Launching the Everyone A Changemaker movement in Bangladesh

Sir Fazle Hasan Abed

It is in solemnity, admiration, and hope that Ashoka announces the launch of the Everyone A Changemaker movement, and the first cohort of Ashoka Young Changemakers, in Bangladesh in the name of the late great Sir Fazle Hasan Abed KCMG.

Sir Abed nominated the first Ashoka Fellow, he served on selection panels, and has been an early supporter of many Ashoka Fellows in South Asia. In the last couple of years, Sir Abed worked closely with Bill Drayton and the Ashoka team to start initiatives like the BRAC University Empathy Lab and the Frugal Innovation Forum 2019 on Scaling Opportunities for Youth.

 

Speaking to the power of the 'everyone a changemaker' vision and BRAC's work, in her 2010 article on The Transformative Potential of the Poor, then CEO of BRAC USA, Susan Davis wrote:

"It is remarkable how much potential the poor realise they have in themselves as a result of becoming involved with BRAC. To me, revealing such transformative potential inherent in each of us, particularly to the most vulnerable and marginalised among us, is Abed’s most important contribution to an open society. He puts into practice Ashoka’s vision of an 'everyone a changemaker' world articulated by its founder Bill Drayton."

 

Sir Abed's legacy of close to half a century is that of helping people realise their own potential to lift themselves out of poverty, to take charge of their lives, and to lead their communities in solving pertinent problems. Ashoka, along with BRAC and our network of Ashoka Fellows in Bangladesh, is committed to taking forward that legacy.

How best to do that than to bring Bangladesh's top young changemakers to the table, along with leaders in government,  and launch a movement that will end the 'New Inequality'?

 

This weekend a select group of 16 young changemakers, all under the age of 20, along with co-leaders from government, business, media, and social entrepreneurship are gathering in Dhaka to collaborate and bring to life the Everyone A Changemaker movement in the country.

We are excited to be sharing the invite to the launch of the Sir Fazle Hasan Abed Ashoka Young Changemakers selection panel and press conference on January 25th, 2020 at the BRAC Centre Inn, Dhaka.

 

Image courtesy: BRAC