Google is a company that believes deeply in entrepreneurship. And this is a company that believes deeply in the power of information. We don’t think there’s another organization that combines these two things in a more compelling way than Ashoka.
— Sheryl Sandberg
Learn more about Ashoka Fellows seeking eradicate poverty worldwide.
Sydney Ribaux
This profile was prepared when Sydney Ribaux was elected to the Ashoka Fellowship in 2007.
Despite rapid climate change and increasing pollution, natural resource exploitation, and global inequality, individuals in industrialized nations often fail to take responsibility for their behavior. Sydney, along with his partner, Laure Waridel, is building a citizen social/environmental movement fueled by consumer choice. Their organization, Equiterre, offers its members simple solutions such as buying fair trade products and local organic food, using environmentally friendly transportation, and profiting from consultations to reduce household energy consumption. Equiterre then uses strength in numbers to pressure political change such as Quebec’s decision to spend a portion of gas revenue on public transportation. Starting with Quebec, Equiterre plans to create environmentally sustainable and socially equitable communities in at least two new cities per year.
