Changemakers Stepping Up, Responding to the Pandemic

All over the world, people are seizing the moment, creatively solving problems and expressing love and respect in action

Picture of two young children playing a board game with a health care responder on a medical bed. Background of other people within a medical facility on or walking around medical beds.

Twenty-five Ashoka Fellows Named to WEF Top 50 COVID-19 Responders

Ashoka joined the World Economic Forum’s COVID Response Alliance for Social Entrepreneurs, which was set up in April 2020 with the mission to stand by social entrepreneurs as first responders to the COVID-19 crisis and as pioneers of a new normal. Over a year later, the crisis is far from over and...

Beiersdorf and Ashoka Join Forces to Fight COVID-19 Consequences

The new partnership strives to support innovative social entrepreneurs who contribute with their ideas to fighting the consequences of the pandemic

Shots In The Dark: Why Access To A Covid-19 Vaccine Isn’t Guaranteed

Ashoka Fellow Priti Krishtel discusses myths and reality in America’s quest for immunity

Who will get the Covid-19 vaccine?

Addressing deep-rooted inequities in access to medicine

Social entrepreneurs are first responders to the COVID-19 crisis. This is why they need support.

The 60-member COVID Response Alliance for Social Entrepreneurs provides interventions to support social entrepreneurship during COVID-19

From victims of domestic violence to empowered & empowering survivors! The progress of Ana Bella’s Covid-19 solution

The number of women reporting abuse to the Ana Bella Foundation has increased by 4 times during the Coronavirus lockdown. Despite this, research shows that only 20 percent of women suffering from abuse legally report their abuser. With the many unreported cases, Ana Bella wants to convey a message...

Lessons From The Frontlines: Preparing A Global Vaccine Workforce

Dr. Sanjeev Arora had been using Zoom for years, long before Covid-19 put it on the desktop of every manager, consultant, and third-grade teacher from Columbus to Capetown. He founded Project ECHO — Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes — to encourage a two-way flow of expertise by connecting...

Will Covid Be The Opportunity We Need To Reimagine Learning?

American schools are embarking on an enormous unplanned experiment to reinvent the routines of education, whether that means meeting in a classroom, or learning outside or online. Scott Hartl, who leads EL Education, sees an opportunity to use this unprecedented disruption to go further, to...

Social entrepreneurs respond to “a molten lava moment”

Four Ashoka Fellows on what they’re learning right now, what’s ahead, and why they’re hopeful

Rare diseases & Covid-19: How Changemakers United helped advance Dorica Dan’s solution

Dorica is revolutionising the field of care for rare disease patients. She does this by transitioning from a rigid system to a collaborative approach using a flat leadership model and creating new roles to navigate it. She is building a world in which all rare disease patients have equal and free...

Changemakers United: a collective initiative to tackle COVID-19

We are thrilled to announce that Ashoka, in partnership with Zalando, kick-started Changemakers United. This initiative will enable our worldwide network of social entrepreneurs to scale solutions for the challenges around COVID-19. Between April and October 2020, we will: 1. Source & map innovators...

Claudia Thomas Riche meets with nurses during a workshop

Why nurses need a seat at the table

COVID-19 cases are surging in Haiti. Nurses on the front lines possess critical knowledge for fighting the spread of the virus—but often not the platforms to make their voices heard. Ashoka Fellow Claudia Thomas Riché is working to change that.

Re-imagining Education in India: Lessons learnt from Covid 19

In India 320 million (32 crore) students have been affected by one of the most draconian lockdown in history. Schools shut down and the Indian Government was quick to recommend a shift to ‘online teaching’, failing to take into cognizance India’s huge digital divide and its embedded gender and class...

ChangemakHERs steps Up to Lead Change

Amira El Masry, one of the winners of the Young ChangemakHERs Transformative Journey and Competition, has been working to scale her initiative Ohana in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ohana leverages art to cultivate a culture of empathy and tackle bullying toward refugee children among youth in...

Want to help fight the Covid-19 pandemic long-term? Support Solutions from Social entrepreneurs. Here’s how.

The Covid-19 pandemic sees social entrepreneurs throughout Europe and the world rising to the challenge and changing or adapting their work to meet the needs posed by this highly demanding situation. With solutions ranging from direct healthcare response to fighting disinformation and consequences...

Will the Covid Crisis Spur Us to End Homelessness?

The Covid pandemic is exposing cracks in numerous public systems—including health care, finance, and housing. In fact, says Rosanne Haggerty, founder of Community Solutions and a global expert on homelessness, the three are closely linked. Before Covid, homelessness was an epidemic on its own. Now...

Changemakers of the Pandemic

Changemakers of the Pandemic is a vodcast by Ashoka Young Changemaker Manat from California. These stories offer us hope and optimism during this time of uncertainty by demonstrating the power and journeys of changemakers. By highlighting leaders of all ages, Manat aspires to show how anyone can...

Empowering Changemakers During the Pandemic

A New Narrative for Challenging Times Countries across Europe have started to turn the corner on COVID-19. But the pandemic’s effects will be felt long after lockdowns have ended. Our understanding of ‘normal’ has been shaken. Many of us feel exposed and vulnerable — economically, socially...