ABOUT THE MILLENNIUM FELLOWSHIP - CLASS OF 2024
United Nations Academic Impact and MCN are proud to partner on the Millennium Fellowship. This year, 52,000+ young leaders applied to join the Class of 2024 on 6,000+ campuses across 170 nations. 280+ campuses worldwide (just 5%) were selected to host the 4,000+ Millennium Fellows.
UNITED NATIONS ACADEMIC IMPACT AND MCN PROUDLY PRESENT NICHELE OLIVIA-LANETT WASHINGTON, A MILLENNIUM FELLOW FOR THE CLASS OF 2024.
Spelman College | Georgia, United States | Advancing SDG 3 & UNAI 6
" I was born to a woman who fought for her dreams. Though she frequently reminded my siblings and I that we were, in fact, her greatest dream, it wasn't until I reached college that I began to understand that our existence was something she had to fight for as well. Within the United States, Black women are 2.5x more likely to die during childbirth than their non-Hispanic, White counterparts. This statistic and others like it have many causes ranging from a lack of access to quality health care to limited post-partum care. However, no matter the cause, what remains true is that the maternal mortality landscape within the United States is in need of rectification– I want to help bring this about.
Four times, my mother survived the everyday miracle of childbirth. Out of my love for her, I am making it my responsibility to ensure that other women do too. "
Millennium Fellowship Project: CARE (Collegiate Advocates for Reproductive Equity)
Collegiate Advocates for Reproductive Equity (CARE) is a multi-faceted, intercampus project designed to bring awareness to and rectify the inequitable reproductive landscape. While reproductive equity is an umbrella term, this project is unique in that its main objective is to aid in the improvement of the maternal health landscape. With a multi-legged approach consisting of a donation drive for expecting mothers and doulas, a letter writing campaign to local politicians,
and a webinar inviting professionals in the field to impart their knowledge, this project encourages us to care about maternal health equity so that we can change the material conditions of marginalized mothers and birthing people. Seeing how the worst Black maternal mortality rates belong to Southern states, this project is positioned in the heart of the problem, giving us the unique ability to make a direct difference in the communities that need it the most. By partnering with other like-minded organizations in the South, we hope to create a place in undergraduate academia where students with a passion for maternal equity can get involved.
About the Millennium Fellow
Nichele Olivia-Lanett Washington is a senior at Spelman College where she majors in political science and minors in philosophy. Her love of policy and desire to improve the material conditions of marginalized women has made her a fervent proponent of maternal health equity. As The Century Foundation’s Health Care Scholar, a Georgia Women’s Policy Institute Fellow, and a Harvard W.E.B. DuBois Undergraduate Research Fellow, Nichele has contributed to and published research uncovering the causes of a disproportionately high Black U.S. maternal mortality rate. Seeking a dual MPH/JD degree, Nichele hopes to one day pen progressive public health policy.
