The Millennium Campus Network (MCN) and the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) are proud to present the Millennium Fellowship Class of 2023, an ambitious program to help make the Sustainable Development Goals and UNAI principles a reality. The Class of 2023 Millennium Fellows have been selected among a record-breaking 44,369 applicants from over 3,000 campuses across 170 nations.
Millennium Fellows are university undergraduates selected based on their leadership on sustainable development-related projects that advance the SDGs in their communities. As Millennium Fellows, they will participate in a semester-long leadership development program to improve their student organizing, partnership building and community impact skills.
The Millennium Fellowship Class of 2023 includes over 4,000 Millennium Fellows on over 260 campuses in 38 nations that are participating in the program this year. The Class of 2023 is on track to engage in projects collectively advancing all 17 Sustainable Development Goals and all 10 UNAI Principles. Here is just a snippet of the important projects the Class of 2023 has taken on:
At the National Law University Delhi, India - Millennium Fellows are driving a comprehensive initiative aimed at providing quality education access and improving learning outcomes for underprivileged children facing financial constraints. Through various components, including identification and enrollment efforts, scholarships and financial aid provisions, establishment of learning centers, and active community engagement, the project strives to reduce the educational disparities and promote inclusive and equitable education. This initiative is projected to positively impact more than 50 children during the Millennium Fellowship this year.
At the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom - Millennium Fellows are leading an initiative to enhance the university's sustainability strategy by introducing policies that address climate justice and recognize the historical legacy of the institution. Aligned with SDG 13, Climate Action, and SDG 10, Reduced Inequality, this initiative ensures that the university's commitment to environmental sustainability is augmented with historical perspectives and inclusivity.
This year, with support from Schmidt Futures, several hundred emerging technologists in the Millennium Fellowship at campuses worldwide will launch tech-related projects to create community impact. At the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, Millennium Fellows are launching a tech-enabled platform that provides access to quality education to students from low-income families. At the Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia, Millennium Fellows are offering free programming tutorials to 70+ teenagers this fall, and at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the United States Millennium Fellows are planning to educate students about their data choices before they agree to privacy policies and cookie data agreements. These emerging technologists will have access to specialized case studies and networking to help leverage their technical skills to advance the SDGs.
Ban Ki-moon, eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations, has shared his enthusiasm for the program, "As Millennium Fellows, we need you to lead by example - with empathy, humility, and inclusion as guiding values. You can embrace global citizenship, building a strong global network to learn from and support each other…We are all counting on you to affirm the dignity of people and our planet, now and for years to come.”
The United Nations Academic Impact is proud to partner with MCN on this initiative, and you can check out our website in the coming weeks for more detailed articles on the Millennium Fellows and their projects. You can learn more about the Millennium Fellowship Class of 2023 and apply for the Class of 2024 at the Fellowship website.