Ashoka
Next Now advances the new frontier of social change
We face significant challenges from climate change and technological shifts to evolving demographics and social divides. Many traditional institutions struggle to keep pace. Yet, social entrepreneurs and communities are bringing innovative solutions and building a brighter future. The real task is to rapidly implement solutions.
Next Now is Ashoka’s strategic initiative to build the future before it arrives. We focus on fields urgently in need of new paradigms, reimagining what’s possible and creating roadmaps to get there. Our strategies drive collective action, not just advancing single solutions but transforming entire systems. By harnessing Ashoka’s global network of leading social entrepreneurs, Next Now moves beyond isolated innovations to achieve deep, lasting change.
Our approach across fields
Our approach across fields consists of four key pillars:
Innovation: We accelerate paradigm-shifting models from social entrepreneurs that redefine entire systems and norms.
Intelligence: Our global radar continuously scans, maps, and connects emerging trends, insights, and changemakers for collective activation.
Architecture: We co-design the underlying structures that guide human decisions and enable deep systems change.
- Amplification: We shape powerful narratives and foster strategic partnerships to embed new paradigms in public consciousness and decision-making.
Our Next Now Fields
For the first time in history, more people are over 65 years old than under five – a seismic demographic shift affecting all aspects of our lives and economies. How can we all live purposeful, healthy lives as we age? How can we reverse age segregation? How can we reinvent retirement and value care work?
We need to fundamentally rebalance our relationship not only with nature, but as part of it. How can we help all children fall in love with the natural world (and therefore protect it)? How can our economic systems prioritize shared wellbeing on a healthy planet? How can we bring unlikely allies on board?
More and more aspects of our lives are impacted by technology. How will humanity anticipate, mitigate, and manage the consequences of algorithms, artificial intelligence, robots, and more? How do we ensure tech works for the common good? And empowers everyone?
Discover Insights
Ashoka Fellows work at the leading edge of tech and humanity, lifelong contribution, environmental innovation, and other rapidly evolving fields. Follow the world’s leading social entrepreneurs via weekly conversations throughout the year and find out what’s working, what’s next, and the role we can all play. And below, explore recent interviews with a few our 4,000 Ashoka Fellows in 90+ countries.
Bill Drayton on Brief but Spectacular
“I think wilderness helps you see the larger picture.” Bill Drayton, founder of Ashoka and responsible for the rise of the phrase “social entrepreneur,” has been inspired by nature since he was a young kid. The connection inspired his power to be a changemaker and help make sure that kids around the world also felt this. This is his Brief But Spectacular take on why everyone must be a changemaker.
Preserving our roots
Amara Nwuneli, a climate and social activist who won the Earth Prize for Africa in 2025, founded Preserve Our Roots after the 2020 flash floods displaced families in her hometown in Nigeria. Preserve Our Roots is a youth-led social advocacy organization that mobilizes young people to take climate action. This is her Brief But Spectacular take on taking action against climate change and preserving our roots.
The healing power of grandmothers
Dixon Chibanda brought the two together by founding “The Friendship Bench,” an organization that recruits and trains older women in cognitive behavioral therapy and then connects them with clients dealing with “kufungisisa,” or depression. In this episode, Dixon describes the things he’s learned while witnessing the healing power of grandmothers–and of sharing stories.
Protecting what we love
Hanli Prinsloo, a South African freediver and water conservationist, founded I Am Water with the goal to share the ocean with more than the few people who were able to get to be in the water. For many children they work with, it’s the first time that they are able to explore the ocean and appreciate the beauty of the ocean. This is Hanli’s Brief But Spectacular take on protecting what we love.
Making the most of the multi-generational moment
Marc Freedman is the founder and co-CEO of CoGenerate, a company seeking to bridge the divides between people of different ages. He shares his Brief But Spectacular take on how to make the most of the multi-generational moment.
Women don't LEAVE, they evolve: How motherhood changes careers
Riccarda Zezza was one of them. When she discovered her role had disappeared, she didn’t just see a setback—she saw a missed opportunity. Motherhood, she realized, had equipped her with powerful professional skills that too many workplaces overlook.
Climate jobes for the future
What do the climate jobs of the future look like? With a background in violin crafting, Wietse van der Werf was able to secure a job on a ship as a carpenter. From there, his career in ocean conservation led him to founding Sea Ranger Service, an organization that provides maritime training and coaching opportunities to young people in coastal areas
How one organization is aiming to counter ageism
Ximena Abogabir felt an emotional sting around age 70 when her colleagues in Santiago, Chile, began to treat her less as an asset and more as a liability. Her own experience, along with rising stereotypes about older people’s value in the workplace and society, inspired her to co-create “Travesía Cien,” an organization to help counter ageism in her country and beyond.
Every child falling in love with nature
Joaquín Leguía first experienced the significance of the relationship between humans and the environment when he spent time in his grandmother’s secret garden as a child. He continues to build on these relationships with Ania, an organization that develops empathy for life through initiatives that relate them to Mother Nature.
Our Team
Alexandra Mitjans
People and Planet • USA
Amy Clark
Next Now • USA
Ana Saenz de Miera
Next Now • Spain
Casilda Heraso
New Longevity • Spain
Hanae Baruchel
Tech for Human Agency • Netherlands
Ivy Akii
New Longevity • Kenya
Luana Soares
People and Planet • Brazil
Maite Arango
Next Now • Spain
Maria Clara Pinheiro
New Longevity • India/USA
Marilia Duque
New Longevity • Brazil
Maurizio Troli
Next Now • Spain
Rhea Sethna
People and Planet • UK
Samara Randhawa
New Longevity • USA
Simon Stumpf
People and Planet • USA
Next Now is where the shift begins
Turning points take societies by surprise. This represents a significant shift: from a few individuals making all the decisions to everyone being empowered.
