We are thrilled that three alumni of Teach For All network partners — Teach For America alumni Ateira Griffin and Raby Gueye, and Iespējamā Misija (Latvia) alumna Liene Jurgelane — are among the 34 2019 Echoing Green Fellows for their bold solutions to solve the world’s most pressing issues.

Ateira was a Teach For America corps member in Baltimore in 2010 and went on to launch BOND (Building Our Nation's Daughters) in 2015. BOND is a single-mother mentoring program in Baltimore that works to cultivate positive mother-daughter relationships, strengthen single-mother families, and lead advocacy efforts to ensure every single-mother household has equitable access to opportunities. Ateira is also the director of Baltimore Rising, a free seven-week organizing and advocacy training for Baltimore residents, and the co-host of Point of Hue, a bi-weekly podcast creating space for women of color to share, connect, and learn with one another. 

Originally from Senegal, Raby moved to the United States as a refugee at the age of 8. Since then, she has maintained a strong commitment to social justice issues. As a student, Raby assisted with research on gender violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo and collaborated with a diverse group of NGOs to help increase the literacy rate in underserved communities in India. In 2015, Raby joined Teach For America Phoenix and, as a teacher, she prioritized building strong relationships with her students and families to create an environment where all families feel welcomed and included. Currently, Raby is launching Teach For Senegal and is working towards formal partnership with Teach For All.

Liene is the co-founder of new visions, an organization that aims to challenge and transform oppressive norms and narratives through learning, research, and consultancy. In addition to consulting and supporting organizations in their commitments to changing organizational structures and cultures into just and equitable ones, new visions is developing a learning and leadership program for women from Eastern Europe working in culture. The program, which embraces a holistic approach to learning, is rooted in a feminist, cross-generational, social justice approach and aimed at creating an international network of social innovators to fulfill the vision of a world where differences are embraced and cherished. Before founding new visions, Liene was a fellow of the first cohort of Teach For All’s network partner in Latvia, Iespejama Misija, as well as a fellow of BalticLab and the Global Learning Network of Young Europeans.

Ateira, Raby and Liene join a growing cohort of past Echoing Green Fellows from the Teach For All global network, including Teach For All CEO and Co-founder Wendy Kopp. We’re so proud of these three incredible women - congratulations to them and to all of the inspiring 2019 Echoing Green Fellows!