ABOUT THE MILLENNIUM FELLOWSHIP - CLASS OF 2025
United Nations Academic Impact and MCN are proud to partner on the Millennium Fellowship. This year, 60,000+ young leaders applied to join the Class of 2025 on 7,000+ campuses across 170 nations. 290+ campuses worldwide (less than 5%) were selected to host the 4,500+ Millennium Fellows.
UNITED NATIONS ACADEMIC IMPACT AND MCN PROUDLY PRESENT ZHUOER CHEN, A MILLENNIUM FELLOW AND CAMPUS DIRECTOR FOR THE CLASS OF 2025.
Duke Kunshan University | Kunshan, China | Advancing SDG 10 & UNAI 6
" I am excited to be a Millennium Fellow because it gives me the opportunity to turn my curiosity about human societies and global issues into meaningful action. It inspires me to learn, engage, and collaborate in ways that make a tangible difference in communities. Working alongside fellow change makers around the world motivates me to contribute to solutions that are both thoughtful and impactful. "
Millennium Fellowship Project: Disability: Conversations on Access and Equity
Rethinking Disability is a student-led project dedicated to cultivating a deeper understanding of disability as a fundamental part of the human condition. Rather than framing disability as a form of dependence, the project presents it as interdependence, a shared structure that quietly shapes every life and every community.
Through carefully designed exhibitions, reflective conversations, and collaborations with local partners, the project brings together academic insight and lived experience. It invites participants to listen, to rethink familiar assumptions, and to recognize how the presence of disability illuminates the ways people support one another. In this sense, disability becomes not a departure from the norm but a lens that reveals the relational fabric of community.
Beyond the DKU campus, the project works with social enterprises and community organizations engaged in accessibility and advocacy. These partnerships allow participants to encounter inclusive practices in real contexts and to appreciate accessibility as a collective commitment that strengthens the well-being of all.
Ultimately, Rethinking Disability seeks to nurture a more thoughtful and empathetic environment, one where accessibility is understood as shared empowerment and where interdependence becomes a guiding principle for building inclusive and respectful communities.
About the Millennium Fellow
Zhuo’er Chen is a sophomore at Duke Kunshan University, aspiring to major in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE). Zhuo’er is passionate about exploring the intersection of global affairs, ethical reasoning, and economic policy. She actively engages in academic and extracurricular activities that foster critical thinking and cross-cultural understanding. Driven by a curiosity about how people live, think, and connect across cultures, Zhuo’er has explored diverse learning environments and engaged with global issues on campus. She is also interested in anthropology as a lens to examine human societies and their complexities. While her academic focus is still evolving, Zhuo’er hopes to pursue research that integrates philosophical inquiry with cultural and social contexts, gradually shaping a more defined area of study.
