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Over the last few weeks, there’s been a flood of commentary, outrage, and too-little-too-late actions over the sexual abuse scandals at Penn State, and the charges issued against former Assistant Coach Jerry Sandusky. What each successive firing has proved is that the physical acts themselves are...

Ashoka Fellow Albina Ruiz is not afraid of cleaning up garbage. Many of us take efficient waste removal for granted. Yet, in some parts of the world, refuse is not effectively managed. This has long been the case in Lima, Peru. The problem was particularly severe in Lima’s northern district. In 1995...

As the CEO of Genetic Alliance, Ashoka Fellow Sharon Terry is determined to accelerate research, drug development, treatment, advocacy, and support for genetic disease. She’s found a way to dissolve the boundaries between disease-specific family foundations and advocacy organizations, universities...

You don’t have to be in a classroom to improve your ability to be empathetic. Scientists, game-makers, and designers are creating new ways of measuring, cultivating, and boosting empathy. And you can even get started on your own. Want to try? Here are three empathy-building resources to check out...

In the coming decade, the affordable housing market could grow to more than a trillion U.S. dollars if families simply double the current level of annual consumption of housing products and services. This is a conservative estimate based on the current gap between need and supply, and the increasing...

Imagine having to ask your mother-in-law before being allowed to visit a doctor for a check-up. That’s often the case in rural India, where women don’t have the autonomy to make decisions about their own health, according to Dr. Minal Singh. “Women don’t have power in the home to make decisions...

Raucous magazine vendors, horn-happy taxi drivers, multi-lingual chatter, the smell of hot dogs, and the kind of warm breeze generated by human hubbub — it’s like any day walking through Times Square, but for one important detail: I can’t see anything. Immersed in total darkness, crossing the street...

I was elected to the Fellowship in 2003. The rigorous scrutiny of my talents, capabilities, contributions were assessed, at regular intervals, for at least a year by Ashoka's staff in India. This was followed by a three-day selection process, an exercise which is unforgettable. There is no...

The Ashoka East Africa staff and Fellows were saddened by the recent news of Ashoka Fellow Andrew Macharia’s passing. Macharia (Kenya, 2003) was one of the region’s earliest Fellows; he was elected in 2003 for his innovative community-based waste management and recycling program, The City Garbage...