Future Hindsight Podcast: Restoring Democracy with Ashoka's Michael Zakaras

A healthy democracy and a vibrant, independent civil society live in a close symbiotic relationship. 

Michael Zakaras, director of Ashoka US, in conversation with Mila Atmos of Future Hindsight, argues that restoring democracy in the United States starts with making it easier for people from all walks of life to contribute to the commons. 

This is at the core of Ashoka’s “Everyone A Changemaker” vision: the more we feel motivated and confident to step up when something isn’t working, the more resilient we’ll be. In our era of uncertainty and tumult, changemaking ability is the new literacy for the modern world. 

One of the under-appreciated roles of the social entrepreneur in particular is as catalyst for broad citizen action: time and time again, they create a kind of infrastructure for ordinary people to contribute. 

This is different from solving problems *for* people — it’s much more about creating a mass movement of activated humans who find their power. That’s how you get to a world where problems don’t outrun solutions. 

Give it a listen!