ABOUT THE MILLENNIUM FELLOWSHIP - CLASS OF 2020
United Nations Academic Impact and MCN are proud to partner on the Millennium Fellowship. In the three months the application was open in 2020, 15,159 young leaders applied to join the Class of 2020 on 1,458 campuses across 135 nations. 80 campuses worldwide (just 6%) were selected to host the 1,000+ Millennium Fellows. The Class of 2020 is bold, innovative, and inclusive.
UNITED NATIONS ACADEMIC IMPACT AND MCN PROUDLY PRESENT DAN CHO, A MILLENNIUM FELLOW FOR THE CLASS OF 2020.
University of Pittsburgh | Pennsylvania, United States | Advancing SDG 10 & UNAI 6
" The Millennium Fellowship brings an inclusive large cohort of like-minded yet individualistic leaders from across the globe. To be a part of a unifying body of young changemakers with a passion to positively impact the world, one community at a time, is both an honor and a privilege. As someone who grew up low-income and faced housing and financial insecurities, I aim to promote and create a sustainable organization that assists people facing such inequities in our society. My Millennium Fellow Project, and that of others, takes on the challenges of the world to address and fix these issues. "
Millennium Fellowship Project: Higher Generation For All
Higher Generation is an organization that serves as a platform for first-generation students and/or those in financial need by providing support in the form of events, systemic change, collaboration, and advocacy. The goal of Higher Generation is to enable students at the University of Pittsburgh and in the immediate surrounding community to understand the financial, social, and mental struggles of being an underrepresented student. Higher Generation will expand its organization by reaching out to at least 3 large student-run organizations (defined as at least 50 active members) and will aim to have at least 15 active members by the end of the project's designated timeline.
In addition, Higher Generation will hold at least 2 discussion panels with a total attendance of 50 people and also host 2 volunteer and social events reaching 75 people. These panels will provide insight for the attendees on the panelists' experiences as first-generation and/or low-income and how this has shaped them into who they are in their current field of work. The events will also be volunteer and social activities that connect students to the surrounding Pittsburgh community. Given the early stage of this organization, the short-term goal of these activities is to impact and reach as many individuals as possible in Pittsburgh through in-person and/or through virtually (e.g. social media, zoom) whereas the long-term goal is to promote a sustainable organization that will benefit countless students and the surrounding Pittsburgh community.
Lastly, the organization will build a "survival guide" for first-generation low-income students that can be continuously modified. This document will be available on Google Docs and passed to university departments and other student organizations.
About the Millennium Fellow
Dan Cho is a senior at the University of Pittsburgh majoring in Political Science and Economics where he serves as the Consulting Chair for the Behavioral Economics Club. Dan has also previously worked with Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto's reelection campaign and Andrew Yang's presidential campaign.
Through his experiences as a low-income Korean-American, Dan has been able to learn from and speak with people from different cultures and backgrounds and have found himself creating strong bonds with them, despite differences in beliefs and experiences. Dan aspires to utilize his experiences to assist with the decision-making and policy-making processes of companies and governments.