Human Movement and a World of Changemakers

By Kenny Clewett, Co-Director of Hello World, Ashoka’s Migration Initiative

When Myroslava Keryk welcomes a newly arrived refugee, once the immediate logistics of reception are addressed, she asks a simple question:
“Now, what can you do to help others?”

Myroslava, an Ashoka Fellow in Poland, leads Ukrainian House: a vast support network for refugee women. Her approach turns the usual way of treating migrants and refugees on its head. Instead of seeing them as passive recipients of aid, she recognizes them as agents of change. That shift unleashes a powerful force. The women she accompanies not only regain autonomy and dignity — they also become the driving engine of the Ukrainian diaspora that welcomes and supports the integration of thousands of refugee families.

This scene illustrates a truth Europe too often forgets: human movement carries an enormous contribution of innovation and resilience that produces social improvements. Yet this potential only fully unfolds when those who arrive are received with confidence in their capacity to contribute.

As we approach International Migrants Day, observed on the 18th of December, it is worth pausing to consider this perspective — and what it means for countries receiving migrants across Europe and the world.
 

Resilience, creativity, and initiative — skills that are innate in migration journeys

At Ashoka, the world’s largest network of social entrepreneurs, we imagine a world where everyone is a changemaker: individuals who identify problems in their environment and activate solutions to transform systems. A fundamental factor in making that vision possible in any society involves migrants and refugees.

The fact is that migrants and refugees disproportionately possess changemaker skills — and they activate them in the societies that receive them. Migrating demands so much from people on the move: initiative, creativity, decision-making under pressure, resilience, and more. While the reasons for moving vary (a carefully planned pursuit of opportunity is not the same as packing a suitcase overnight to flee a life-threatening danger), the experience develops core competencies such as entrepreneurship and social leadership.

In Spain, for example, according to a recent study by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, one in seven migrant men and one in ten migrant women decide to start their own business — nearly double the national average. The same pattern appears across most countries with significant migration influx. Any government would pay dearly for the competitive advantage implied in those levels of innovation within its community.

But the impact goes far beyond individual entrepreneurship. The arrival of migrants and refugees generally activates a dynamism that reaches across society: new organizations emerge, citizen initiatives multiply, and fresh forms of cooperation strengthen the community fabric and both the local and national economy. Across Europe, for example, social -innovation ventures grew substantially following the arrival of significant numbers of refugees from Syria and Ukraine. When migratory flows arrive, receiving societies catch the spark of that innovative spirit — and the activation of changemaking agency accelerates.

The contribution is not only economic. Migration is also a catalyst of cultural generation and transnational connections that strengthen the societies involved. A walk through any Spanish city, simply observing the gastronomic offerings, confirms this. Our stomachs have always been quicker than our minds in accepting new cultural influences. Cultures are built through exchanges and incorporations — and these arrive through movement, through comings and goings. Gazpacho would not exist without tomatoes, nor the tortilla without potatoes — both ingredients originating from the Americas.
 

Changing the perspective on migration

However, the full expression of migrants’ contributions depends less on those who migrate and more on how they are received. Ashoka Fellow Daniel de Torres, founder of the Antirumores Network, puts it succinctly when speaking about migration: “Depending on how the receiving society welcomes those who arrive, their contribution can be 10 — or it can be 1000.”

When reception of migrants is shaped by suspicion, paternalism, or compassion, participation declines. When it is designed from a place of trust in the agency of those arriving, models of integration emerge that are faster, more orderly, and more effective. This concerns public policies and laws, of course — but it also involves activating citizenship in neighborhoods, schools, social organizations, and even in hiring and entrepreneurship processes.

Myroslava knows this well. But she is not alone.

Over the past decade, I have met and supported social entrepreneurs working from this perspective across the world. People like Ana Karina García, a Venezuelan refugee in Colombia who founded Juntos se Puede, helping thousands of fellow refugees rebuild their lives from their strengths. The organization helps refugees find opportunities to participate and contribute from the very first day in their new home. Or Jean Claude Rodríguez-Ferrera, Ashoka Fellow, and Abdoulaye Fall of Winkomun in Spain, who encouraged neighbors — migrants and non-migrants alike — to create Community Self-Financing groups, enabling hundreds of projects that benefit society. When one begins from the perspective of changemaking agency, everything changes.

At a moment when Europe faces a historic crossroads of identity and future direction, a new perspective on migration is urgently needed — one that contrasts with a tired debate intent on framing migration as a problem to contain or solve. The reality is that the movement of people is part of our human nature: it is not a problem, and it is not going away.

It is worth remembering the Spanish philosopher Ortega y Gasset’s words, written nearly 100 years ago: successful societies are built upon a shared life project. The fundamental question is not whether migrants should or should not arrive, but what life project our society is proposing to all who are involved. That is, how can we organize ourselves as a society so that everyone — including those who arrive with so much to contribute — can participate fully in building a society where we are all changemakers?

To learn more about the social entrepreneurs mentioned in this article, visit ashoka.es and helloworld.ashoka.org. You can also explore a learning pathway on this topic (in Spanish with English subtitles) at: https://ale.ashoka.org/courses/migracion-e-innovacion-social 

This article was originally published in Spanish in El Español. The translation has been slightly modified to a global context. You can read the original version here: https://www.elespanol.com/enclave-ods/opinion/20251215/movimiento-humano-mundo-changemakers/1003744051773_13.html