A Special Power for Migrants & Refugees

Story bubbles on world map
Source: Ashoka

Migration is a giant tectonic force. One billion of the earth’s people have taken their lives in their hands and migrated:

244 million have moved to another country, and at least 66 million were forced to do so, with 21 million becoming international refugees. Most of this movement is hugely beneficial. In 2015, migrants contributed $6.7 trillion to the global economy, with 90 percent of that going to 25 host countries (McKinsey). And much of it is handled efficiently by airlines, employers, and many others.

However, migrating from country to city or to another culture is also hard, even more so for those who had no choice. There is urgent need for reform in every step of the migrant’s journey.

For decades, Ashoka Fellows on every continent have pioneered one important new reform after another to how migration works. Each of these entrepreneurs’ proven,  practical social change innovations helps the others -- with everything from tools to deal with the psychological dimension to discovering new power levers to contributing to building public support.

This is Ashoka’s special power at work. That power flows from the fact that Ashoka is the global community of most of the world’s truly leading social entrepreneurs and their partners. It is a community of trust and omnidirectional collaboration. The magnetic attraction of this community, much more than a network effect, is strengthening as (1) the community’s team of teams architecture grows new sinews and effectiveness and (2) the historic emergence of the “everyone a changemaker” world gives the members, especially if working together, opportunities to be midwives to big history.

The e-book below provides powerful examples of Fellows (1) fighting the causes, be they environmental or human, of forced migration; and (2) seeking to make transitions safe and integration successful. You will quickly see how their contributions fit together.

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