Course Description

In today’s world of unprecedented change, creating space for understanding, collaboration, and social impact has become essential to a company’s survival.  In order to create that impact. Developing and fostering skills such as intrapreneurship, agility, teamwork, empathy, and collaborative leadership is increasingly important for the future of business.

At Ashoka we believe that equipping the workforce with changemaker skills is key to building an enterprise that can thrive in the competing business landscape of the future.

Ashoka Changemakers and Changemaker Companies have created a six-week online course: Future of Business: An Inter-company Course for Changemakers. This learning experience, offered to Ashoka's corporate partners, is intended to train professionals on the foundations of social impact, while offering an intelligible understanding of the role of corporations in building sustainable systems. At Ashoka we believe that equipping your workforce with changemaker skills is key to building an enterprise that can thrive in the competing business landscape of the future.

Participants earn a certificate by completing the 6 modules of the course and accumulating points, which are awarded by interacting with the platform features and with other learners. Those who go above and beyond will receive a certificate of distinction and a letter signed by Ashoka's Founder and CEO, Bill Drayton.

 

This is an online training offered to Ashoka's corporate partners only. If your company is not a partner yet, please contact us at [email protected].

Ashoka partners with companies from all around the world, and we are eager to collaborate with institutions interested in building best practices for the future of responsible business.

Course Curriculum

Module 1: Why Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Social entrepreneurs are individuals with innovative solutions to society's most pressing social, cultural, and environmental challenges. Looking to examples that have reshaped global industries, in Module 1 we connect the dots between big innovations and social entrepreneurs to learn how they have influenced new systems and modes of thinking and operating.

Module 2: Social Intrapreneurship and the Corporate World

Module 2 explores the definition of social intrapreneurship and investigates the business case for fostering intrapreneurship within institutions. Participants are exposed to real-world examples and learn about the necessary skills to grow as an intrapreneur and create impact from within an institution.

Module 3: Systems Change and Levels of Impact

Module 4 introduces learners to the concept of systems change and the different levels of impact. We focus on how to create change and how we can escalate our impact within systems by understanding how solutions can address the root—or a portion—of a social problem.

Module 3: Developing Changemaker Skills to Advance Social Impact

We look at the skills needed to advance social impact in a rapidly changing environment, such as empathy, new leadership, collaborative teamwork, creativity,  and more. We review examples of real-life challenges to advancing social impact and learn how successful innovators employed these skills and others to overcome barriers.

Module 5: Shared Value & Co-creation

Besides serving as a tool for organizational transformation, co-creation is an opportunity for businesses to spark the next generation of sustainable solutions through cross-sector collaboration. We can inspire new business models by developing shared value and working closely with non-traditional partners, beginning with social entrepreneurs.

Module 6: Final Review and Wrap-up

The final week is an exercise in reflection and an opportunity to review content. It also allows participants to crystallize their professional connections from the course and discuss the concepts we’ve explored together.

Testimonials from Participants

"I really appreciated the idea that social change can come from within an organization or external to an existing organization, but that ultimately, for long-term change systems level involvement is required. The modules on ways to really understand the problem you are trying to solve and the value of co-designing solutions provided some great, actionable ideas, [and] the value in a learning network, where ideas, problems, and solutions can be shared as a way to address systems issues really resonated."

Senior Director
United States

"I've already started applying the distinction between the levels of impact [in my job] - an amazing tool for understanding what we can do and what changes to expect given the different levels we're at.

I’ve shared with my colleagues the framework, so that we can better get equipped for moving with our business from “scaled direct impact” to “systemic change".”

Communications Manager
Romania

"[During] these weeks, I really understood the mindset of changemaking, and I feel in my bones that's exactly what I needed to spread this vibrant energy I have deep inside wanting things to change.

I had a team but did not really know how to manage this topic, although I'm a store manager... now I feel we are on the right tracks, the course helped me find the right angle, the right approach, the will to try and not be afraid of failure."

Deputy Store Manager
France