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 MAYA YOUNG DHAR, A MILLENNIUM FELLOW FOR THE CLASS OF 2024.
University of Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania, United States | Advancing SDG 16 & UNAI 7

" Becoming a Millennium Fellow is an exciting opportunity to actualize my commitment to fostering civil discourse and promoting free speech. In a world increasingly defined by polarization and division, I believe that open dialogue is the backbone of true progress. Through this fellowship, I aim to cultivate environments where diverse perspectives are embraced, empowering the next generation to engage with societal challenges through respectful and constructive exchange. "
Millennium Fellowship Project: The Open Dialogue and Civil Discourse Collective
Free speech, civil discourse, and open dialogue function as the underbelly of progress and development. With respect to educational institutions, freedom of expression and open dialogue operate as the critical backbones of true progressive education and intellectual enrichment. In an increasingly polarized and dangerously divisive world, civil and productive interpersonal exchange is essential for social development and democratic process. The facilitation of civil dialogue across differences impacts many different spheres — across interpersonal, local, national, and global dimensions. Zeroing-in on the importance of promoting civil discourse in education systems, my project would work to develop workshops for confronting such difficult, yet essential exchanges. Or some kind of curriculum or process for working through this promotion of developing a deliberative democracy foundation. Through these workshops, students would learn how to (respectfully, productively, and critically) respond to different perspectives. With respect to socio-political polarization and the jarring socio-cultural echo-chambers created by recent ethno-religious conflicts, it is imperative that students revitalize the vitality of intellectual discourse and critical thinking as the backbone for productive social development and democracy maintenance. This also feeds into every other UN development goal, as this is the crux of facilitating social change.
About the Millennium Fellow
Maya Young Dhar is a junior at the University of Pennsylvania, majoring in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) with minors in South Asian Studies and Anthropology. Born in New York and raised in New Delhi and London, her global upbringing has equipped her with the ability to navigate diverse perspectives with curiosity, compassion, and critical insight. Her constellation of diverse experiences have fueled a passion for intellectual vitality, open-mindedness, and social justice. Maya is dedicated to fostering civil discourse and promoting free speech as the bedrock foundation for addressing the socio-political challenges of our time.








