded in its local context.
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All programs begin with a core fellowship experience and continue with Fellows joining the lifelong global community supported by the Atlantic Institute. The Institute provides Fellows with long-term resources and opportunities to connect, learn, and work together to tackle inequity.
Fellows at the annual Global Convening in Oxford / Photo: Lee Atherton
FOR RACIAL EQUITY
FOR SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC EQUITY
FOR EQUITY IN BRAIN HEALTH
FOR SOCIAL EQUITY
FOR HEALTH EQUITY IN SOUTH AFRICA
FOR HEALTH EQUITY IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
FOR HEALTH EQUITY US + GLOBAL
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“ The sense of community created with other health equity leaders is both inspiring and empowering. I feel this fellowship gives you not just the experiences and tools to develop as a leader, but also the support and platform to learn and grow by putting learning into practice.� BRANDI PAYTON, 2019 ATLANTIC FELLOW FOR HEALTH EQUITY
The Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity US + Global program develops leaders who have the knowledge, skills, and courage to build more equitable health systems, organizations, and communities. Health equity aims to close the health care gap between wealthy and marginalized communities by realizing the benefits of public health and health care. Despite progress, less advantaged groups continue to live shorter lives and health inequities persist within and between countries. The fellowship aims to create a global network of committed leaders by training them to recognize, understand, and work towards resolving these inequities.
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Mid-year convening for Fellows in Rwanda, an important opportunity for them to understand health equity in a different context. / Photo: Selam Chale
PROGRAM • One-year US + Global fellowship non-residential
• An online curriculum, which includes classes,
program, based at The Fitzhugh Mullan Institute
individualized coaching, peer mentoring and
for Health Workforce Equity, George Washington
team-based learning
University, Washington, D.C. • 10 US and 10 international Fellows annually, with
• Open to early-mid career leaders involved in work related to health
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FEATURED PROJECT CHRISTINA ROSENTHAL Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity US + Global
“ I developed a pipeline program to try and encourage under-represented African-American women and other groups to pursue careers in health care. When I think about being an Atlantic Fellow, I think about being a change agent.” CHRISTINA ROSENTHAL
Despite humble beginnings, Christina, who grew up in Memphis, Tennessee, achieved her ambition to be a dentist. She did not even see the inside of a dental office until age 13; however, her first visits were with African-American female dentists, who inspired her to consider a career in health care. Christina went on to successfully graduate from dental school and is now the CEO of her own dental practice. She has an ‘open door’ policy, giving students from under-resourced communities the opportunity to explore a career in dentistry by shadowing her at work. Christina also runs a program, Determined to be a Doctor Someday (D.D.S.), that offers mentoring to students who are from similar backgrounds as hers. Christina hopes that through her mentorship, young people who seek careers in health care will return to look after the needs of the underprivileged and marginalized members of their own communities, thereby helping to close the health care accessibility gap.
LEFT Christina at work, watched by a young woman she is mentoring. Photo: Flatbush Films
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PROGRAM • A year-long intensive non-residential program with up to 25 Fellows • 5 immersive modules, an annual retreat and a year-
• Enrollment in a graduate qualification in Social Change Leadership • Continued community, collaboration, and access
long social change project provide theoretical
to resources to support Fellows in their work and
and practice-based skills development for social
lifelong fellowship
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• Program staff based at the University of Melbourne
“ At the center of this program is a commitment to Indigenous knowledges to create lasting social change. Without this approach, the challenges to Indigenous inequity will remain piecemeal and solutions will likely falter.” ELIZABETH MCKINLEY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ATLANTIC FELLOWS OF SOCIAL EQUITY
The Atlantic Fellows for Social Equity seek to drive greater equity for Indigenous peoples globally. The program is committed to developing a network of globally connected Fellows, skilled in social change leadership, informed by collaborative principles and guided by Indigenous knowledge and agency. Fellows are exceptional changemakers with a track record in Indigenous social change initiatives, and experience in Indigenous-focused projects. They come from a diverse mix of disciplines, and include Indigenous and non-Indigenous leaders from Australia, New Zealand and across the Pacific. Fellows are united by a commitment to enabling social change agendas that redress disparities and inequities, build Indigenous capability and strive for more equitable social relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.
BASED AT IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE | THE UNIVERSITY OF AUCKLAND | QUEENSLAND UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY | BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA | JAWUN | BROTHERHOOD OF ST LAURENCE | WITH SUPPORT FROM THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT
Fellows participating in a workshop, in Melbourne 2018 / Photo: Mickey Kovari, Atlantic Fellows for Social Equity
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FEATURED PROJECT JODY BARNEY Atlantic Fellow for Social Equity
“ With the Atlantic Fellows for Social Equity program, I’m working with Aboriginal Deaf women to raise their awareness and training, so they can become advocates. I give them an awareness around advocacy and issues concerning human rights.” JODY BARNEY
Jody is an Aboriginal Deaf woman who for more than 30 years has worked as a trainer and advocate with Deaf and Hard of Hearing Indigenous people across Australia. Some 80 per cent of Aboriginal people suffer from hearing loss, resulting in high levels of educational and social disadvantage. According to anti-discrimination agencies, Aboriginal people face a higher risk of arrest due to racial profiling by the police. For example, when stopped in the street, their inability to hear a police officer can be misinterpreted as aggression and many have no understanding of their legal rights. Jody was the first Deaf Aboriginal woman to present at local, state, national and international levels on the empowerment of Aboriginal people with disabilities. She helps Aboriginal communities learn sign language so they can access community services, fostering culturally safe communication that draws on their Indigenous background.
LEFT Top: Jody leading Disability Cultural Awareness Training in Darwin, Australia Bottom: Jody working with local Larrakia Elder who is living with a disability, at Mindle Beach, Darwin. Photo: Flatbush Films
“If I can give a little bit of my knowledge to empower people to be the best that they can be,” she says. “Why wouldn’t I? The system’s only going to change from people who buck up against it.”
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“ Dementia poses a growing threat to people around the globe. The Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health Program answers the world’s urgent call for well-equipped leaders ready and able to tackle this challenge.” MARY ROBINSON, FORMER CHANCELLOR, TRINITY COLLEGE DUBLIN AND FORMER PRESIDENT OF IRELAND
The Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health seek social and public health solutions to reduce the scale and adverse impact of dementia. Affecting nearly 50 million people globally, dementia takes its highest toll on vulnerable and disadvantaged populations. Fellows are empowered to make significant progress toward reducing the scale and impact of dementia through an inter-professional leadership training program and access to a strong and robust global network of mentors and colleagues. Fellows will translate research evidence and innovation into policies and practices that reflect the needs of specific regions and the populations they serve.
BASED AT IN PARTNERSHIP WITH ALZHEIMER’S ASSOCIATION | ALZHEIMER’S SOCIETY UK
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Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health showing their connectedness at an event in São Paulo, Brazil
PROGRAM • Up to 40 Fellows annually • 12-month residential fellowship
• Alumni program to support lifelong community, collaboration and networking, post fellowship training
• Fellows and program faculty and staff, based at the University of California, San Francisco; and Trinity College Dublin ATLANTICFELLOWS.ORG
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FEATURED PROJECT TALA AL-ROUSAN Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health
Tala Al-Rousan, a physician and epidemiologist, was motivated to focus on refugee health partly because of the plight of the huge number of refugees in her native Jordan and the growing global refugee crisis. She was also driven by the injustice faced by refugees who have already been forced to flee their homes and countries of origin. Tala’s work as a clinician in refugee camps in Jordan has challenged her on both a personal and professional level. As an Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health, she has received funding to study the rates of cognitive decline in Syrians living in Al Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan and the hosting community. Tala is a Bernard Lown Fellow and visiting lecturer at the Harvard School of Public Health and Jordan University of Science and Technology, and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego. In addition, Tala’s research aims at informing policies involving refugee health in host countries including Jordan, Europe, and the United States.
In partnership with the Atlantic Institute, Tala was the co-designer of the first Thematic Forum on Displacement and Health, in Jordan in October 2019. Some 25 Atlantic Fellows, program leaders and staff explored the topic of displacement by visiting refugee camps, local Jordanian universities, government officials, offices of the United Nations and foundations in Jordan.
“ Migration is a normal and favorable human behavior. It is like pollination. Forced migration is not normal though; it is an escalating global health challenge and no one is immune to it. Let us start the conversation here.” TALA AL-ROUSAN
LEFT Tala and Fellows at the Thematic Forum in Jordan Photo: Issa Dahdal
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Collaboration for Impact
The Atlantic Fellowship is built on the key premise that collaboration between Fellows from the seven globally diverse Atlantic programs will advance fairer, healthier, more inclusive societies. The Displacement of Migrant and Refugee Populations Fellows Group is an example of that connection and collaboration. Six Fellows, from four programs and disciplines, are working together to bring about transformative change in those lives. The group combines their diverse skills to start addressing the status quo narrative surrounding displacement through a combination of crossdisciplinary creative and academic approaches, with the objective of influencing the public and policymakers and normalizing the discourse around displacement.
TALA AL-ROUSAN Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health
DURKHANAI AYUBI Atlantic Fellow for Social Equity
DOMINIC CAMPBELL Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health
The Fellows (pictured below), with the support of the Atlantic Institute, brought a group of 18 people from across the Atlantic programs to Jordan in October 2019 to study the effects of displacement on health. Crossing Borders: Displacement and the Effects on Health included workshops in Amman and a cornerstone visit to Za’atari refugee camp, home to almost 80,000 Syrians who have fled their country’s civil war. Reflecting on that experience, the group, in collaboration with other participating Fellows, developed several long-term project strands combining academic research, thought leadership pieces and art. Hosted on a specially curated website, the Fellows’ work is aimed at both policymakers and the public.
JOHNNY MILLER Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity
ZANELE NTOMBIZANELE Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity in South Africa
LUQMAN YESUFU Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity in South Africa
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“ Can you imagine that you have a peaceful life but then suddenly, without even a fault, you have to live in a desert where the sun and the insects are the only friends for you? How someone would feel when they find themselves in this new environment? Still, you are grateful for this place to protect you and for staying alive and far from the bombing and destruction.�
REEMA AL HAMAD
Reema Al Hamad, a Syrian refugee, who with her community extended the hand of hospitality and generosity to the Atlantic Fellows. Reema was one of the authors of a collaborative thought piece, written with three Atlantic Fellows, entitled The Global Republic of the Displaced. Photos: Johnny Miller
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PROGRAM • Up to 18 Fellows annually, 9 per track
well as participation in the 5-week program above
• 12-month non-residential program consisting of
• COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund support for 4 projects
5 weeks of courses and field visits, including a
focusing on inequalities and the global impact of and
one-week course in Cape Town
responses to the pandemic
• 12-month residential MSc program at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) as 22
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• Program staff based at the International Inequalities Institute, London School of Economics
“ The diffusion of knowledge and education have always been key forces pushing towards the reduction in inequality; the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity program offers a bold and exciting paradigm through which future changemakers can be equipped with the necessary insights and tools to chart a new way forward.” THOMAS PIKETTY, EHESS & ÉCOLE D’ÉCONOMIE DE PARIS/ PARIS SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS
The Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity seek to address the major global challenge of entrenched and growing inequality. Inequality is not inevitable. A better, fairer world is possible. Equity can be achieved through bold, imaginative responses to unfair structures and systems, forged through collective action and aligned to values of fairness, care, and dignity. The program brings together activists, policymakers, practitioners and movement-builders from around the world, with a focus on the global South. It is designed to critically engage Fellows with global theories, practices, and contexts of social and economic inequality that will support them as social change leaders.
BASED AT IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NELSON MANDELA SCHOOL OF PUBLIC GOVERNANCE, UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA | INSTITUTE FOR POLICY STUDIES
Photo: K.M. Shook
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FEATURED PROJECT JOHNNY MILLER Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity
“ The drone distances the photographer from the viewer of the photograph, both physically and mentally, forcing the viewer to analyze the far-off image. I hope that this, in turn, forces the viewer to confront the ethics of representation and the limitations and freedom of using technology in image-making.” JOHNNY MILLER
Based in Cape Town, South Africa, Johnny Miller is a journalist and photographer, and a member of the inaugural cohort of Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity. Together with Code for Africa (Africa’s largest civic technology and open data and journalism initiative), he co-founded africanDRONE. The non-profit organization has grown into a network of over 1,000 pilots, activists, businesses and officials in over 40 African countries, and it was a partner of the World Bank-led African Drone Forum held in Rwanda in February 2020. Johnny’s photography, which focuses on inequalities, has achieved international acclaim. His Unequal Scenes collection of photographs, distinguished by the use of drones, reveals the stark contrasts of wealth and poverty that exist side by side in our urban landscapes, but which often go unseen at ground level.
LEFT (CLOCKWISE FROM TOP) Pietermaritzburg, in province of KwaZulu-Natal Shane Holland, a resident of a rural area outside Cape Town. Durban, South Africa Photos: Johnny Miller
With support from Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity, Johnny’s photographs have been featured in exhibitions around the world. His images mix aerial imagery with intimate portraits of people on the frontlines of inequality. ATLANTICFELLOWS.ORG
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“ I don’t know that I can adequately explain the impact that the Atlantic Fellows for Racial Equity is having on me. Something deep-seated is blossoming. I’ve returned feeling different. Better. Braver. Bolder. More global. While I’m not yet sure of the path forward, I know that change is afoot.” CEDRIC BROWN, ATLANTIC FELLOW FOR RACIAL EQUITY 2019
The Atlantic Fellows for Racial Equity supports accomplished leaders from diverse backgrounds to uncover and address the root causes of racial inequality and engage in strategic, long-term collaborative efforts for transformative social change. Through leadership development, community building, design labs and narrative change, the program supports the personal development and capacity of these leaders, and catalyses broader social change activity, based on a view that both are required to achieve racial equity.
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Atlantic Fellows and AFRE staff on a walking tour of Harlem / Photo: Zeuxi De La Cruz
PROGRAM • 20 high-impact leaders from South Africa and the US
• Opportunities for continued community, collaboration
participate in a dialogue-based, non-residential program,
and access to courses, with lifelong global fellowship
with virtual and in-person sessions in South Africa and
networking, learning and peer-to-peer convenings
the US, to create and test strategies for social change • Fellows are supported to pursue projects through
• Program staff based at Columbia University, New York City; and the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Johannesburg
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FEATURED PROJECT ALBERTO RETANA Atlantic Fellow for Racial Equity
“ The American dream is being redefined as we live, and is being refined by people of color. It’s the story of we; it’s the story of us; it’s the story of community.”
Alberto Retana is a changemaker focused on mobilizing Black and Latino communities by leveraging their collective power, as President and CEO of the Community Coalition in Los Angeles. Police accountability is just one of the ways he is challenging institutional racism and the terror that affects people of color on a daily basis.
ALBERTO RETANA
“I’m proud to be an Atlantic Fellow for Racial Equity, largely because it was a program designed to target anti-Black racism,” says Alberto. “That really called to me. That was really important to me, especially as a non-Black Latino, who’s in deep solidarity with the Black community.” Since his days as a youth organizer with the Community Coalition 20 years ago, the organization’s lobbying power has grown. Recently, the Coalition was asked by the City of Los Angeles government to host 100 dinners in homes across the area and lead tough conversations about race and racism. Community Coalition is also the driving force behind a project to convert a local building into an art and culture center celebrating Black history. LEFT AND ABOVE Alberto speaking at a demonstration in Los Angeles Photo (left): CBS Los Angeles Photo (above): The PUSH LA Coalition
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PROGRAM • Up to 25 Fellows on a non-residential program with
• Provides a nurturing, enabling and empowering
induction year activities totalling 6 weeks and a lifelong
environment to support the work of Fellows, and to
community-building component
build a long-term community for promoting health
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equity in the region • Program staff based at The Equity Initiative – a program with the China Medical Board – with offices in Cambridge, Bangkok and Beijing
“ Equity is not a single final destination but a process of collectively moving toward greater fairness. This fellowship program aims to nurture a generation of young leaders and steadily build a sustained community of change agents for health equity.”
The Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity in Southeast Asia seek to promote and improve health equity throughout the region, particularly among the most vulnerable and marginalized populations. Fellows are the next generation of transformative leaders from 10 ASEAN countries and China who will work to reform health policy and systems, tackle social determinants, and address health inequities within and beyond national boundaries.
LINCOLN CHEN, PRESIDENT OF THE CHINA MEDICAL BOARD
Fellows will form the core of a multi-sectoral community – a thriving network of health equity practitioners who are committed to pursuing social justice in health.
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Rohingya children at play / Photo: The Equity Initiative
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FEATURED PROJECT NILA TANZIL Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity in Southeast Asia
Growing up in Indonesia, Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity in Southeast Asia, Nila Tanzil, was acutely aware of the disparities in education opportunities for children, particularly those living in remote areas. Working on the basis that in order to improve their literacy children must first have books, Nila established Taman Bacaan Pelangi (Rainbow Reading Gardens) in 2009. So far, this non-profit organization has established more than 130 child-friendly libraries across 18 islands in Eastern Indonesia. More than 32,000 children have benefitted from the service, which has provided over a quarter of a million books, as well as training for thousands of local teachers in remote areas. Supported by the Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity in Southeast Asia, Nila developed a project to support literacy on remote Flores Island in the eastern half of the country. Through a training program on literacy teaching methods for teachers, teachers in 17 schools across the islands are reducing the illiteracy rate of children and improving reading
skills. Dedicated staff go to the schools every day for three months to ensure that teachers work from the lesson plans to adopt new literacy methods. Rainbow Reading Gardens also empower local communities and youth leaders by providing free workshops on organizational skills and literacy programs. There is also the Parents Engagement Program, a series of workshops for parents on how to create an environment at home to help encourage their children to read. In short, Rainbow Reading Gardens has created an entire ecosystem to build and sustain a reading culture in remote areas in Eastern Indonesia.
“ As well as it being a human right, I want to give children the joy of reading. Books can inspire and give them the courage to dream big!� NILA TANZIL
LEFT A young visitor to the Rainbow Reading Gardens. Photo: Nila Tanzil
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“ South Africa is hungry for leaders who can heal divisions and help build a healthy, stable country. The Atlantic Fellows at Tekano will enable local activists to enhance their leadership abilities and forge links with other leaders.” DR. TRACEY NALEDI, TEKANO BOARD CHAIRPERSON
Tekano, Health Equity in South Africa, seeks to inspire and sustain the changes that South Africa needs to bridge the enormous inequality gap. Through the fellowship, Tekano is growing health equity leadership to tackle the social and economic inequities plaguing South Africa; building leaders and engaging communities across sectors and disciplines to address barriers that prevent people from leading healthy and productive lives. Supported by Tekano, Fellows connect to a deeper understanding of the systemic causes of injustice; fostering dynamic, visionary, value-based health equity leaders – both individually and in catalytic communities for social action.
BASED AT TEKANO WORKS TO PROMOTE LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT THROUGH FELLOWSHIP. THE FELLOWSHIP IS THE CORE OF A CATALYTIC COMMUNITY WORKING TOGETHER IN A VARIETY OF INTER-CONNECTED NETWORKS TO ENABLE SOCIAL CHANGE THAT SUPPORTS HEALTH EQUITY.
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Fellows and staff engage in a Lekgotla (meeting) / Photo: Tekano
PROGRAM • A 12-month program with 4 modules with strong
• Continued community, collaboration, and access to
inter-modular activities such as coaching and
resources to support Fellows in their work and through
mentoring support
the lifelong fellowship
• 25 Fellows selected annually, chosen for their leadership in challenging social determinants of health, who
• Program staff based at Tekano in Khayelitsha, Cape Town
design and implement a social initiative that will extend into the lifelong fellowship journey
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FEATURED PROJECT THAMI HUKWE Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity in South Africa
Thami has extensive experience of organizing land occupations and mass mobilizations in the struggle for land rights and decent housing for black communities living in overcrowded townships in south Johannesburg. The government has identified lands for redevelopment but for Thami and others, it is not happening fast enough. “We need resources that help the community to move forward,” he says. Thami organizes community meetings that unite around a common struggle, representing those who live in shacks with no running water, electricity or sanitation. Leading land occupations that identify and occupy land for housing development has not come without personal risk to him and his family. An attempt to burn down his house was foiled when people from the local communities sprang to his defence.
Without decent housing comes disease, crime and many other problems. Thami says: “Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity in South Africa is a platform for different activists coming together around health equity. We have a common struggle here and we all have to carry this struggle, especially to liberate the land.”
“ The State should build a human settlement that must address the different needs that human beings have. We want to reclaim our land, to reclaim our spirit, to reclaim our identity.” THAMI HUKWE
LEFT Taking a leading role at a local community protest in Johannesburg. Photo: Flatbush Films
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The vision of the Atlantic Institute is to accelerate the eradication of inequities for fairer, healthier and more inclusive societies COMMUNITY AND SUPPORT FOR A NEW GENERATION OF LEADERS
The Atlantic Institute provides Fellows and staff with the networks, architecture and resources to connect, learn and act to address the underlying systemic causes of inequity – locally and globally: • Building a catalytic lifelong community of leaders who connect, learn and collaborate across diverse perspectives for greater impact • Providing courageous programming (face to face and virtual) that supports Fellows and staff to shift narratives, shape policy and create new solutions • Building an extended community with strong strategic partners and alliances for greater impact The Atlantic Institute is housed with the Rhodes Trust in Oxford, UK 38
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“ Our work and, most importantly, the work of our Fellows is even more necessary than ever. We are constantly challenged during these fragile times to be steadfast in our determination to seek out and address injustices that continue to disproportionately affect the most vulnerable people.” EVIE O’BRIEN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (INTERIM) OF THE ATLANTIC INSTITUTE
Atlantic Fellows gather at the Senior Fellows Global Convening 2019 hosted by the Atlantic Institute / Photos: Lee Atherton
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THE IDEA BEHIND THE ATLANTIC FELLOWS
THE ATLANTIC PHILANTHROPIES
The Atlantic Philanthropies established the Atlantic Fellows in 2015 to culminate the foundation’s work in the geographies and issue areas in which it historically focused, and its decades of investing in people and in their vision and ability to realize a better world.
Over 35 years, Atlantic has made grants totaling more than $8 billion to advance opportunity, health equity and human dignity primarily in eight regions across the globe. After establishing Atlantic in 1982, Chuck Feeney quietly committed his wealth to the service of humanity.
Atlantic has committed over $700 million – its biggest investment ever – alongside other partner organizations and governments, to support the work of the global network of thousands of Atlantic Fellows over the next two decades, and beyond.
In keeping with Feeney’s Giving While Living, big bet philosophy, Atlantic has invested in systemic change to accelerate lasting improvements in the lives of disadvantaged and vulnerable people. Atlantic completed grantmaking in 2016 and concluded operations in 2020. LEARN MORE AT ATLANTICPHILANTHROPIES.ORG
Chuck Feeney with a student at Hue University’s Learning Resource Center in Viet Nam Photo: Le Nhan Phuong
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AT THE END OF THE DAY, IT’S ALL ABOUT PEOPLE
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Summer 2020