This week marks an important milestone for the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity (AFSEE) programme, which is based at LSE’s International Inequality Institute. It has been ten years since the programme was founded with a landmark gift from The Atlantic Philanthropies, embarking on a 20 year mission to support over 400 Fellows from the Global South and the Global North.
Over the past decade, AFSEE has worked to connect and support activists, researchers and changemakers from around the globe. From the first Cohort of 18 Fellows in 2017-2018, we now host an amazing community of over 170. This academic year, as we mark our tenth anniversary, we will be reflecting on the achievements, challenges, impacts, and insights we have collectively encountered, and will celebrate together in person at a special community convening in the Summer of 2027. More on this soon!
AFSEE is one of seven interconnected Atlantic Fellows programmes, which together create a global community to advance fairer, healthier and more inclusive societies. We work closely with the other Atlantic Fellows programmes as well as The Atlantic Institute based in Oxford in the UK, which aims to amplify the influence and impact of the Atlantic Fellows and the Atlantic Fellows programmes.
This September we are delighted to welcome our 10th Cohort, with 16 new Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity joining the fellowship programme at the International Inequalities Institute at LSE. These mid-career activists, researchers, and practitioners represent a wide range of countries across the globe, with new Fellows coming from Georgia, El Salvador, the United Kingdom, Australia, India, Colombia, the United States, Afghanistan, Ireland, Tanzania, Nigeria, Algeria/France, Cuba, Somalia, and Sri Lanka.
While this anniversary year we are proud to come together to celebrate the achievements and learnings of the past decade, we do so against a backdrop of ongoing global political instability, climate crisis, and inequality.
It is appropriate therefore, that the theme of AFSEE’s anniversary year is Hope in Dark Times, both as an acknowledgment of the immense challenges facing the world today and as an expression of our commitment to working constructively and collectively towards a better future for people and the planet. We will be sharing more reflections on our theme, and what it means for the AFSEE community and our shared purpose soon, so please keep an eye on our socials channels for more updates.
For now, while we prepare for a packed year of events, we will leave you with the words of AFSEE Senior Fellow Madhuresh Kumar, who encapsulates AFSEE’s core commitment to experimentation, openness and collaboration in his blog for us this month.
I have particularly appreciated the attitude I have encountered when taking an idea to the AFSEE team: ‘let us see if we can find a way’. Institutions need rules and structures, of course, but they also need enough openness to allow unexpected things to happen. As AFSEE enters its tenth year, I hope it continues to protect that quality.Madhuresh Kumar
About AFSEE
The AFSEE programme’s core mission is to create and support a global community of changemakers; working to address social and economic inequalities. Through research, education, and practice, AFSEE supports and encourages dialogue and collaboration between a range of stakeholders, including academics, activists, artists, practitioners, and policymakers to develop new thinking, ideas, and values-led approaches to tackling social and economic inequalities.
Applications for the 2027-28 Cohort of Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity will open in October 2026. If you want to receive updates and information about the AFSEE programme, please register your interest here.
Image credit: Guillaume Bassem via Unsplash
