Ashoka!

I recently received Ashoka’s yearly publication highlighting some of the work they and their Fellows are doing around the world.  I’ve been an Ashoka supporter since my friend Bill Drayton inspired its creation more than 35 years ago.  Their commitment was and is to find and empower social entrepreneurs to create lasting positive change in their communities and countries.  Ashoka has been brilliant in staying true to their mission, and the results that have produced are extraordinary.

So far Ashoka has worked with more than 3,500 social entrepreneurs in 93 countries.  Once Fellows are elected Ashoka makes sure they have the freedom to work full time on realizing their vision.  They provide a launch stipend for an average of 3 years and introduces them to a local-to-global collaborating fellowship of their peers.  Evaluations show that 10 years after their election, 83% of Ashoka Fellows have changed to pattern in their field at the national level.  This is an amazing accomplishment!

In this year’s report, the Fellows are grouped into six broad fields:  civic engagement, environment, full economic citizenship, health, human rights, and learning/education.

I invite you to take a look at Ashoka and see for yourself.  They are at www.ashoka.org