EDISON AWARDS Lewis Latimer Fellowship to name 2023 Fellows

The Edison Awards will also be announcing its 2023 Lewis Latimer Fellows. This accelerator platform is designed to celebrate, connect and bring together a community of innovative black thought leaders. Launched in 2022, the program, named in honor of Thomas Edison’s principal collaborator Lewis Latimer, embraces a core philosophy of driving innovation with profit with purpose.

Lewis Howard Latimer (1848–1928) was an African-American patent draftsman and inventor who worked with Alexander Graham Bell and Thomas Edison in the post-Civil War era. His name will be forever associated with two of the most revolutionary inventions of all time: the telephone and the incandescent electric light bulb.

By channeling Latimer’s spirit and genius, the Edison Awards recognized that it was time to fully celebrate and acknowledge black, modern-day innovators who remain largely hidden in the long shadows cast by cultural institutions that have benefited from their innovations.

The Edison Awards introduced this accelerator program for black innovators who show the same passion and dedication to innovation that Latimer demonstrated. Modeled after Y Combinator and the McArthur Genius Award, the Lewis Latimer Fellowship is designed to provide special access to the Edison Awards corporate innovation network, mentorship and capital to an annual cohort of six black innovators per year, connecting these brilliant minds to forward-leaning, innovative corporations that appreciate the power of diversity.

“It has become urgent that we create a new collective of modern-day black superheroes / role models that inject optimism into our culture,” says Jon Cropper, Co-founder of the Lewis Latimer Foundation. “We reviewed over 100 applicants in 2021-22 and found this initial ‘Friendship 6’ group best reflected Latimer’s vision and persona. Our dream is to ‘manufacture’ a community of future Latimers who embrace a core philosophy of “driving innovation with profit with purpose,” to grow the community of black innovators, and to encourage regular dialogue and idea exchange.

The inaugural Lewis Latimer Fellows included:

• Dario Calmese, photographer known for being the first African American to photograph the cover of Vanity Fair

• Ayanna Holloway Arce, Associate Professor of Physics at Duke University

• Rayvon Fouche, Division Director, Social and Economic Sciences – National Science Foundation and Professor of American Studies, School of Interdisciplinary Studies -Purdue University

• Audrey Bowden, Associate Professor of Bio- medical and Electrical Engineering-Vanderbilt University

Above: (l-r) Latimer Fellows Dr. Asegun Henry, Dr. Andrea Bowen, Dr. Ayana Arce, Dario Calmese and Byron Jones shown here with Fellowship co-founder Jon Cropper (4th from left), Carmichael Roberts (center) and Fellowship co-founder Frank Bonafilia (2nd from right). Left: Cropper smiles while Jones answers a question.

Below: Latimer Fellow Bowen.

• Asegun Henry, Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at MIT

• Byron Jones, Cornerback for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL) Learn more at: https://edisonawards.com/latimer-fellowship.php