Agents of Change

What Agents of Change does

Agents of Change in Environmental Justice is a nonprofit fellowship program launched in 2019 at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health's Environmental Health Sciences department. Founded and directed by Dr. Ami Zota, the program recruits early-career environmental health scientists from backgrounds historically underrepresented in academia (78% people of color, 53% women, 35% first-generation college graduates, 32% from HBCU/HSI/MSI/community college/tribal school backgrounds) and trains them in storytelling, community engagement, and policy translation to become environmental justice thought leaders. Its core offerings are the Fellows Program (the central training and cohort experience), a biweekly Podcast Series (100+ episodes), a body of narrative Essays (60+ pieces, 1.8M views) and Spanish-language Ensayos, plus a Media Coverage stream placing fellow work in outlets including the Guardian, New York Times, NBC, CNN, LA Times, and Washington Post.

The program operates as an academic initiative, not a commercial venture. It has no commercial product, no pricing model, and no traditional revenue stream; it is funded through institutional support from Columbia University, grants (including NIH career development awards), and private donations routed through Columbia's giving platform. The team is small (approximately 7 staff and contractors, including a Program Director, Managing Director, Assistant Director, Editor, Program Manager, and Social Media Intern, with faculty advisors drawn from Columbia) and is geographically anchored at 722 West 168th St., New York. Distribution depends on owned digital channels (website, podcast on Apple/Spotify, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Substack) and a media partnership with Environmental Health News that ended in 2025 when EHN's newsroom shut down, leaving the program to rebuild content distribution on owned infrastructure while continuing to train new cohorts.

Name

Agents of Change

Legal name

Agents of Change in Environmental Justice

Website

https://agentsofchangeinej.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Agents of Change is a nonprofit fellowship at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health that trains early-career environmental health scientists from underrepresented backgrounds in storytelling, community engagement, and policy translation, publishing their work via podcast, essays, and media placements.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Grant funding and institutional support: The program is administered through Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and appears to be funded through institutional support, grants (including NIH career development awards mentioned for Dr. Zota), and private foundations. No commercial revenue model exists as this is an educational fellowship program.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Agents of Change in Environmental Justice is a fellowship program that trains emerging environmental and climate justice scientists in storytelling, community engagement, and policy translation to amplify their research impact. The program delivers training through a cohort-based fellowship, a biweekly podcast, narrative essays published on Environmental Health News, Spanish-language essays (Ensayos), and media coverage of fellows' work in major outlets. The program is administered through Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and is free of charge for participants.

Product overview

Agents of Change is a fellowship program that trains emerging environmental and climate justice leaders to speak up, share bold ideas, and drive effective solutions. The program centers voices of scientists from underrepresented backgrounds that have been neglected in science and academia. The core offerings consist of the Fellows Program (which provides training in storytelling, community engagement, and policy translation), a Podcast Series (biweekly conversations featuring fellows and leaders in the field), Essays (science writing that integrates personal experience with technical expertise), Spanish Essays (Ensayos) for Spanish-speaking audiences, and Media Coverage showcasing fellows' work in traditional and new media. The program is administered through Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and partners with Environmental Health News to publish fellows' narratives and podcasts.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Fellows Program A tuition-free fellowship that trains emerging environmental and climate justice scientists in storytelling, community engagement, and policy translation to amplify their research and voices. Open to doctoral students, postdocs, and early career researchers, with applications processed periodically.
• Podcast Series Biweekly podcast featuring colorful conversations with fellows and other environmental justice leaders discussing career paths, research, setbacks, and successes. Distributed on Apple Podcasts and Spotify with 100+ episodes and 80k+ listeners.
• Essays Science writing program where fellows weave their life experiences together with their technical expertise in essays published on Environmental Health News. Reached 1.8M views across 60 essays before the EHN newsroom shutdown in 2025.
• Spanish Essays (Ensayos) Spanish-language essays where fellows intertwine their life experiences with scientific expertise to reject injustice and persistent oppression, offering pathways for institutions and communities to advance environmental justice and equity.
• Media Coverage Curated collection of fellows' scholarly work and voices featured in traditional and new media, academic journals, trade press, and blogs. Includes YouTube Science Snippets video content and news articles in major outlets such as the Guardian, New York Times, NBC, CNN, LA Times, and Washington Post.

Quantifiable outcome

• 14 Fellows have advanced to faculty positions
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Columbia University Mailman School of Public HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019The program is administered through the Environmental Health Sciences department at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. This is the institutional home that provides academic infrastructure, faculty support, and administrative resources for the fellowship program.
• Environmental Health NewscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Former media partner until 2025 when the newsroom was shut down. Published fellows' narrative essays and podcast content. Environmental Health Sciences is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to driving policy on environmental health issues. The partnership ended when EHN's newsroom ceased operations.
• WE ACT for Environmental JusticeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFellow Lariah Edwards collaborates with WE ACT for Environmental Justice on its campaign that seeks to educate consumers about the dangers of toxic beauty products. This represents a fellow-led partnership rather than a program-level alliance.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Earthjustice: Major environmental law and advocacy nonprofit using legal and scientific expertise to drive environmental and climate justice outcomes. Comparable in pairing scientific credibility with advocacy action; broader scope and litigation-focused.
• Sierra Club Foundation: Large environmental nonprofit with broad advocacy, conservation, and EJ programming. Comparable general mission category but much larger scale, older donor base, and broader issue focus than Agents of Change.
• Natural Resources Defense Council: One of the largest U.S. environmental advocacy organizations, with deep scientist-staffed programs on health, climate, and EJ. Comparable science-and-advocacy identity and recruiting from the same talent pool, but vastly larger and more diversified.
• Union of Concerned Scientists: Large nonprofit that mobilizes scientists to influence policy and public discourse on climate, energy, and health. Comparable science-to-policy translation function, but operates at national scale with paid advocacy staff rather than a fellowship model.

Direct peers

• WE ACT for Environmental Justice: NYC-based environmental justice organization partnering with impacted communities on toxic products, air quality, and climate. Already a fellow collaborator and directly comparable in combining EJ advocacy with science-trained staff.
• COMPASS: COMPASS trains scientists (especially climate and ocean) in communication, policy engagement, and media. Most direct functional overlap with Agents of Change in the science-communication-training-for-researchers niche, though focused on climate/ocean rather than environmental justice.
• Inclusive SciComm: Community-of-practice and training initiative helping scientists from underrepresented backgrounds communicate more inclusively. Highly comparable mission around equity-centered science communication training and community building.
• GreenLatinos: Latino-led environmental advocacy coalition advancing conservation, climate, and EJ policy. Comparable in elevating underrepresented voices in EJ discourse, though policy/lobbying-led rather than scientist-training-led.
• JPB Environmental Health Fellowship: Early-career environmental health fellowship administered via Harvard T.H. Chan; one of Agents of Change's own leaders is currently a JPB Fellow. Closest direct comparable on cohort-based EJ/health fellowship structure and career-stage targeting.

Emerging players

• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Research Scholars: RWJF doctoral fellowship that develops diverse leaders in health policy research, including environmental health. Comparable fellowship structure targeting researchers from underrepresented backgrounds, with similar alumni placement goals.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/AgentschangeEJ
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCixiknR5MG9teAfhlK_q5Ug/featured
• Facebookfacebook.com/agentsofchangeej
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/agents-of-change-in-ej
• Instagraminstagram.com/agentsofchangeej

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Agents of Change