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More than 1 billion people (1 in 6 of us) live in an urban slum and this number is expected to double by the year 2030. That is enough to make anyone pessimistic. For one Ashoka Fellow, however, the future is in our hands—we control our own fates. “ Make the surroundings your product,” Amlan Ganguly...

Storytelling can indeed influence social change. And the time is now. Thanks to the social Web, the creative pen comes in many shapes and sizes and we have massive distribution channels right at our fingertips. Today, each of us has the opportunity, and the platform, to not only share our stories...

If you want to build a movement, you have to tell a good story. Julie Wiscombe (@jwiscombe) was at the 2013 Ashoka Future Forum; here, she shares her storytelling takeaways from the plenaries, workshops and breakout sessions. When I hear the word veteran, I picture an old man with a beard wearing an...

The face of journalism is changing. The wave of new media has brought with it more chances for us to get involved in our world, whether that’s by signing an online petition, backing a Kickstarter campaign or sharing a news story with our social media circles. For journalists, there’s a new goal: don...

Tragedies like terrorist attacks, school shootings or natural disasters create indelible bonds between the people affected. Lifelong friendships, based on deep empathy and profound trust, can be forged from a catastrophe. Unexpected chaos can spur intimacy in a split second. Social entrepreneurs...

Last week the White House honored Ashoka Fellow Steven Clift (@democracy). Clift is the founder of E-Democracy.org, an online platform for citizen collaboration and government transparency. The White House honored 14 innovators from around the country as open government and civic hacking “Champions...

At the 2013 Ashoka U Exchange, Bill Drayton, in his keynote speech at the Exchange, shares his vision for the future of higher education. About the Exchange he said; "This is not a few people talking and everyone else listening. This is an everyone a changemaker meeting where everyone is here to...

My grandmother’s name was Flora, and she was all heart. Born and raised in Bristol, Tennessee, she had a deep connection to Appalachia. On occasion, I would ride with her into the Appalachian Mountains with a station wagon full of groceries to be delivered to several dirt-poor families for whom she...