There are
extraordinary
individuals changing
the way we see things

Social Entrepreneurs
whose ideas have gained
momentum, altitude and
visibility

Leaders who’ve already had a “scratch on history”

Ashoka provides them with the catalyst to
affect social change, globally

Presenting
ASHOKA’S 2008 SENIOR FELLOWS
And more…

28 Ashoka Senior Fellows elected in 2008
12 8
3
2
3

What are they working on?
1 environment
4 education
6 economic development
5 civic engagement 7 human rights
2 communications/media
3 health
all 28 creating systematic social change

Welcome our 2008 Senior Fellow and Member cohort
Rick Aubry, USA, Rubicon National Social Innovations Bob Munro, Kenya, Mathare Youth Sports Association
Adalberto Barreto, Brazil, Projeto 4 Varas Peter Nares, Canada, SEDI
John-Marc Borello, France, Groupe-SOS Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, India, Sulabh International
Camila Batmanghelidjh, UK, Kids Company Peridis Jose Perez Gonzales, Spain, Fundacion Santa Maria
Edgar Cahn, USA, TimeBanks la Real
Augustin Carrizosa, Brazil, CIRD Earl Martin Phalen, USA, BELL National/Summer Advantage
Sandy Close, USA, Bay Area Institute USA
Reza Deghati, France, AINA Eric Rosenthal, USA, Mental Disability Rights International
Markus Gander, Switzerland, Infoklick Roberto Saba, Argentina, Asociacion de Derechos Civiles
Jean-Guy Henckel, France, Cocagne Network Ursula Sladek, Germany, Elektrizitätswerke Schönau
Garth Japhet, South Africa, Heartlines / Soul City Dorothy Stoneman, USA, YouthBuild USA
Wendy Kopp, USA, Teach for America Christine Theodoloz-Walker, France, Fondation
Alicia Leal, Mexico, Alternativas Pacificas, A.C. Intégration Pour Tous
John Marks, USA, Search for Common Ground Jimmy Wales, USA, Wikipedia
Vijay Mahajan, India, BASIX Jayasuriya Weliamuna, Sri Lanka, Transparency
Robert Moses, USA, Algebra Project International
Meet some of them…

WENDY KOPP
teach for
america
Who she is: Founder of the US-based
national teachers corp, Teach for America.
What she’s done: At age 21, Wendy
launched her educational model with the
mission of recruiting non-traditional
teachers to improve schools that serve
low-income youth in the United States.
This year over 25,000 applicants competed
for 3,700 new Teach for America positions.
Website: www.teachforamerica.org

ROBERTO SABA
asociación por
los derechos
civiles
Who he is: Founder of civil rights
organization, Asociación por los Derechos
Civiles (ADC).
What he’s done: Before Roberto co-
founded ADC, there was no other
organization in Argentina using litigation and
communications to advocate for civil and
minority rights. His work has significantly
improved the accessibility and transparency of
information to citizens.
Website: www.adc.org

URSULA SLADEK
elektrizitätswerke
schönau
Who she is: Founder of the citizen-
owned energy company, EWS
(Elektrizitätswerke Schönau or
“Energy Plants of Schönau.”)
What she’s done: Ursula’s EWAs
have broken the pricing and policy
monopoly of large utility companies
by supplying municipalities and
businesses with green energy. Ursula
has pioneered and scaled the green
energy movement; to date, there are
75,000 private EWS customers
across Germany.
Website: www.ews-schoenau.de

JIMMY
WALES
wikipedia
Photograph courtesy of Wikipedia
Who he is: Founder of free online, multilingual, open-source encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
What he’s done: Jimmy has engineered one of the largest mass online collaborations
attempted to date and in doing so, has radically democratized the act of information collection.
Since its creation in 2001, the reference Web site Wikipedia has grown rapidly, with 75,000 active
contributors working on more than 10,000,000 articles in more than 250 languages.
Website: www.wikipedia.org

REZA DEGHATI
aina
Who he is: Founder of media and
network for women and children, AINA.
What he’s done: After working for
30 years as a photojournalist, Reza
founded AINA to overcome decades of
psychological and cultural destruction
amongst Afghanis through education and
media training. More than 90 percent of
people trained by AINA are now
employed using media and
communications skills. His new initiative
-“Open Mind”- will introduce AINA’s
strategies in countries affected by
conflict and disasters.
Website: www.ainaworld.org

JOHN MARKS
search for
common ground
Who he is: President and Founder of citizen-owned
business company, Search For Common Ground (SFCG)
What he’s done: John Marks has pioneered the use of
radio soap operas as an approach to peacebuilding and
conflict resolution around the world. SFCG specializes in
the use of popular culture to create understanding among
ethnic communities and to achieve measurable changes in
behaviors and attitudes. In the last 26 years, SFCG has
grown to become not just the world’s biggest citizen
sector peacebuilding organization but also the world’s
largest producer of radio soap operas after the BBC.
Photographs courtesy of SFCG Website: www.sfcg.org

GARTH JAPHET
heartlines / soul city
Who he is: Executive Director and
Founder of multi-media social change
projects, Heartlines and Soul City.
What he’s done: Garth is managing one
of the world’s leading campaigns for health
education. Through its ground-breaking
drama series, Soul City has empowered
viewers by fusing the fields of education and
popular entertainment in an emerging field
known as “edutainment.” Garth then
founded Heartlines, a multi-media platform
to engage South Africans in public debate
about values.
Website:
www.heartlines.co.za/www.soulcity.org.za

Support us in changing the world.
Nominate an Ashoka Senior Fellow:
seniorfellows@ashoka.org
For further information about Ashoka Senior Fellows:
http://www.ashoka.org/support/types