TheGrio’s 100: Cheryl Dorsey, doctor turned CEO delivers positive change

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Echoing Green grants seed money to creative problem-solvers ready to implement life-changing ideas. In 1992, one such idea came from Cheryl Dorsey, a Harvard Medical School student who launched a mobile health unit, bringing medical care to residents of Boston’s poorest neighborhoods. A decade later, this Family Van was serving close to 7,000 patients annually, and its founder was serving as Echoing Green’s CEO.

Cheryl Dorsey is making history … by driving positive change throughout the world. In nearly a decade at the helm of Echoing Green, Dorsey has facilitated social entrepreneurship by providing resources to visionaries.

This “global community of social change agents,” says the 47-year-old Harvard alum and former White House Fellow, includes Kennedy Odede, the first resident of Africa’s largest slum — the Kibera slum in Nairobi — to attend a four-year university, as well as John Thompson, who fights for the rights of exonerees after spending nearly 20 years on death row for a crime he didn’t commit.

Though inspired by these exceptional stories, Dorsey believes that the world is open to change-agents whose circumstances may not be so extraordinary. “Everyone has the ability to make history by walking through life with intention and aligning their passion and talents in pursuit of purpose and meaning,” the Baltimore native told theGrio. “If you do that, you have the opportunity to make the world a little bit better as a result of your social footprint. I think,” she added, “that I’m doing that.”

What’s next for Cheryl?

As she continues to guide the future and resources of Echoing Green, Dorsey says it’s difficult to anticipate specific projects. “What I am certain of is that I will continue to do my best to support and honor those next generation leaders who see solutions where others see problems and who fight to expand opportunity for all,” says the CEO, “rather than co-opt resources for the few.”

A favorite quote …

“Echoing Green has graffiti art throughout its offices,” Dorsey told theGrio. “Adorning the far wall in my office is my favorite quote from Robert Schuller, ‘What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?’ I truly believe if each one of us heeded the call of his words, we would unleash a global wave of talent, creativity and ingenuity the likes of which human history has never seen. Wouldn’t that be something to behold?”

On black history …

“Everyone has the ability to make history by walking through life with intention and aligning their passion and talents in pursuit of purpose and meaning. If you do that, you have the opportunity to make the world a little bit better as a result of your social footprint. I think that I’m doing that,” Dorsey told theGrio. “I hope that what I do every day and all day honors those who came before me and sacrificed so that I might have the incredible opportunities that have been presented to me. I also really enjoy working with young people because they have done a much better job at embracing diversity than my generation and understanding that our differences do not divide us but enrich us and make us more interesting and vibrant as a group.”

A little-known fact …

In 1990, The Boston Globe reported that black babies were dying at three times the rate of white babies. This news led Dorsey and a Harvard Medical School faculty member to develop the idea for The Family Van, which brought medical care to 1,200 residents of Boston’s most desperately needy neighborhoods in its first year, with the help of a grant from Echoing Green.

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