About Ashoka Belgium

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Source: Ashoka

What we do

1. WE SUPPORT LEADING SOCIAL INNOVATORS

OUR SCOPE OF ACTION

Ashoka is a catalyst for social change. It is the world’s leading network of social entrepreneurs with more than 3,600 Ashoka Fellows spanning over 90 countries. Amongst the Fellowship there are two Nobel Peace Prize winners.

For the past 40 years, Ashoka has been identifying, selecting and supporting leading innovators with systemic solutions to society’s most pressing problems.

We do this by:

  • Identifying the very best social entrepreneurs and welcoming them as Ashoka Fellows into the global Fellowship.
  • Providing these social entrepreneurs with financeaccess to a suite of professional services and a network of business leaders, entrepreneurs and partners who are committed to supporting them in building a sustainable and impactful organisation.
  • Supporting them to scale their solution locally, nationally and globally by providing knowledge, best practices and a global network.

 

Ashoka was launched in Belgium in 2008. Since then, we have elected and supported 17 social innovators as Ashoka Fellows  who have positively impacted the lives of thousands of people. We have been working with 12 Changemaker Schools and we have been supported by 19 philanthropic business leaders as part of our Ashoka Support Network. 

For more information about Ashoka in Belgium, have a look at our latest brochure.

 

Find out more about our Belgian Fellows

Find out more about  Selection Criteria to become an Ashoka Fellow 

We are looking to elect our next social entrepreneur! If you would like to nominate a fellow, please fill in the form or email p[email protected]

 


2. WE CREATE THE NEXT GENERATION OF CHANGEMAKERS

Over 1,000 of global Ashoka Fellows are focused on education and the development of young people. Ashoka believes that every young person should be given the opportunity to develop a skill-set that will allow them to unleash the full potential in themselves and be active in changing their world for the better - to be a Changemaker.

 

RECONFIGURING THE EDUCATION SYSTEM

Through the Changemaker Schools programme, Ashoka aims to catalyse changes throughout schools and the wider education system.
Building on our experience with social entrepreneurs, we are now working with a growing network of 200 Ashoka Changemaker Schools and other essential stakeholders to rethink the role of education and restructure how our young people grow up so that everyone can become a changemaker.

More information about CMS in Belgium

Ashoka Belgium has nominated four new Changemaker Schools in 2017! 


3. WE BUILD BRIDGES ACROSS SECTORS

Finally, Ashoka believes in the power of collaboration to create long lasting systemic change. Only by working across sector and breaking down siloes, will we be able to support and scale solutions to our world’s pressing problems. Businesses have the power to drive social change, and at Ashoka, we find the right partners to make that happen. From successful business leaders to visionary corporations, Ashoka is growing a network of like minded people to support the work of our Ashoka Fellows.


OUR GLOBAL IMPACT

In 2021, NGO Advisor has ranked Ashoka among the Top 10 NGOs in the world and is still growing as the largest network of social entrepreneurs worldwide.

5 years after their election…

  • 94% of the Ashoka Fellows are still growing their innovation

  • 93% have influenced other organisations or seen their work replicated by others

  • 56% have influenced public policies

  • 66% of the Fellows have a leadership role in tipping the sector they have an impact in

  • 72% consider that Ashoka played a signicant role in their development

 

Ashoka in the world

 


ASHOKA SUPPORT NETWORK

 

The Ashoka Support Network (ASN) is a global community of successful, innovative leaders from a variety of fields who connect with the world’s leading social entrepreneurs to accelerate positive social change. They support Ashoka financially as well as strategically by offering their time and expertise and opening their networks to Ashoka.

Our strong and committed Belgian Ashoka Support Network go far beyond the role of anonymous donors. At Ashoka Belgium, we work hard on creating a true bond between our ASNs and our Fellows:

In Belgium, we have a support committee called the CODAC, which is recommended and implemented for each new Fellow joining Ashoka. This committee is composed of the Fellow and three to four ASN members committed to supporting and counselling the Fellow. The aim of CODAC is to guide the Fellow in their entrepreneurial track and help them with personal or professional issues to allow them to move forward in the development of their project. Sessions between the ASNs and Fellow are organised at regular time intervals but may include a Senior Fellow or another guest on certain occasions.

Being an ASN member means bringing financial support, skills and a professional network to Fellows. But most of all, to us, it’s a new experience, bringing a touch of freshness and opening a window to an enthusiastic, very different professional world. It gives me access to a very varied network of people, with whom I can share experiences and good practices.

- A Belgian ASN Member -

 

Are you a business leader?

Join the Ashoka Support Network, a network of experts, entrepreneurs and professionals in support of social entrepreneurs.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to us to learn more about how members bring value to and benet from the Ashoka network, and email [email protected] with any questions about ASN.

Find out more about the ASN


IMPACT PROGRAMMES

Ashoka Belgium conducted from 2013 to 2020 the IMPACT program on a yearly basis, which aim at identifying socially innovative organisations with strong changemaking potential in a specific field, to professionalise them help them to grow and spread their impact.

Learn more about this programme