News about the 2016 Leading Edge fellows.
A petition argues that people seeking to escape the sex offender registry, including those put on it as children, deserve more than a single shot.
A Bay Area community organizer who started a Silicon Valley nonprofit that helps low-income families defend loved ones against criminal charges and navigate the justice system has been awarded a MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant.
Raj Jayadev, the 43-year-old co-founder of Silicon Valley De-Bug, was among 25 people chosen Thursday as 2018 MacArthur Fellows, an annual award given to people who have shown extraordinary creativity and are deemed likely to continue to make important contributions to society.
Raj Jayadev’s turned Silicon Valley De-Bug into a reform movement that gives voice to low-income people facing incarceration, while helping them with their own defense. And now Jayadev is one of 25 recipients of the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, known as the “Genius Grant.”
The foundation maintains that winners are never chosen for any political reasons or in accordance to any particular theme; the honor is meant purely to recognize work that is “for the benefit of human society.” This year’s class notably includes a number of individuals whose efforts focus on advocating for vulnerable and marginalized communities, often through creative and collaborative work.