Fellows

The Sanders Institute Fellowship is comprised of leaders dedicated to transforming our democracy through the research, education, outreach and advancement of bold, progressive ideas and values.

Dr. Jane O'Meara Sanders

Founder/Fellow   

Jane O’Meara Sanders is the Founder of the Sanders Institute and now serves as a Fellow pursuing bold, progressive solutions to economic, environmental, racial and social justice issues. Jane currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Vermont Economic Development Authority. She served as Interim President/Provost of her alma-mater, Goddard College, and as President of Burli... Read More

Prof. Robert Reich

Fellow   

Robert B. Reich is Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley and Senior Fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies. He served as Secretary of Labor in the Clinton administration, for which Time Magazine named him one of the ten most effective cabinet secretaries of the twentieth century. He has written fourteen books, including the best sellers Af... Read More

The Honorable Nina Turner

Fellow   

Offering a powerful narrative of overcoming adversity, former Sen. Nina Turner is a gifted orator who puts political and social trends in unparalleled perspective. She’s committed to advocating for progressive ideals and values, a vocation she views as bigger than political affiliation. Most recently a national surrogate for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) during the turbulent 2016 Dem... Read More

Harry Belafonte

Fellow   

Harry Belafonte is a legendary and multitalented artist and activist. He was the first black performer to win an Emmy Award and the first recording artist to sell over a million copies of a single album with Calypso (1956) featuring his hit “Day-O.” Born in Harlem in 1927, Belafonte spent time with his maternal grandmother in Jamaica before returning to Harlem for high school. After a ... Read More

Prof. Jeffrey Sachs

Fellow   

Jeffrey D. Sachs is a world-renowned professor of economics, leader in sustainable development, senior UN advisor, bestselling author, and syndicated columnist whose monthly newspaper columns appear in more than 100 countries. He is the co-recipient of the 2015 Blue Planet Prize, the leading global prize for environmental leadership. He has twice been named among Time Magazine’s 100 most influenti... Read More

Dr. Cornel West

Fellow   

Cornel West is a prominent and provocative democratic intellectual.  He is a Professor of Philosophy and Christian Practice at Union Theological Seminary and Professor Emeritus at Princeton University.  He has also taught at Yale, Harvard, and the University of Paris.  Cornel West graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard in three years and obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Philosophy at Princeton.  He ... Read More

Rep.Tulsi Gabbard

Fellow   

Tulsi Gabbard spent her life growing up in beautiful Hawai‘i. As a teenager, she co-founded an environmental non-profit called Healthy Hawai’i Coalition, focused on educating children about protecting Hawaii’s environment. An advocate for environmental policy, Tulsi was elected to the Hawai‘i State Legislature in 2002 when she was just 21 years old, becoming the youngest ... Read More

Bill McKibben

Fellow   

Bill McKibben is an author and environmentalist who in 2014 was awarded the Right Livelihood Prize, sometimes called the ‘alternative Nobel.’ His 1989 book The End of Nature is regarded as the first book for a general audience about climate change, and has appeared in 24 languages; he’s gone on to write a dozen more books. He is a founder of 350.org, the first planet-wide, grassroots climate chang... Read More

Danny Glover

Fellow   

Actor, producer and humanitarian, Danny Glover has gained respect for his wide-reaching community activism and philanthropic efforts, with a particular emphasis on advocacy for economic justice, and access to health care and education programs in the United States and Africa.  He has served as a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Program, focusing on issues of poverty, disease ... Read More

Ben Jealous

Fellow   

Benjamin Todd Jealous is a Partner at Kapor Capital, where he invests in social impact tech startups that narrow gaps in opportunity and access for underrepresented communities and eliminate barriers to full participation across the tech ecosystem. Jealous is the former president and CEO of the NAACP, where he successful state and local movements to ban the death penalty, outlaw racial profiling,... Read More

Dr. Stephanie Kelton

Fellow   

Dr. Stephanie Kelton is a professor in the forthcoming Center for the Study of Inequality and Social Justice at Stony Brook University. She served as Chief Economist on the U.S. Senate Budget Committee (minority staff) in 2015 and as an Economic Advisor to the Bernie 2016 presidential campaign. She was the founder and editor-in- chief of the top-ranked blog New Economic Perspectives and a me... Read More

Michael Lighty

Fellow   

Michael Lighty is currently the Director of Public Policy for National Nurses United. For over 25 years, Lighty has organized, written and spoken for improved Medicare for All. He is currently the lead policy analyst for a single-payer bill, SB 562, the Healthy California Act. At the California Nurses Association/NNU since 1994, he has coordinated campaigns for an HMO patients’ bill of right... Read More

Shaun King

 

Today, there are crucial conversations rippling across North America—conversations happening on social media, on campuses, in the streets and around dinner tables. In greater numbers, people are talking about real empowerment and liberation for historically disadvantaged groups. When it comes to the Black Lives Matter movement, they’re talking specifically about human dignity for... Read More