Anke Wessels is the Executive Director of the Center for Transformative Action, an affiliate of Cornell University. The Center for Transformative Action envisions a just and peaceful society and helps to bring this vision to reality through ideas and practices that change people, organizations, systems, and our times.  CTA serves as a catalyst for innovative social entrepreneurs and their projects by providing ready non-profit status, business services, and a framework called Transformative Action.

Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Dorothy Day, the Dalai Lama and many others, Transformative Action is about transforming social injustices through shifts in personal and social consciousness. Transformative Action calls for courage to break the silence that surrounds injustices; commitment to fostering coalitions; imagination to stay free from "us vs. them" strategies that only flame our problems; and inspiration to envision innovative solutions to social challenges. CTA develops strategic initiatives to illustrate and practice Transformative Action. Currently these are education in Nonviolent Communication, a White Allies Discussion Group for dismantling racism, Performing Arts for Social Change, Student Social Entrepreneurship at Cornell, and the genesis of the Dorothy Cotton Institute.

Dr. Wessels teaches Social Entrepreneurs, Innovators, and Problem Solvers to undergraduates at Cornell. She received her BA in French and Economics, her MS in Agricultural Economics, and her PhD in Geography, specializing in Environmental Politics and Social Movements. She was previously on the faculty at Syracuse University, teaching Environmental Sustainability and Environmental Politics.

She lives in Lansing, NY with her husband, Ric Allen, and is the mother of three daughters.


Dr. Mark Milstein is Director of the Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise and Lecturer of Strategy, Innovation and Sustainable Global Enterprise at the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University.  He oversees the Center’s work on sustainable innovation and low income – or base of the pyramid –enterprise development.  Professor Milstein teaches and conducts research on strategy, decision-making, technology management and innovation.  Dr. Milstein is a member of the Management & Organization group at the Johnson School as well as the University-wide Program.  He is currently serving as a faculty advisor to the Cornell Center for a Sustainable Future as well as a member of Cornell’s Ad Hoc Committee on Sustainable Endowment Practices.  Professor Milstein’s writings have appeared in the Academy of Management Executive, Sloan Management Review, Environmental Finance, and Value as well as various edited books.  He is an award-winning author of several popular teaching cases.  Dr. Milstein has taught strategy, innovation, and sustainable enterprise to undergraduates, MBAs, and executives in the US, Latin America and Asia.  He is a frequent speaker on the topics of strategy, organizational change and innovation related to business and sustainability.  Dr. Milstein consults with a number of multi-national firms, small and medium sized enterprises, and NGOs, including Caterpillar, Suncor Energy, the US Army, and Schering-Plough.  Dr. Milstein earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics and Japanese from the University of Michigan.  He later earned both an M.B.A. in general management and an M.S. in natural resource policy from the University of Michigan as well as a PhD in strategic management from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.


Cindra Maharaj is a first year MBA student at the Johnson School at Cornell University.  Prior to enrolling in business school, she worked at Morgan Stanley for three years doing capital and liquidity management.  With this experience under her belt, her ultimate goal after business school is to work with upcoming entrepreneurs in the Caribbean region to develop sustainable business ventures.  

Katherine McEachern is a senior at Cornell studying Design & Environmental Analysis (interior design.) Originally from North Carolina, she became active with the Sierra Student Coalition in high school and has since been active in various SSC Committees. She also worked for the SSC's ReEnergize New Hampshire campaign last summer, organizing a five-day march across the state calling for a clean energy economy. On campus she organizes with KyotoNOW! KyotoNOW! focuses on global warming policy, both on campus and off. This semester she joined the Steering Committee of the Energy Action Coalition, a coalition of over 40 student based environmental and social justice organizations. Katherine also enjoys making jewelry and working in an on-campus coffee shop.


Jessi Prue is from Severna Park, Maryland and is currently a senior at Cornell University studying Applied Economics and Management.  Last fall, she had the opportunity to study abroad in Argentina and visit various socially responsible organizations in Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil. She was particularly impressed with Tekojoja Kuña Rembiapope's (TKR's) impact in Paraguay and upon returning to Cornell, formed the Social Business Consulting Group to try to help TKR become fair trade certified, make a product catalog, design a website and help connect them with international retailers. Her group is now working with 3 more social entrepreneurs: a microfinance institution in Senegal, an educational NGO in Ghana and a microfinance investment fund.

This past summer, Jessi also participated in an internship with Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. While evaluating the effectiveness of microfinance in rural villages, she also used the $1000 she raise to purchase a cow for a local family. In her spare time, she enjoys running marathons, playing the piano, traveling and learning languages. After she graduates, she hopes to continue helping social entrepreneurs to increase the efficiency with which they are able to accomplish their social goals.


Anushree Ray is a major in Biology and Society with a double minor in Global Health and Applied Economics and Management. Since her freshman year, she has been leading the Cornell Chapter of Asha for Education, a global volunteer organization that raises money for the education of underprivileged children in India. Last year, she became the Executive Director of Cornell Health International (CHI), one of Cornell’s largest student organizations that reaches over 700 people to raise awareness about global health issues. She is currently guiding student-led service projects in Kenya, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Mozambique, India and Panama, having already directed her own educational project in India to implement a HIV/AIDS awareness program for rural women in West Bengal.


Erwin Wang is enthused to join the Ashoka Changemaker Campus team and advance a sustainable on-campus model for social entrepreneurship.  Having earned his BA in Biology and Philosophy at Cornell University, Erwin hopes to further contribute to the school while completing his Masters in Health Administration.  While an undergraduate, Erwin co-founded The Triple Helix, a journal that seeks to raise awareness of the impact of science on society.  The organization has since spread to four continents, encompassing thirty universities and several thousand students.  While the group’s other activities have ranged from mentoring high school students to discussing science policy with those in Washington, Erwin hopes to apply his expertise to this next endeavor.  On campus, he has also been part of a number of mentoring organizations, volunteer and social associations, and Asian, Asian American, and international cultural and advocacy groups.  Erwin continues to support health-related organizations given his interest in medicine.  


Lauren Wein is a senior at Cornell University in the School of Industrial Labor Relations. She has spent her time at Cornell working to increase service-leraning opportunities for students on campus after her first service-learning experience in Nicaragua. She has helped to plan the first annual service-learning conference at Cornell and is working towards planning the 2nd, inviting students, faculty and administrators from schools all over the region. In addition to her work on campus, Lauren also spent last summer working at the Clinton Global Initiative University, helping to encourage social entrepreneurial ventures on campuses around the country.