Ashoka is a global community of leading social entrepreneurs known as Ashoka fellows, who address urgent social challenges with innovative solutions. The organization aims to empower individuals to become changemakers and create significant social impact, evidenced by the successful replication of fellow initiatives worldwide. Ashoka is establishing a chapter in Greece to foster a network of fellows, facilitate global innovations, and strengthen public-private partnerships in addressing social issues.

1. Ashoka: Innovators for
the Public
Prepared for STARTup Live Athens, June 2013

2. What is Ashoka?
Ashoka is the global community of the world’s leading social
entrepreneurs (ASHOKA FELLOWS) — men and women with
system-changing solutions for the world’s most urgent social
problems. Ashoka sources the best social innovations, mobilizes
thousands of people to create change, and enables
businesses, the media, policy makers and “changemakers” to
work together to create global impact.

3. Ashoka FELLOWS Worldwide*
204
600
226
681
318
*as of 2012
679
437 378
398
75
875
North America
South America
Europe
Asia
Middle East/ East Africa
Africa

4. Where the needs of the world and your talents
cross, there lies your vocation.
-Aristotle
-Εκεί ποσ τα ταρισματά σοσ σσναντούν τις ανάγκες
τοσ κόσμοσ, εκεί βρίσκεται και ε αποστολή σοσ στε
δωή.
-Αριστοτέλες

5. Ashoka Fellows

6. Ashoka Fellow Criteria
•A New Idea: new solution or approach to a social
problem
•Creativity: visionary and a problem solver
•Entrepreneurial Quality: totally committed to making this
idea a reality
•Social Impact of the Idea: will it change a field? Have
national or regional impact?
•Ethical Fiber: is this person trusted?

7. SELECTED ASHOKA PARTNERS

8. Ashoka envisions a world where
Everyone is a Changemaker™: one
that responds quickly and effectively
to social challenges, and where each
individual has the freedom, confidence
and societal support to address any
social problem and drive change.

9. Ashoka’s Global Impact
of Ashoka Fellows have proven their ideas
to be so effective that independent groups
and governments have replicated them
within 5 years of election.
of Ashoka Fellows have contributed to
changed national policy within 5 years of
election
89%
of Ashoka Fellows have changed market
dynamics at a national level.
54%
57%

10. Ashoka is building partnerships to launch a chapter in
Greece to:
Create a powerful network of Ashoka Fellows in
Greece
Bring global innovations to Greece
Empower young Changemakers
Strengthen the relationship between private and
citizen sectors to co-create solutions that empower
youth and impact the social sector.
Greece: An Opportunity for Changemakers

11. Examples of Ashoka Fellows

12. Norbert Kunz, Germany
Founder of IQ Consult
Norbert Kunz supports youth employment by providing
microcredit to young entrepreneurs and building
collaborative networks of small
entrepreneurs, corporations and public institutions to fuel
nascent entrepreneurial activity. To date, Kunz has
helped to create more than 3,500 jobs.
His program is now a federal program and has spread to
several countries through adoption by the EU.
Ashoka Fellow: Youth Employment

13. Yves Lesenfants, Venezuela
Founder of Fundacion Programa Andes Tropicales
Yves helps communities utilize their market potential
through a new methodology that guides communities
through a process of planning and executing tourism
enterprises. This gives communities in/near national
parks and nature reserves complete ownership over
the process of creating tourism products.
Government authorities, communities have solicited his
services, and the Inter-American Development Bank
(IDB) has consulted Yves and is replicating his
methodology in several other countries.
Ashoka Fellow: Sustainable Tourism

14. Anshu Gupta, India
Founder of GOONJ - A Voice, An Effort
Anshu Gupta is facilitating an economic bridge
between urban, wealthy India and impoverished, rural
India by simply sharing the surplus of wealth. To assist
villagers in a way that moves beyond charity, his “Cloth
for Work” program links clothes to self-organized
development activities in villages, including
sorting, repurposing and packaging donated clothing.
$550,000 annual budget, 150 employees, hundreds of
volunteers, 250 NGO partners that will help it assist
about half a million people in 21 states this year.
Ashoka Fellow: Poverty Alleviation + Civic
Engagement

15. Rebecca Onie, US
Founder of Health Leads
Rebecca Onie is building a movement to break the
link between poverty and poor health by mobilizing
university student volunteers to provide sustained
public health interventions in partnership with urban
medical centers, universities, and community
organizations.
Since 2010, Health Leads has served over 23,000
patients, and 7,000 Health Leads alumni work in and
around the healthcare system.
Ashoka Fellow: Healthcare + Poverty Alleviation

16. www.ashoka.org
changemakers.com
startempathy.org
Everyone A Changemaker™