2007 Class of Fellows
The 2005 inaugural Fellowship Class of 125 student leaders and the 2006 Fellowship Class of 165 student leaders were selected based on campus and community activism, leadership skills and a commitment to social and economic justice. This diverse group of Fellows attended Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), women's colleges, state universities, conservative and liberal campuses and private schools in seven target states – New York, California, Florida, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan and Texas – and the District of Columbia. We chose three Fellows from each campus in order to form cohesive Fellowship teams.
In 2006, we welcomed the second Young People For fellowship class: 165 students from 61 campuses in 18 states. More than 1,000 students were nominated for the 2006 fellowship program. We expanded our fellowship network to include students from 10 additional states and 21 additional campuses. We launched full expansion programs in Minnesota and Pennsylvania, where we have state networks of five campuses and fellowship teams of at least three Fellows on each campus. We have also expanded to community and tribal colleges.
In 2006, we have piloted two new expansion strategies to help us identify and invest in outstanding young progressive leaders and activists:
Going Deep. In most of the nine states where we have fully expanded, we selected additional Fellows from other campuses in the state.
Building Broad. We had over 100 students apply for the Class of 2006 who attend campuses outside of our network. Of those applicants, 20 Fellows who go to school in nine new expansion states were accepted.
