New Profit’s Proximity Fellows initiative, launched in 2021, provides funding to individuals who are actively shifting the social entrepreneurship ecosystem through their work. Grants provide capital and capacity-building support that enable the documentation and dissemination of breakthrough ideas that have the potential to change the social sector.
One such Proximity Fellow is Yordanos Eyoel, an Ethiopian-American democracy entrepreneur who is the Founder and CEO of Keseb. Keseb was launched in May 2022 “to counter authoritarianism and advance inclusive and resilient democracies,” Yordanos says. “Keseb supports, connects, and amplifies existing efforts through a transnational ecosystem, contributing to reinvigorating an innovative and effective 21st-century pro-democracy movement.”
Previously, Yordanos was a Managing Partner at New Profit, where she was the first person in the organization’s 22-year history to grow from Portfolio Analyst to Managing Partner. She is a Civil Society Fellow of the ADL & the Aspen Institute and a former Visiting Fellow at the SNF Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University. Yordanos holds a B.A. in Economics and Political Science, Honors, Phi Beta Kappa, from the University of Florida, and a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School. In recognition of Keseb, Unorthodox Philanthropy named her a recipient of their “Extraordinary Leader Transforming a Field” award.
How has your own lived experience informed and advanced Keseb’s mission?
I’m a multi-ethnic Ethiopian who moved to the U.S. as a daughter of a political asylee. Having experienced civil war and displacement due to an oppressive government as a child, I developed an early passion for democracy and social justice, and I have focused my career in venture philanthropy and civic activism with a focus on entrepreneurship and innovation as vehicles for building inclusive and thriving democratic societies.
In your own words, Keseb is “pioneering a transnational pro-democracy ecosystem for learning, collaboration and innovation.” What is Keseb’s approach to this work, and what are some of your successes so far?
We take a multidisciplinary approach, drawing upon effective practices from venture philanthropy, movement building, and think tanks. Our inaugural Global Democracy Champions Summit drew 400+ people from 48 countries; our inaugural Democracy Fellowship supports 12 leading democracy entrepreneurs and their organizations from Brazil, South Africa, and the United States; and on our one-year anniversary, we published the report, Defending and Strengthening Diverse Democracies.
How does your social entrepreneurship with Keseb connect to your work as a Proximity Fellow or your time at New Profit?
I like to say that I “grew up” at New Profit, having spent a formative decade of my career at the organization. My experiences and lessons learned have been instructive in my transition from supporting entrepreneurs to becoming one.