Feb 9, 2017
An Open Letter from Social Entrepreneurs to President Trump
Signed by 443 (as of 2/27/17 2:43AM EST)
Dear President Trump,
As leaders who have spent our careers pioneering innovative solutions for many of our nation’s and the world’s most entrenched challenges, we write to express our unequivocal disagreement with your Executive Order issued on January 27, 2017, which banned individuals from seven majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States. We believe the order violates one of America’s most closely-held values to block entry to a targeted minority, whether comprised of temporary visitors, immigrants, or refugees. This is especially true for those who live on the edge of survival in war zones and refugee camps and have waited for years to call this great country their new home.
Groups like ours exist to help lift up the poorest and most marginalized with innovative solutions. In our opinion, this ban will make our work to foster peace, sustainability, opportunity and inclusiveness much harder. This action has unfortunately intensified fear, bigotry, and division in communities across our nation and the world, giving our organizations still more challenges to overcome. It has also decreased trust of Americans as we travel — it conveys that America is a country that no longer values diversity but operates from a place of prejudice.
We believe that immigrants and visitors from these nations should be allowed into the US to help increase the efficacy of the work we do to build peace and prosperity both at home and around the world. Collectively, we employ tens of thousands of people, and we have always found that the most powerful solutions for societal ills only emerge with the intimate involvement of those whom we work to serve. Diversity is the lifeblood of social, economic, and political progress, and policies that impede this value weaken our ability to innovate and implement social change.
We fear that such policies limit opportunity, inclusion, and our nation’s opportunity to engage with the world. We stand with the millions of people around the globe who have joined hands in resistance to efforts to sow fear and create false divisions along the lines of religion, ethnicity, country of origin, gender, or any other degree of difference.
You have expressed skepticism about the government’s abilities to solve problems alone, so we hope you will listen to the voices of those of us who lead organizations on the front lines of social change each and every day, using business best practices and often partnering with government. We respectfully request, Mr. President, that you do not deny us the right of welcoming people, regardless of their religion or nationality, to our shores. We must continue to communicate the values of inclusiveness and opportunity for all, values that our nation has always worked hard to live and to model.
Your fellow Americans,
Karim Abouelnaga, Practice Makes Perfect
Chase Adam, Watsi
Yvette Alberdingk Thijm, WITNESS
Jeff Albert, Aquaya Institute
Tutu Alicante, EG Justice
April Allderdice, MicroEnergy Credits
Eleanor Allen, Water For People
Jacob Allen, pilotED Schools
Miriam Altman, Kinvolved
Seth Andrew, Democracy Builders
Noam Angrist, Young 1ove
Emily Arnold-Fernandez, Asylum Access
Mark Arnoldy, Possible
Hal Aronson, We Care Solar
Justine Stamen Arrillaga, The TEAK Fellowship
Katy Ashe, Noora Health
Christopher Ategeka, Health Access Corps
Norman Atkins, Relay, GSE
David Auerbach, Sanergy
Madison Ayer, Honey Care
Manik Bhat, Healthify
Louise Baigelman, Story Shares
Michael Bailin, former Edna McConnell Clark Foundation and Public/Private Ventures
Ross Baird, Village Capital
Kanya Balakrishna, The Future Project
Molly Baldwin, Roca
Andrew Balster, Archeworks
Avery Bang, Bridges to Prosperity
Carol Barash, Story2
Caroline Baron, FilmAid International
Terri Barreiro, Impact Hub MSP
Richard Barth, KIPP
Scott Beale, Atlas Corps
Toma Bedolla, House of Genius
Tiffani Ashley Bell, The Human Utility
Adam Bendell, Toniic Institute
Daniel Ben-Horin, TechSoup Global
Kathleen Bennett, The Girls’ Middle School
Zach Berke, Exygy
Alexandra Bernadotte, Beyond 12
Charles Best, DonorsChoose
Nina Blackwell, Firelight Foundation
Kara Bobroff, Native American Community Academy Inspired Schools Network (NISN)
Naila Bolus, Jumpstart
Kristyn Klei Borrero, CT3
Katie Bouton, Koya Leadership Partners
Jenny Bowen, OneSky for All Children
Christen Brandt, She’s the First
Sara Brenner, Community Wealth Partners
Ned Breslin, Tennyson Center for Children
Gabriel Brodbar, NYU Reynolds Program in Social Entrepreneurship
Thomas Bukowski, Watsi
Boris Bulayev, Educate!
Cecily Burge, SOLID
Susan Burns, Global Footprint Network
Christy Turlington Burns, Every Mother Counts
Will Byrne, Groundswell
Jorge Calderon, Eddily
Gillian Caldwell, Global Witness
Andy Calkins, EDUCAUSE | Next Generation Learning Challenges
Dianne Calvi, Village Enterprise
Antionette Carroll, Creative Reaction Lab
Tom Carroll, The Global Development Incubator
Robert J. Caruso, The Kantian Group
David Castro, I-LEAD, Inc.
Sasha Chanoff, RefugePoint
Jane Chen, Embrace Innovations
Anya Cherneff, Empower Generation
David Cherner, YOL
Gerald Chertavian, Year Up
Jared Chung, CareerVillage
Kate Cincotta, Saha Global
Catherine Clark, CASE i3 at Duke
Sam Cobbs, First Place For Youth
Yolanda Coentro, Institute for Nonprofit Practice
Celine Coggins, Teach Plus
Gary Cohen, Health Care Without Harm
Frank Cohn, Global Potential
Benjamin Cokelet, PODER
Kathleen Colson, The BOMA Project
Gregg Croteau, UTEC, Inc.
Margaret Crotty, Partnership with Children
Peter Crumlish, Dwight Hall at Yale
Cecilia Corral, CareMessage
Jeremy Courtney, Preemptive Love Coalition
Kate Curran, School the World
Tim Daly, EdNavigator
Ami Dar, Idealist
Gayatri Datar, EarthEnable
Stuart Davidson, Sonen
Aimee Eubanks Davis, Braven
Steve Davis, PATH
Eric Dawson, Peace First
Alex Dehgan, Conservation X Labs
Kriss Deiglmeier, Tides
Alisa Del Tufo, Threshold Collaborative
Alexandra DeSorbo-Quinn, Pilot Light
David Dewane, Impact Design Hub
Mark DiBella, YES Prep Public Schools
Betsy Dickey, Ready for Reading
Susan Dix Lyons, Clinica Verde
Stephanie Dodson, Project Healthy Children
Krista Donaldson, D-Rev: Design Revolution
Robin Richards Donohoe, Draper Richards LP
Cheryl Dorsey, Echoing Green
Ellen Dorsey, Wallace Global Fund
Michael Dougherty, Pencils of Promise
Bill Draper, Draper Richards LP
Mallika Dutt, Breakthrough
David Dvorkin, Hire Cause
Thomas Dwyer, FinQlusion International
Jeff Dykstra, Partners in Food Solutions
Michael Eckhart, American Council On Renewable Energy
Nell Edgington, Social Velocity
Nick Ehrmann, Blue Engine
Kamran Elahian, Global Catalyst Foundation
Zohre Elahian, Global Catalyst Foundation
Anna Elliot, Bamyan Media
Edith Elliott, Noora Health
Curt Ellis, FoodCorps
Kristen Engberg, Beespace
Kila Englebrook, Social Enterprise Alliance
Gabriela Enrigue, Prospera
Abby Falik, Global Citizen Year
Rey Faustino, One Degree
Mike Feinberg, KIPP
Amanda Fernandez, Latinos for Education
Christina Fialho, Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC)
Natalie Fields, Accountability Counsel
Aria Finger, DoSomething
Kevin Fiori, Jr., Hope Through Health
Zach First, Drucker Institute
David Flink, Eye to Eye
Lennon Flowers, The Dinner Party
William Foote, Root Capital
Wendy Foster, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay
Steve Fox, ThinkImpact
Marc Freedman, Encore.org
Talia Frenkel, L.
Keith Frome, College Summit | Peer Forward
Jim Fruchterman, Benetech
Nicole Baker Fulgham, The Expectations Project
Khalil Fuller, Learn Fresh
Peter Gabriel, Real World and WITNESS
Alejandro Gac-Artigas, Springboard Collaborative
Doug Galen, RippleWorks
Rikin Gandhi, Digital Green
Erin Ganju, Room to Read
Grace Garey, Watsi
Saul Garlick, ThinkImpact and Unleesh
Christie George, New Media Ventures
Bob Giannino, uAspire
Catherine Gibbons, Prosperity Catalyst
Jay Coen Gilbert, B Lab
Karen Gleason, Friends of Ruwenzori Foundation
Blair Glencorse, Accountability Lab
Brian Gloede, Quarterback
Anne Goodman, Saint Luke’s Foundation
Gary Gottlieb, Partners In Health
Jason Grad, Bstow
Joe Greenstein, InnerSpace and Flixster
Jonathan Greenblatt, Anti-Defamation League
Francis Greenburger, Greenburger Center for Social & Criminal Justice
Varun Gulati, UClass
Brett Hagler, New Story
Haywood Hall, PACEMD
Kathryn Hall-Trujillo, Birthing Project USA
Kana Hammon, YCore
Mark Hanis, United to End Genocide
Caitlin Hannon, Enroll Indy
Kathryn Hanson, ALearn
Tim Hanstad, Landesa
Sarah Harkin, SDG Innovators
Scott Harrison, charity: water
Asher Hasan, Naya Jeevan
Elizabeth Hausler, Build Change
Hunter Heaney, The Voice Project
Mark Hecker, Reach Incorporated
Toni Heineman, A Home Within
Becca Heller, International Refugee Assistance Project
Jay Herratti, TED and TEDx
Jeremy Hockenstein, Digital Divide Data
Tory Dietel Hopps, Dietel Partners
Sara Horowitz, Freelancers Union
Mark Horoszowski, MovingWorlds.org
Bart Houlahan, B Lab
Mia Howard, Intrepid College Prep Schools
Franklin Huang, Global Oncology
Chris Avila Hubschmann, Credit Do
Aaron Hurst, Imperative
Lola Hurst, D.C. Bully Busters
Jonathan Isham, Jr., Middlebury Center for Social Entrepreneurship
Jonathan Jackson, Dimagi
Carly Janson, New Sector Alliance
Jamie Jenkins, Building Opportunities & Opening Minds
Michael Jenkins, Forest Trends
Carl Jensen, Good Nature
Eduardo Jezierski, InSTEDD
Ari Johnson, Muso
Michele Jolin, Results for America
Monisha Kapila, ProInspire
Jordan Kassalow, VisionSpring
Andrew Kassoy, B Lab
Zac Kaufman, Vera Solutions
Manmeet Kaur, City Health Works
Kimberly Keller, David and Anita Keller Foundation
Imran Khan, Embarc
Ayesha Khanna, Points of Light | Civic Accelerator
Crystal Kigoni, Voices of Africa Foundation
Adam Kircher, SIRUM
Heather Kirkpatrick, Aspire University
Suzanne Mckechnie Klahr, BUILD
Jonathan Klein, GO Public Schools
Lisa Kleissner, KL Felicitas Foundation
Becca Bracy Knight, The Broad Center
Cynthia Koenig, Wello
Wendy Kopp, Teach For All
Sasha Kramer, SOIL
Thane Kreiner, Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship
Mari Kuraishi, GlobalGiving
Bill Kurtz, DSST Public Schools
Alexandria Lafci, New Story
Rani Langer-Croager, Uptima Business Bootcamp
Louise Langheier, Peer Health Exchange
Emmanuelle Larroque, Social Builder
Olivia Leland, Collaborative for Scaling Social Impact
Wendy Leonard, The Ihangane Project
Jane Leu, Upwardly Global and Smarter Good
Dave Levin, KIPP
Lindsay Levin, Leaders’ Quest
Jonathan Lewis, MCE Social Capital
Jim Liebman, Center for Public Research and Leadership
Seth Litt, Parent Revolution
Kirsten Lodal, LIFT
Sr. Paulette LoMonaco, Good Shepherd Services
Sheila Lopez, Braven
Mindy Lubber, Ceres
David Lubell, Welcoming America
Daniel Lubetzky, PeaceWorks Foundation
Nancy Lublin, Crisis Text Line
Joe Luft, Internationals Network for Public Schools
Erika Luitjens, CapCon Foundation
Shawn MacDonald, Verite
Harish Mamtani, SEED Education Corporation
Laura Manley, Center for Open Data Enterprise
Christina Mansfield, Community Initiatives for Visiting Immigrants in Confinement (CIVIC)
Megan Marcus, FuelEd
Becky Margiotta, The Billions Institute
Aleta Margolis, Center for Inspired Teaching
Alice Tepper Marlin, Social Accountability International and Stern School of Business
Joseph Marshall, Alive & Free
Spud Marshall, the co.space
Patrice Martin, IDEO.org
Vivek Maru, Namati
Aliyya Shelley Mattos, PaperSeed Foundation
Emily McCann, Citizen Schools
Joe McCannon, The Billions Institute
Doug McCurry, Achievement First
Sergio Medina, RISE (Refugee and Immigrant Services)
Deborah Meier, Mission Hill School, Boston
Alexandra Meis, Kinvolved
Molly Melching, Tostan
Christine Mendonça, Humans on the Move
Deborah Menkart, Teaching for Change
Drew Meyers, Horizon
Katie Meyler, More Than Me
Joe Vasquez Michelson, Runway Edtech Accelerator
Mauricio Lim Miller, Family Independence Initiative
Daniel Lurie, Tipping Point Community
Ryan Makhani, BuildMyIdea.org
Zak Malamed, Student Voice
Jane Mitchell, The Reset Foundation
Bonny Moellenbrock, Investors’ Circle
Ellen Moir, New Teacher Center
Monty Montoya, SightLife
Andy Moon, SunFarmer
Carlos Moreno, Big Picture Learning
Scott Morgan, Education Pioneers
Alexis Morin, Students for Education Reform
Mario Morino, Morino Ventures, LLC
Sydney Morris, Educators for Excellence
Dana Mortenson, WorldSavvy
Erin Mote, InnovateEDU
Kathrine Mott, Let’s Get Ready
Tonya Muro, iEARN-USA
Shaheer Mustafa, Dare Family Services
Abhi Nangia, Better World Ed
Harold Nathan, Partners Asia
Sara Nathan, Amigos de las Américas
Garrett Neiman, CollegeSpring
Jeff Nelson, OneGoal
Josh Nesbit, Medic Mobile
Randy Newcomb, Humanity United
Cora Neumann, Global First Ladies Alliance
Marcus Noel, Heart of Man
Jacqueline Novogratz, Acumen
Mike O’Brien, iMentor
Rebecca Onie, Health Leads
Natalie Orfalea, Natalie Orfalea Foundation
Sally Osberg, Skoll Foundation
Daniel Oscar, Center for Supportive Schools
Julienne Oyler, African Entrepreneur Collective
Lee Paiva, No Means No Worldwide
Alfonso Paradinas, GIRL2B
Babita Patel, KIOO Project
Amy Paulson, Global Gratitude Alliance
Dave Peery, Peery Foundation
Brett Peiser, Uncommon Schools
Rocco Perla, Health Leads
Eliza Pesuit, Global Glimpse
Julien Phillips, Partners in School Innovation
Jessica Pliska, The Opportunity Network
Mark Plotkin, Amazon Conservation Team
Chris Plutte, Global Nomads Group
Hilda Polanco, Fiscal Management Associates (FMA)
Jake Porway, DataKind
Ben Powell, Agora Partnerships
Sam Pressler, Armed Services Arts Partnership
Jennifer Pryce, Calvert Social Investment Foundation
Beth Rabbitt, The Learning Accelerator
Daniel Rabuzzi, Mouse
Bennett Rathbun, Hope on a String
Anushka Ratnayake, myAgro
Dale Reardon, My Disability Matters
Scott Rechler, LearnServe International
Zak Ringelstein, PowerToPublic
David Risher, Worldreader
Sherry Riva, Compass Working Capital
Matt Robins, DeansList
Diane Robinson, Global Nomads Group
Joel Rose, New Classrooms Innovation Partners
Alan Rosskamm, Breakthrough Schools
Jessica Rothenberg-Aalami, Cell-Ed
Linda Rottenberg, Endeavor Global
Catalina Ruiz-Healy, Gradguru.org
Tara Russell, Fathom
Tamra Ryan, Women’s Bean Project
Annamarie Saarinen, Newborn Foundation
Jessica Sager, All Our Kin
David Saltzman
Arlene Samen, One Heart World-Wide
Aylon Samouha, Transcend
Amy Saxton, Summer Search
Cassie Scarano, Commongood Careers
Sydney Schaef, reDesign
Jennifer Schechter, Hope Through Health
Beth Schmidt, Wishbone.org
Jennifer Tisdel Schorsch, Water.org
Frank Schott, NetHope
Eric Schwarz, College for Social Innovation
Veronika Scott, The Empowerment Plan
Maureen Sedonaen, Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco
Paula Z. Segal, 596 Acres
Matt Segneri, HBS Social Enterprise Initiative
Shah Selbe, Conservify
Arjita Sethi, Equally PBC
Palak Shah, Fair Care Labs
Premal Shah, Kiva
Patrick Shandonay, Lighting For Learning
David Shapiro, MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership
Dennis Shaughnessy, Northeastern University
Michael Shaver, Children’s Home Society of Florida
Sachi Shenoy, Upaya Social Ventures
Lisbeth Shepherd, Green City Force
Joanna Sherman, Bond Street Theatre Coalition
Karen Sherman, Akilah Institute
Joseph Shields, Flow Equity
Paul Shoemaker, Social Venture Partners International (SVPI)
Billy Shore, Share Our Strength
Trabian Shorters, BMe
David Simpson, All Our Kids
Evan Simpson, VillageReach
Akshat Singhal, The Blue Ribbon Movement
Jeff Skoll, The Jeff Skoll Group
Charles Slaughter, Living Goods
Ben Smilowitz, Disaster Accountability Project
Beshon Smith, Center for Supportive Schools
Nina Smith, GoodWeave International
Eric Sorensen, Carbon Roots International
Joe Speicher, Autodesk Foundation
Elissa Spelman, Breakthrough Greater Boston
Jadayah Spencer, International Youth Leadership Institute
Karen Spencer, Whole Child International
Marc Spencer, Juma Ventures
Lina Srivastava, Humans on the Move
George Srour, Building Tomorrow, Inc.
Laura Stachel, We Care Solar
Tom Stader, The Library Project
Kevin Starr, Mulago Foundation
Andrew Stern, The Global Development Incubator
Evan Stone, Educators for Excellence
Nan Stone, Former Harvard Business Review
Richard Stopol, NYC Outward Bound Schools
Eric Stowe, Splash
Christine Su, PastureMap
Richard Sugarman, The CT Forum
Yifat Susskind, MADRE
Colby Swettberg, Silver Lining Mentoring
Darian Swig, Article 3 Advisors
Abe Taleb, ReWork
Anthony Tassi, Literacy Partners
Sharon Terry, Genetic Alliance
Raj Thakkar, Charter School Business Management
Scott Thomas, Arbor Brothers
Tammy Tibbetts, She’s the First
Kirsten Tobey, Revolution Foods
Dacia Toll, Achievement First
Justin Trezza, Norris Square Neighborhood Project
Jodi Rosenbaum Tillinger, More Than Words
Keith Timko, The Support Center
Eric Tucker, Brooklyn Lab Charter Schools
Peter Twyman, Keep a Child Alive
Greg Van Kirk, Social Entrepreneur Corps
Jill Vialet, Playworks
Dan Viederman, Verite
Mathis Wackernagel, Global Footprint Network
Noha Waibsnaider, Peeled Snacks
Aaron Walker, Camelback Ventures
Faith Wallace-Gadsden, Archimedes Project
George Wang, SIRUM
Scott Warren, Generation Citizen
Sara Wasserman, Music Heals International
Regina Weichert, Lyme Nation
Daniel Weisberg, The New Teacher Project
Jeff Wetzler, Transcend
Gary White, Water.org
Tim Whitley, Carbon Offsets to Alleviate Poverty (COTAP.org)
Kiah Williams, SIRUM
Sarah Williams, Propel Capital
Daniel Winterhalter, Wear My Values
David Wish, Little Kids Rock
Rhea Wong, Breakthrough New York
John Wood, Room to Read
Jocelyn Wyatt, IDEO.org
Britt Yamamoto, iLEAP
Karen Young, Sweet Readers, Inc.
Sophie Young, Sweet Readers, Inc.
Connie Yowell, Collective Shift
Craig Zelizer, PCDN
We invite leaders in the social entrepreneurship space to add their names to this letter in response to the ban on immigration in the US. Founders, Co-Founders, CEOs, Executive Directors, Presidents only please. Sign on to add your name here.
