If you have a look at Your Web AddiCT(s); twitter profile you’ll notice my bio states “Web AddiCT, TED fellow, dreaming inside a technicolour conversational prism”.
Many of you have asked what exactly a TED Fellow is. Well, I emailed some of my fellow TED Fellows from TED Global 2007 in Arusha Tanzania (Where the TED Fellowship ‘shiz stared) and the best description of a TED Fellow is…
a fellow for TED believes in sustainability and progressive partnerships that help to bridge gaps in society.
Fellowship applications are now open on the TED website.
At TEDAfrica 2007 in Arusha, Tanzania, 100 Fellows from around Africa participated in a first-of-its-kind gathering that brought together the “Cheetah” generation — what TED speaker George Ayittey calls the new generation of groundbreaking Africans who are entrepreneurial, fluent in technology and run like the wind. That conference profoundly changed the lives of many of its participants.
Arusha saw the beginning of many new friendships, collaborations, companies, investments, websites and NGOs. A powerful network endures to this day. Participants also found recognition, validation and support for each of their projects and ideas.
Because TEDAfrica’s success in 2007 was due in no small part to remarkable ideas of its fellows, TED decided to create a permanent program to bring these amazing paradigm-shifters into the TED community.
We hope their new perspectives and enormous enthusiasm will catalyze new networks and the launch of many new initiatives.
Before TED Global 2007 over 1000 fellowship applications were received. I’m sure thousands more applications will be received this time round seeing that TED Global 2009 will be in Oxford. Good luck to all who apply.
TEDGlobal 2009: The Substance of Things Not Seen
July 21-24, 2009
Oxford, UK
I’ve seen it, I’ve seen it before.
