Ashoka
LEADING SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS
Ashoka is on an audacious mission to create a world where everyone is a changemaker, and where everyone has the agency and skills to make a positive change in their communities. It is only in such a world that the solutions will outrun our social problems.
Ashoka was founded in 1980 on the idea that the most powerful force for good is a social entrepreneur whose system-changing innovations solve deep-rooted social problems. Ashoka set out to pioneer the field of social entrepreneurship by finding these leading innovators across the world. We call them Ashoka Fellows.
To this day, Ashoka searches the world for these leading social entrepreneurs through a rigorous, human-centered process. Once selected, we invite them into the Ashoka Fellowship enabling them to work on their their vision and have an even greater impact. The Ashoka Fellowship consists of 4,000 Fellows across more than 90 countries.
Leading Social Entrepreneurs is our annual book that celebrates our newly elected Fellows in 2023. We hope you will enjoy reading about a selection of these social entrepreneurs, their ideas to change the world, and the frameworks that they bring to society.
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CIVIC PARTICIPATION
Citizens and communities are increasingly working to be actively involved in decision-making processes that affect their lives and communities. However, there are systemic barriers preventing them from full involvement in local, state, and national governments. These Ashoka Fellows are shaping a new vision of democracy and civic participation where every person can actively contribute to positive social change.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
These Ashoka Fellows working in development are impacting the economic and social systems shaping our society. Everyday, we move closer to their vision of a world where all people can achieve economic wellbeing and livelihood, through their impacts in the fields of housing, nutrition, agriculture, employment, and law/advocacy.
ENVIRONMENT
The threats facing our planet are changing quickly—extreme weather events, changing energy sources, emissions and policy—as are the pathways forward to rebalance our relationship with the climate. These Ashoka Fellows are driving paradigm shifts in the planet and climate fields, ensure that all levels of society are engaged in work to protect the planet and reverse climate change.
GROWING UP
The time is now for a fundamental shift in how people see the role of young people in making the world more equitable and just. These Ashoka Fellows are working to ensure every young person can recognize his or her power as a changemaker, reshape how young people grow up, and redefine success, both inside and outside formal education.
GENDER / WOMEN
These Fellows are challenging sexism, one of the strongest underlying systems of power prevasive in society. Through their work on issues of gender equality and feminist values, we can eliminate gender bias and discrimination against women and gender diverse people across the world.
