Echoing Green Leader Cheryl Dorsey Named One of Top 20 Leaders in the US

In a major win for the entire field of social entrepreneurship, US News and World Magazine has named Cheryl Dorsey, Executive Director of Echoing Green, one of the USA's Best Leaders. Putting her in the company of Fed Reserve Chairman Ben Bernake and Former Senator Ted Kennedy, the award is a major sign of how far this field has evolved.

Echoing Green is one of the best known support networks for early stage social innovators. Having worked in their 20+ years with notables like Teach for America's Wendy Kopp, their annual fellowship is a $60,000-$90,000 two-year grant. Beyond the award, Echoing Green develops training, inspirational media, resources for entrepreneurial job seekers, and also participates at a high level with government support for social innovation.

EG leader Cheryl Dorsey has an incredible reputation among those who have worked with her. Her presence and drive have helped an organization that was already cruising dramatically increase its brand profile in the last several years.

The award puts her in incredible company. This year's list includes a fascinating array of people from across industries. It's encouraging to see a number of additional leaders from the social change space, including Greg Mortenson, the founder of the Central Asia Foundation and best selling author of "Three Cups of Tea."

I had a chance to speak to Cheryl yesterday about the award. It was clear even just in a few minutes of talking to her why she was chosen. Her passion not just for her organization but the larger movement and ecosystem in which Echoing Green operates is palpable.

In particular, she has an immense amount of faith in today's young people to make a difference. She said "There is a demographic element to this. There is an 80-million strong demographic bubble of Millennials who are really changing the conversation about how people are creating their legacy." Asked what she would do

Refreshingly, when asked what she would invest in if the placement on the top 20 list came with a big cash prize (and she was barred from just putting it back into the work of the Echoing Green community), she said she would try to invest in programs for even younger people - high school and under. Particularly, she wanted to invest in young people who were marginalized because they didn't fit the clear profile of "talented" that our education system and society promulgate.

One of the most interesting aspects of our conversation was the fact that for Cheryl, the movement around social entrepreneurship is part in parcel of a larger movement towards a whole new level of civic participation and engagement. She said that in fifty years, people may not be talking about "social entrepreneurship," but what mattered was the way in which we inculcate the types of talents and perspectives that can help people succeed and create productive solutions to challenging social problems.

There is great evidence that Cheryl's faith in and investment in younger leaders is going to pay off. One of the other honorees on the list is Eboo Patel, the young founder of the Interfaith Youth Core. IFYC helps embed pluralism as a core value of society by providing young people from different faith backgrounds the chance to serve together and use that service as a platform to explore not only what divides them but what connects them. Only in his early 30s, Eboo is a Rhodes scholar, Ashoka Fellow, and perhaps most impressively, has built an organization filled to the brim with incredibly talented people who can push the organization far beyond the vision of even an immensely talented leader.

Indeed, in many ways, the shift in narrative of social entrepreneurship from a set of charismatic leaders to an ecosystem of actors collaborating to deploy innovative, community-driven solutions to our most challenging problems mirrors the way I think we can view this award. Yes it is an award for the phenomenal work of Cheryl and her team at Echoing Green, but is also a boon for our entire field. If anything, it should push us to work even harder.

(Photo: Cheryl Dorsey testifying about social innovation before Congress. Ten points for anyone who can identify the dapper young man in the background. Via House Committee)