Monday, May 20, 2013
Global Press Institute Founder Becomes Ashoka Fellow
Fellows are recognized for their innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social problems
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Global Press Institute founder Cristi Hegranes was elected into the Ashoka Fellowship on May 15, 2013.
A coveted honor for social entrepreneurs throughout the world, Hegranes was one of 5 U.S.-based changemakers to become an Ashoka Fellow last week.
A global organization, Ashoka supports those who share qualities traditionally associated with leading business entrepreneurs – vision, innovation, determination and long-term commitment – but are committed to systemic social change in their fields. Ashoka Fellows are recognized for their innovative solutions to some of society’s most pressing social problems.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Cristi into the Ashoka Fellowship,” says Michael Zakaras, a member of Ashoka’s Fellow selection team in the U.S. “Her idea, combined with her leadership, will improve the quality, diversity, and sustainability of international journalism. And by equipping women around the world with the training to report on their communities, GPI will undoubtedly spur important social change in the process.”
Global Press Institute (GPI) is an award-winning, high-impact social venture that uses journalism as a development tool to educate, employ and empower women in the developing world to produce high-quality local news coverage that elevates global awareness and ignites social change.
GPI is building a network of professional women journalists throughout the developing world who earn a fair wage for reporting on their local communities. Their unique coverage of issues overlooked by mainstream media contributes directly to the development and empowerment of their communities, brings greater transparency to their countries, and changes the way the world views their people and cultures. Today, GPI trains and employs 135 women in 26 developing countries.
“It has been an incredible experience to see Cristi help transform the lives of so many women, and to watch them in turn write stories that bring about social change and solve a problem plaguing the global media industry for more than a decade,” says Ryan Blitstein, a member of the GPI board of directors and CEO of Change Illinois. “Even after several years on the board, I am still amazed by the unique model Cristi envisioned, and her tireless efforts to make it a reality.” Blitstein nominated Hegranes for the Ashoka fellowship in 2012.
Hegranes is also the recent recipient of the Grinnell Prize for Social Justice Innovation, a Jefferson Award for Public Service and the Ida B. Wells Award for Bravery in Journalism. After working as a feature writer with Village Voice Media in New York and San Francisco, Cristi founded GPI at the age of 25.
“This is an incredible honor,” Hegranes said of her election to the Ashoka Fellowship. “It is the dream of every social entrepreneur to join this incredible network!”
Hegranes holds a master’s degree from New York University, served as a fellow-in-residence at The Poynter Institute for Media Studies in St. Petersburg and received a Bachelor of Arts from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
“I am so grateful to the women of GPI around the world,” Hegranes says. “They have given life to this dream and they continuously prove that journalism is a development tool capable of extraordinary change.”
To contact Cristi Hegranes call +011-415-516-7831; email [email protected]
