Anant Fellowship for Climate Action announces its cohort for 2021-22

Ahmedabad, : The Anant Fellowship for Climate Action welcomed its second cohort that comprises 24 Fellows who come from 13 countries. This diverse group of climate change solutionaries was selected after a stringent assessment of 2703 applications received from 50 countries this year. The Fellowship has attracted attention from individuals belonging to a wide range of backgrounds such as law, public affairs, finance, engineering, academia, policy, architecture, corporate sustainability, media, entrepreneurs, environmental activism, and many others since its inception. This year, the youngest applicant to the Fellowship was 16 years of age and the oldest was 63. The Fellowship also saw a spike in the number of women applicants this year as compared to the previous year.

The cohort of 2022 is an eclectic mix of individuals with academic and practical experience in areas such as microbiology research, biodiversity conservation, environmental activism, corporate sustainability, agriculture and marine ecosystems, to name a few.

The Fellowship is committed to strengthening the global climate action community. It does so by bringing together climate experts such as faculty members, mentors, Fellowship’s alumni and partners like MIT Solve on to a common platform to engage in meaningful dialogue, learning and collaboration. This year, the Fellowship has introduced 3 AFCA Cafes, which are innovative and collaborative spaces located in 3 different countries, where the community can organise meet-ups and collaborate on projects while continuing to enhance peer-to-peer learning.

The Fellowship is open to anyone who wants to drive the biggest solutions for mitigating climate change. There are no age, degree, background criteria to apply for the Fellowship. The Fellowship offers a powerful combination of knowledge and mentorship. The curriculum covers three pedagogical pillars – technical knowledge, change-maker skills and personal development, and is divided into six terms conducted over two months each. The candidate has an option to choose between the full-time or a part-time track.

The first set of fellows for the 2022 cohort includes; Arpita Bose,Principal Investigator and Founder of Bose Lab, Washington University in St Louis, USA. Nitij Singh, Manager, Strategic Government Advisory, Yes Bank and Co-founder, Aslee, India. Sigrid Vasconez, Sociologist and environmental biologist, Ex-Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility, Ecuador. Juan Antonio Arriaga, Co-founder and Chief Financial Officer, GREENfluidics S.A.S. de CV., Mexico. Md. Humayain Kabir, PhD candidate, Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change, University of Graz, Austria. Anusha Sheth, Master’s degree in Sustainable Energy Technology, Technische Universiteit Delft, The Netherlands. Krystel Mae Penaflor, Development Management Officer, Climate Change Commission, Office of the President, Philippines. Maria Elena De Matteo, Global Communications & Engagement Strategist, The Netherlands.Jos C Raphael, the Director, District Rainwater Harvesting Mission, Kerala government (Mazhapolima), India. Atik Sheikh, Senior Consultant, Sustainability and Climate change Division, PwC India, India. Stacey Alvarez de la Campa, Educational/legal consultant, environmental expert and teacher, University of Strathclyde, Centre for Environmental Law and Governance, Scotland; and Lex Caribbean Attorneys-at-law, Barbados; founder of Worldwide Sustainability Warriors. Ketan Patel, Director of Africa and Asia, Enveritas, USA. Shanmuga Sundara Bharathi, Documentary filmmaker, former Programme Executive, Doordarshan, India; Nature Conservationist since 2019. Ashutosh Singh, GPODS Fellow, Plaksha Tech Leaders Fellow, ClimateForce Antarctica Participant, Former BDM India, Zoeasy LLC, India, Founder Farminvesta, IIT Kharagpur Graduate. Paul M. Tuda, Scientist, Leibniz Centre for Tropical Marine Research (ZMT), guest lecturer, ISATEC (Tropical Fisheries and Catching Methods), Bremen University, Germany. Susan Jackson, Affiliated Researcher, Stockholm University, Sweden. Freeman Elohor Oluowo, Centre Coordinator, Climate change and environment programmes and projects, African Centre for Climate Actions and Rural Development (ACCARD), Nigeria. Sai Parameswaran, Climate Change Desk, LAYA Resource Centre, India. Jeremiah Thoronka, BA (Hons) in Global Challenges, African Leadership University, Kigali, Rwanda; Certificate in Conservation Leadership, School of Wildlife Conservation, Kigali, Rwanda; Intern, Solar Cold Chain Logistics Engineering. Pankaj Jiwrajka, Manager, Partnerships, Transform Rural India. Kelo Uchendu, Founder and Lead Strategist, Gray2Green Movement, Nigeria. Neeraja Kudrimoti, State Program Officer – Transformation of Aspirational Districts Program, Chhattisgarh, India and Master’s in Public Policy, University College London, United Kingdom. Nurul Islam Biplob, Project coordinator – Alternative pathways for climate-induced migrants under Promoting Knowledge for Accountable Systems. British Council, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Salem Afeworki, Energy and Sustainability Services Manager, City of Costa Mesa, California & Founder of Value Sustainability, USA.