Ashoka
Ashoka Belgium
Ashoka was launched in Belgium in 2008 and is part of Ashoka's global network. Since then we have selected 20 social innovators as Ashoka Fellows, are working with 9 Changemaker Schools, and are supported by 19+ philanthropic business leaders as part of our Ashoka Support Network.
We are a thriving community of change leaders: social entrepreneurs, Ashoka Support Network Members, Partners, foundations, and companies who partner with Ashoka, who see that the world now requires everyone to be a changemaker.
Together, we collaborate to transform institutions and cultures, so they support changemaking for the good of society. We strive to shift the global economy to be more socially responsible and respectful, for which we create meaningful collaborations with strategic actors.
Who We Are
Ashoka is a global network of social entrepreneurs and changemakers (Ashoka Staff, Ashoka Fellows, Ashoka Young Changemakers, Ashoka Support Network, Partners, Institutional Leaders, CEOs) from across the identity spectrum seeking to co-lead and co-create an Everyone a Changemaker world.
Each member of Ashoka's network self-identifies as a changemaker – a person that sees themselves as capable of creating large-scale change. At Ashoka's core are social entrepreneurs, visionary and persistent individuals with innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social, cultural, and environmental challenges, and offering new ideas for systems-level change.
Ashoka is among the top 5 NGOs in the world, according to NGO Advisor. Its founder, Bill Drayton, received the Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation in 2011.
Ashoka's History
Bill Drayton founded Ashoka in 1980 based on the idea that the most powerful force for good in the world is a social entrepreneur: a person driven by an innovative idea that can help correct an entrenched global problem. The world’s leading social entrepreneurs pursue system-changing solutions that permanently alter existing patterns of activity.
Ashoka has established itself as the reference organisation in the field of social entrepreneurship and currently has a community of more than 3,800 Social Entrepreneurs in more than 90 countries.
Ashoka's Priorities
Ashoka currently focuses on three strategic priorities to support a world where everyone can make a change to their society and its culture:
Social Entrepreneurship
Social entrepreneurs champion innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social, cultural, and environmental challenges. They model changemaking behavior, and catalyze organizations and movements where everyone can be changemaker.
Empathy & Young Changemaking
In order to thrive, young people need to know how to make an impact in today’s rapidly evolving world. Gaining the skills for changemaking, including empathy, must become the new norm for growing up.
Learn more
Organizing for a Changemaker World
Succeeding in a world where everyone drives change requires a new way of organizing: where we break through walls between sectors and within organizations to work together in fluid, open, and communicative teams.
Our Team
Ashoka's leadership today is a group of change leaders with a track record of positively impacting society and empowering others to be changemakers. The team is made up of 300+ Ashoka staff worldwide, that supports the vision of an "Everyone a Changemaker" world.
Discover below the Belgian team.
Ashoka Belgium Staff
Romain Gustot
Country Director
Romain has joined Ashoka Belgium in September 2022. After focusing on animating the local community, he became Country Director, managing fundraising and partnership efforts for the country office and the new Participation Hub (with a focus on democracy). In parallel, he continues to develop his side project, ‘What Now Media’, an online media platform that puts the spotlight on changemakers across Europe. Previously, he worked for 8 years on international cooperation and migration governance with NGOs, European institutions and international organisations. He is Belgian, speaks French and English, and is working on improving his Dutch!
Perrine De le Court
Ashoka Support Network Global Leader
Perrine de le Court is the leader of the Ashoka Support Network and the Director of Ashoka Belgium, the largest network for social entrepreneurs. She has been living and working in several countries across South America and Africa. She brings with her 5 years of working in the private sector with Regus, and 15 years in International organizations such as UNICEF and IMBEWU. At the young age of 26, she co-founded an NGO for street children in Lagos and pursued her social and entrepreneurial involvement in Abidjan supporting children on the need to protect the environment. She currently serves on the board of Convivial, Belgium's pioneering organization for refugees. Now based in Zurich, Perrine plays a role in supporting and developing Swiss partnerships for social entrepreneurs.
Laura Batalla
Changemaker Europe Lead
Laura Batalla Adam leads the Participation Hub, Ashoka’s laboratory for democratic innovation that creates new architectures for participatory democracy, bringing citizens, changemakers, and policymakers together to tackle Europe’s most pressing challenges.
Previously, Laura spent over a decade in the European Parliament advising Members of Parliament on diverse policy areas. She holds degrees in Political Science and Journalism and a Master’s from the College of Europe. A frequent public speaker and writer on European affairs, Laura is also a member of international leadership networks such as the Marshall Memorial Fellowship.
Ashling Hoare
Finance and Operations Manager, Belgium and Switzerland
Ashling joined Ashoka in 2019 as Finance and Operations Manager for Belgium and Switzerland and now focuses on Belgium. Since 2023, she has expanded her role, joining the Global Talent team as Project Manager for Learning & Development and Carry4Good as Finance Manager.
With a background in finance and experience at BNP Paribas AM, Ashling enjoys working at the intersection of people, purpose and organisational development. Born and raised in Brussels, with French and Irish roots, she is also passionate about volunteering and nature preservation.
Yannick Fischer
Venture and Partnership manager
After completing his M.Sc. in Global Governance and Ethics, Yannick has been continuously working in the field of social innovation and entrepreneurship. First for the Deutsche Gesellschaft für internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the German agency for international development and cooperation, supporting the secretariat of an intrapreneurship accelerator and now at Ashoka as the Venture and Partnerships manager. At Ashoka, Yannick has managed an acceleration programme for social entrepreneurs on the topic of integration and inclusion and is currently managing a new edition on climate change and circularity. Additionally, he is responsible for the search and selection of new Ashoka Fellows in Belgium and supports on a European level other Ashoka staff members in the due diligence process.