Dr. Cheryl Dorsey, President of Echoing Green, to Deliver Walden University's Commencement Address

MINNEAPOLIS, May 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Cheryl L. Dorsey, M.D., M.P.P., president of Echoing Green and an accomplished social entrepreneur with expertise in social innovation, next generation leadership and public policy, will be the speaker at Walden University's 44th commencement ceremony on Saturday, July 24, at 1:30 p.m. in Minneapolis.

Walden and Echoing Green share a commitment to making a positive impact in communities and organizations around the world. For 40 years, Walden University has served the higher education needs of working professionals through advanced degrees that encourage positive social change. Echoing Green invests in and supports emerging social entrepreneurs as they establish new high-impact social change organizations.

Dr. Dorsey was named president of Echoing Green in May 2002. She is the first Echoing Green Fellow to lead this global nonprofit, which has awarded more than $28 million in start-up capital to more than 470 social entrepreneurs worldwide since 1987.

As a public policy innovator, Dr. Dorsey was a White House Fellow from 1997 to 1998 serving as special assistant to the U.S. Secretary of Labor, advising the Clinton administration on healthcare and other issues. She was later named special assistant to the director of the Women's Bureau of the U.S. Labor Department where she helped develop family-friendly workplace policies and spearheaded the labor secretary's pay equity initiative.

Dr. Dorsey was most recently appointed vice-chair of the President's Commission on White House Fellowships after serving as a team member of the Innovation and Civil Society subgroup of Obama's Presidential Transition Technology, Innovation and Government Reform Policy Working Group. She is a 2006 Henry Crown Fellow through the Aspen Institute, a 2007 Prime Movers Fellow through the Hunt Alternatives Fund and a member of Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government Visiting Committee.

Dr. Dorsey is a graduate from the Harvard-Radcliffe Colleges with a bachelor's degree in history and science. While training to be a pediatrician at Harvard Medical School, she received an Echoing Green Fellowship. With the fellowship, she launched the Family Van, a community-based mobile health unit that provides basic healthcare and outreach services to at-risk residents of inner-city Boston neighborhoods.

Dr. Dorsey was a featured speaker at Walden University's fifth annual Social Change Conference, Social Entrepreneurship: Taking Action, Leading Change, held on September 30, 2009, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. To view her presentation, "Be a Social Change Agent Through Cross-Sector Collaboration," go to www.WaldenU.edu/scc09.

The 2010 commencement ceremony and address can be viewed live via webcast at www.WaldenU.edu.

About Walden University

For 40 years, Walden University has supported working professionals in achieving their academic goals and making a greater impact in their professions and their communities. Today, more than 42,500 students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries are pursuing their bachelor's, master's or doctoral degrees at Walden. The university provides students with an engaging educational experience that connects them with expert faculty and peers around the world. Walden is the flagship online university in the Laureate International Universities network—a global network of more than 50 online and campus-based universities in 21 countries.

Walden offers more than 45 degree programs with more than 195 specializations and concentrations. Areas of study include health sciences, counseling, human services, management, psychology, education, public health, nursing, public administration, technology and engineering. For more information, visit www.WaldenU.edu. Walden University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association, www.ncahlc.org.

SOURCE Walden University