Announcing the winners of Substack's Grow Fellowship
This month, Substack is welcoming a crop of writers for a two-month, immersive fellowship experience. These fellows are alumni of Substack Grow, a program to help emerging writers grow their readerships and paid subscriptions that took place over six sessions this past summer.
Substack’s Grow Fellowship was designed to give writers the time and latitude to deepen their focus on writing, and to explore strategic directions that will accelerate the great work they’re publishing on Substack. These fellows will also act as community leaders who have expressed an interest in sharing skills and expanding their peer networks.
Writers that applied for the Grow Fellowship needed to participate in Substack Grow to qualify. From a talented, competitive pool, a panel of judges selected 11 writers based on the clarity and insight of their publications, their ability to inspire new writers, and their appetite for community engagement. These 11 writers will receive a variety of benefits, including a $7,000 grant, one-on-one mentorship, and access to services such as proofreading, branding/design support, one year of access to Getty Images, plus business and legal support.
The fellows
David Adeleke, Communiqué
David I. Adeleke is a writer, communications strategist, and media analyst. He is the author of media analysis newsletter Communique, communications lead at Nestcoin, and managing editor of Breach.Club. Previously, he was an editor at Business Insider Sub-Saharan Africa,TechCabal.com, and Techpoint Africa, and a copy editor at Ventures Africa. He is a Media and Journalism Fellow with the Charles Koch Institute. He holds a degree in Mass Communication from Covenant University, a certificate in Storytelling for Modern Media from Yale University, and a certificate in Integrated Brand Experience from Orange Academy, Lagos.
Animation Obsessive is an outlet for shared passion, based in the United States but run by a team of people who love animation from around the world. Its contributor John Adkins is excited to represent the group in Substack's Grow Fellowship.
Katherine Dee, Default Friend
Katherine Dee writes about life online and off. Her Substack is a mix of Internet history, fiction, and advice.
Bernard Hickey, The Kākā
Bernard Hickey is an economic and political journalist based in Aotearoa-NZ’s Parliamentary Press Gallery who works almost full-time on thekaka.substack.com. Bernard now writes and podcasts daily for over 1,000 paid subscribers looking for independent insight, analysis and reporting on the political economy. His focus is housing unaffordability, child poverty, and climate change inaction. Bernard worked for 18 years for Reuters, the FT Group, and Fairfax Media as a financial journalist and editor across Australia, Britain, and Singapore before launching two successful online-only news startups, Interest.co.nz and Newsroom.co.nz. He wants to use Substack to build a cooperative of dozens of journalists working together in Aotearoa over the next couple of years.
Dave Infante, Fingers
Dave Infante is an award-winning journalist in Charleston, South Carolina who covers what, why, when, and how America drinks. In addition to publishing Fingers, an independent newsletter about drinking culture, being online, and beyond, Dave also contributes to VinePair as a writer-at-large focused on the beer industry. His reporting has appeared in The New York Times, HuffPost, The Guardian, MEL Magazine, Fast Company, PUNCH, and others.
Nishant Jain, SneakyArt Post
Nishant Jain is an artist, writer, and podcaster in Vancouver, Canada. He makes SneakyArt of his world inside a sketch-book with a fountain pen. His drawings capture moments of everyday life in public spaces in cities around the world. His newsletter shares his art, observations, and his journey of self education to become an artist.
Michael Fritzell, Asian Century Stocks
Michael Fritzell is the editor of Asian Century Stocks, a weekly publication that provides research on stocks in the Asia-Pacific. Before starting his Substack, Michael worked as a research analyst for funds and family offices investing in East and Southeast Asia. He has a particular passion for stocks in the consumer, auto, and property sectors. He is now a permanent resident of Singapore, where he stays together with his family.
Elle Griffin, The Novelleist
Elle Griffin is currently publishing her gothic novel Obscurity as a serial, releasing one chapter every week for paying newsletter subscribers. Her free newsletter about writing Obscurity, The Novelleist, has been featured by Business Insider, Publisher’s Weekly, and Morning Brew.
Sharon Hurley Hall, Sharon’s Anti-Racism Newsletter
Sharon Hurley Hall is an anti-racism activist, writer, and educator. She is the Founder and curator-in-chief of Sharon’s Anti-Racism Newsletter, where her mission is to fight racism, one article at a time.
Kevin Maguire, The New Fatherhood
Kevin Maguire spent 20 years focused on work: from Manchester to London, and ending up in San Francisco, where he worked for Google until realizing that he wasn't his job, and left. After open, deep, existential conversations with other dads in his life (that weren't being covered anywhere else), he started The New Fatherhood—a weekly newsletter exploring big questions, showcasing diverse viewpoints on parenting, and helping dads be better, together. He lives in Barcelona with his wife, Sejal, and his two children Padme and Bodhi.
Randa Sakallah, hotsingles.nyc
Randa Sakallah is the arbiter of hotness for her newsletter and community, Hot Singles. She previously worked in tech for five years, most recently as a product manager. Randa attended the University of Michigan, where she studied computer science and, paradoxically, spent six weeks without the internet for a literature program. Born and raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan, she is the daughter of Palestinian immigrants. Randa's work has been featured in The New York Times, New York Magazine, and NYLON, but she only has a few hundred Twitter followers. Her favorite thing to do is surf.
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