Ahmed (MPA ’16) Selected for Asia Foundation Development Fellows Program

Nuruddin Ahmed (MPA '16) has been awarded an Asia Foundation Development fellowship for 2016. "This recognition of my work is very important for me," said Ahmed. "The timing couldn't have been more perfect given my ongoing involvement with Shorob.com."

Ahmed founded Shorob.com, a social blog bringing together 250 young writers from Bangladesh and the diaspora, in July 2011. Shorob.com was awarded the Social Media for Empowerment Award in 2014. From February to July this year, Shorob.com is planning two workshops for its network of volunteers, as well as a data visualization contest.

During his fellowship next year, Ahmed will meet with 11 other fellows from across Asia and participate in training sessions on leadership, public policy, and Asian development in South Korea, Mongolia, and the United States. "This network of young leaders is an amazing resource," enthused Ahmed. "I'm very excited to hear about their work in policy fields, and I'm especially interested to meet fellow digital media activists and learn from them."

Ahmed's fellowship includes a grant from the Asia Foundation that he plans to use on several development projects including Shorob.com. He hopes to leverage the experiences of other fellows and continue to improve the reach of Shorob.com.