Google is a company that believes deeply in entrepreneurship. And this is a company that believes deeply in the power of information. We don’t think there’s another organization that combines these two things in a more compelling way than Ashoka.
Bill Drayton Wins 2007 Goi Peace Prize
November 17, 2007
TOKYO, Japan — On November 18th, 2007 the Goi Peace Foundation awarded Ashoka CEO and Founder Bill Drayton the Goi Peace Prize. This award is presented annually to honor individuals and organizations in various fields that have made outstanding contributions toward the realization of a peaceful and harmonious world for all life on earth. Drayton was chosen in recognition of his visionary leadership in developing a sustainable global society by promoting social entrepreneurship and empowering individuals to become changemakers. Through his dedicated and pioneering work with Ashoka, he has paved the way for a truly innovative citizen sector to emerge in the twenty-first century.
Mr. Drayton founded Ashoka in 1980, where he currently serves as the Chairman & CEO. Ashoka is a global association of over 1800 leading “social entrepreneurs,” individuals who envision and implement pattern-setting social changes in the environment, education, human rights, and other areas of human need. Ashoka helps launch these major social innovations and the public entrepreneurs who drive them, helps them succeed over their full life cycle, weaves them together into a field far more powerful than the sum of its parts, and contributes to the design of the field’s overall architecture. He is also chair of three other affiliated organizations; Youth Venture, Community Greens, and Get America Working!
Mr. Drayton has won numerous awards and honors throughout his career. Most recently in 2005, he was selected one of America’s Best Leaders by US News & World Report and Harvard’s Center for Public Leadership.
The annual Goi Peace Award is presented to honor individuals and organizations in various fields that have made outstanding contributions toward the realization of a peaceful and harmonious world for all life on earth. Mr. Drayton received the Goi Peace Award at a ceremony during the Goi Peace Foundation Forum 2007 held at Waseda University International Conference Hall in Tokyo on November 18, 2007.
About Ashoka
Ashoka is the global association of the world's leading social entrepreneurs — men and women with system-changing solutions for the world's most urgent social problems. Since its founding in 1980, Ashoka has provided start-up financing, professional support services, and connections to a global peer network to more than 1900 leading social entrepreneurs in over 60 countries, elected as Ashoka Fellows. Ashoka develops models for collaboration and designs infrastructure needed to advance the field of social entrepreneurship and the citizen sector.
About Goi Peace Foundation
Named after the Japanese teacher Masahisa Goi, who dedicated his life to spreading peace after witnessing the destruction of World War II, the mission of the Goi Peace Foundation is to bring together people for the common goal of peace on Earth. By encouraging public awareness of peace and by building cooperation among individuals and organizations in all fields, including education, science, culture and the arts, it aims to build an international peace network and to stimulate the global trend toward a culture of peace. In recognition of its international peace building efforts, the Foundation was granted Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations in 2004. It was also admitted to official-relationship status with UNESCO in 2006.
Mr. Drayton founded Ashoka in 1980, where he currently serves as the Chairman & CEO. Ashoka is a global association of over 1800 leading “social entrepreneurs,” individuals who envision and implement pattern-setting social changes in the environment, education, human rights, and other areas of human need. Ashoka helps launch these major social innovations and the public entrepreneurs who drive them, helps them succeed over their full life cycle, weaves them together into a field far more powerful than the sum of its parts, and contributes to the design of the field’s overall architecture. He is also chair of three other affiliated organizations; Youth Venture, Community Greens, and Get America Working!
Mr. Drayton has won numerous awards and honors throughout his career. Most recently in 2005, he was selected one of America’s Best Leaders by US News & World Report and Harvard’s Center for Public Leadership.
The annual Goi Peace Award is presented to honor individuals and organizations in various fields that have made outstanding contributions toward the realization of a peaceful and harmonious world for all life on earth. Mr. Drayton received the Goi Peace Award at a ceremony during the Goi Peace Foundation Forum 2007 held at Waseda University International Conference Hall in Tokyo on November 18, 2007.
About Ashoka
Ashoka is the global association of the world's leading social entrepreneurs — men and women with system-changing solutions for the world's most urgent social problems. Since its founding in 1980, Ashoka has provided start-up financing, professional support services, and connections to a global peer network to more than 1900 leading social entrepreneurs in over 60 countries, elected as Ashoka Fellows. Ashoka develops models for collaboration and designs infrastructure needed to advance the field of social entrepreneurship and the citizen sector.
About Goi Peace Foundation
Named after the Japanese teacher Masahisa Goi, who dedicated his life to spreading peace after witnessing the destruction of World War II, the mission of the Goi Peace Foundation is to bring together people for the common goal of peace on Earth. By encouraging public awareness of peace and by building cooperation among individuals and organizations in all fields, including education, science, culture and the arts, it aims to build an international peace network and to stimulate the global trend toward a culture of peace. In recognition of its international peace building efforts, the Foundation was granted Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations in 2004. It was also admitted to official-relationship status with UNESCO in 2006.