Filipina philanthropist makes her mark on the global stage as one of the pioneers of the fellowship program of the Obama Foundation
Founder and CEO of Teach for the Philippines, Clarissa Delgado, has just been named as one of the members of the first class of Obama Foundation’s Fellowship Program.
The program aims to further develop and strengthen community leaders and philanthropists towards creating active citizenship across the globe. The program takes both experienced leaders and those interested to do some good, and are trained and equipped with the tools that civic leaders will need to create positive change. The foundation selected 20 individuals representing 11 countries.
Delgado is a noted philanthropist in the Philippines doing much work in the education sector. In an interview with Philippine Tatler in 2014, she shared that her focus on education was because she “believe[s] that to alleviate poverty, the first step is to change the way in which those entrenched in it perceive themselves. To alleviate poverty a society must have the sense that they can shape their own future. It is only through education that individuals are taught this.”
Teach for the Philippines is a non-profit organization that works to provide Filipino children with access to relevant and excellent education. The foundation enlists some of the country’s promising young leaders to teach in public schools for a period of two years. The organization was founded by Clarissa Delgado, Lizzie Zobel and Margarita Delgado.
The first class of fellows includes: Erin Barnes (Brooklyn, NY), Celina de Sola (San Salvador, El Salvador), Nedgine Paul Deroly (Gonaïves, Haiti), Tiana Epps-Johnson (Chicago, IL), Sasha Fisher (New York, NY/ Rwanda), Harry Grammar (Los Angeles, CA), Zarlasht Halaimzai (Lond, UK/ Greece), Ashley Hanson (Granite Falls, MN/ Boulder, CO), Preethi Herman (Delhi, India), Navdeep Kang (Cincinnati, OH), Moussa Kondo (Bamako, Mali), Sander Lederer (Budapest, Hungary), Kalani Leifer (San Francisco, CA/ New York, NY), Melissa Malzuhn (Washington, DC), Koketso Moeti (Johannesburg, South Africa), Veronica Palmer (Aurora, CO), Alex Smith (London, UK/ Manchester, UK), Dominique Jordan Turner (Chicago, IL), and Keith Wattley (Oakland, CA).