Ashoka is a living encyclopedia of social innovation around the globe
Ashoka nurtures a community of leaders creating transformational change within their home societies. Together we nudge institutions, systems, and cultures to create an 'Everyone a Changemaker' world.
Join us in shaping a more resilient, equitable, and inclusive
Ashoka Law for All Initiative (LFA) searches, selects and supports both established and young social entrepreneurs innovating to make the legal system more accessible, inclusive and effective in India.
Ashoka Fellows Responding to the COVID Crisis in India
Ashoka Fellows worldwide are working on systemic responses to the pandemic. As the crisis deepens in India, here are some Fellow-led organizations creating responses at a community, city, and nation-wide level.
In a recent interview with IDR India, Bill Drayton emphasizes that everyone has the right, and ability, to be a giver. And to be able to give in today’s world where everything is changing, everybody...
Ashoka is mapping changemakers from the LGBTQIA+ community in India who are championing innovative ideas to address the unique challenges faced by gender and sexual minorities in the sub-continent...
The Chronicle of Philanthropy: At its core, systems change involves tackling the root causes of a social problem by changing policies, power dynamics, the flow of money, talent, and other resources.
Ashoka’s country and regional offices around the world co-create and co-lead Ashoka’s programming. This enables our global changemaker community to capture and act upon emerging insights, knowledge, and talents of innovators from a wide range of cultural and regional contexts. See a full list of country offices.
Ashoka focuses on four strategic priorities to help people understand and adapt to a world of accelerating change, where everyone is called on to be a leader:
Social Entrepreneurship
Ashoka selects world-class social entrepreneurs who are leading the way to an everyone-a-changemaker world.
Ashoka is leading a movement to transform how young people grow up so they thrive in today’s rapidly changing world where everyone must be a changemaker. Changemaking starts with empathy.
Being a part of the global Ashoka family is like a dream come true. When we were elected, it gave us wings to sustain and let our new ideas fly. I am thankful for the timely support when we were venturing out to make the world a better place. The meaningful journey we charted together goes on.
Binalakshmi Nepram
Ashoka Fellow
Ashoka has helped me to cultivate a broad vision of my work by bringing the aspect of Framework change for a systemic change, not just in communities but in the larger society. The change I pursue now is much more constructive and transforming.
Gaurang Raval
Ashoka Fellow
At a time when people paid little attention to my ideas, Ashoka spent hours listening. So many times during the process, I reconsidered strategies and threw out unrealistic plans. It was one of the most introspective and forward-thinking processes I had ever experienced.
Ratnaboli Ray
Ashoka Fellow
Ashoka helped me to understand the systems approach for large-scale framework change for my vision... All Ashoka workshops pushed me to think beyond my comfort zone, and ultimately to bring a larger change in society.
Neelkanth Mishra
Ashoka Fellow
Social entrepreneurs are not content just to give a fish or teach how to fish. They will not rest until they have revolutionized the fishing industry.
Our changemaker community consists of 4,000+ Fellows, 100+ Young Changemakers, 250+ change institutions, and 300+ partners across more than 95 countries. Together, we form a strong, diverse and vibrant ecosystem of change agents collaborating and co-leading to positively transform societies and cultures around the world. Learn more about our changemaker community
Donating to Ashoka enables us to elect new social entrepreneurs into our fellowship, provide support services to existing Fellows, and launch collaborations between Fellows, corporations, and citizen sector organizations to promote continued innovation in areas of pressing global need.
Ashoka recognizes that it cannot possibly source the world’s leading changemakers on its own. Good nominators ensure that Ashoka receives a constant flow of promising candidates as well as an invaluable perspective on the current innovation in the sector.
