Read more about Ashoka staff in:
France, Germany, Poland, Spain, United Kingdom

Ashoka-France Staff

(visit the Ashoka-France Website)

Arnaud Mourot, France
Arnaud Mourot has been Ashoka’s CEO in France since November 2005, and he has also managed the development in Belgium and Switzerland since 2006. He has enabled the launch of the Venture and Fellowship programs (already 21 Fellows), and of a Social Business Plan competition in the 3 countries. Arnaud holds an MBA from the Paris Management School, ESCP, where he focused on "Innovation and Entrepreneurship." For 10 years he was also a prominent member of the French Wrestling team and an international champion. He created the Sport Sans Frontières (SSF) NGO in 1999, which he has chaired since Ashoka hired him.

Florence Rizzo, France
Florence Rizzo is born in the East of France. She holds a master in Political Science and an MBA with a focus on Social Entrepreneurship. During her studies, she created several student organizations. She has lived one year in Finland and has travelled a lot in different countries. She works at Ashoka since 2005.

Ashoka-Germany Staff 

(visit the Ashoka-Germany Website)

Oda Heister, Germany
With an interest in economics and roots in a social-oriented familiy, Oda has always looked for ways to combine economic thinking and societal goals. She studied economics in Freiburg, Brighton (UK) and Berlin. In Berlin, she co-founded the Economic Forum with a focus on ethics and society. Looking for a way to build on her business and citizen sector interests, Oda went to Warsaw, Poland, where she worked for four years with a foundation on fostering democracy, social market economy and human rights. She created dialogue programs that brought together actors from the third sector, politics and business to overcome the communication gap between both worlds, and went on to start a new country program for the foundation in Belarus. When finding out about Ashoka, Oda felt that Ashoka and its programs were the missing link she had been looking for.

Dennis Hoenig-Ohnsorg, Germany
Entrepreneurship and Youth run like a thread through the life of Dennis Hoenig-Ohnsorg. He studied business and economics at ICADE University (Spain) and ESB Reutlingen (Germany) specializing in CSR and Social Entrepreneurship. In University he founded a foundation in Bolivia focusing on preventional work with street kids in La Paz, where he lived and worked for two years. Back in Germany and inspired by this experience he started a German CSO and initiated a new project: based on a national competition and innovative pedagogic material he promoted social commitment among adolescents and a skill-focused educational approach within schools.

Felix Oldenburg, Germany
Felix Oldenburg joined Ashoka in 2009 as Country Director Germany with experience as an entrepreneur, project pioneer and consultant at the interfaces of government, business and the social sector.  Previously, he served as Director at the political consulting firm and think tank IFOK, pioneering large scale citizen participation projects. He started his career as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company in London, and co-founded a social network. Felix studied Philosophy at Bonn, Tübingen and Oxford University, and obtained an Executive Master in Policy Management from Georgetown. He has published on citizen participation, governance and corporate social responsibility.

Michael Vollmann, Germany
Michael Vollmann completed his studies in International Culture and Economic Studies at Passau University and Universidade do Estado de Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) with his Diploma thesis in cooperation with Ashoka about "Parameters for Social Entrepreneurship in Germany". During his studies he founded a student movement to foster students teaching students events in the fields of development cooperation and migration at his university. What is more, during his community service in Chile and Bolivia he gained deep insight in the field of international development cooperation teaching at a professional school. Michael works in venture and fellowship, manages the contacts to universities.

Lilli von Bodman, Germany
Lilli von Bodman joined Ashoka from the Quandt Foundation. She obtained a Master in economics by studying in Germany and India. In Mumbai, she built up an organization that worked with street children and combat the spread of HIV/AIDS. Her program replicated nation-wide. Lilli grew up in Germany, Belgium and the former communist Soviet Union – an experience that she felt made her realize at young age how important human rights are for society’s development. At Ashoka Germany she lay the base for Youth Venture’s implementation and dissemination and is now in charge for collaborative entrepreneurship among Ashoka Fellows.

Ashoka-Poland Staff

(visit the Ashoka-Poland Website)

Ewa Konczal, Poland
Prior joining Ashoka Ewa worked in Egypt, where she has established Egyptian Polish Businessman Association. She had also volunteered with a Global March Against Child Labor in Delhi, India. Pursuing her passions – mountaineering - in 2004 Ewa has found her own organization Magic Mountain Foundation that creates opportunities for various disadvantaged youth and adults to climb their own Everest. Ewa is a Ford Motor Company Fellow and a member of the Remarque Forum, at the New York City University. In 2006 Ewa had received the AIESEC International Global Leadership & Entrepreneurship Award and entered the AIESEC Alumni Hall of Fame.

Ryszard Praszkier, Poland
Dr. Ryszard Praszkier is the International Training Director. Joined Ashoka in 1994 as the first Poland Country Director. Before joining Ashoka was a psychotherapist, brought several innovations in that field.  During the 1980s participated in the Polish underground Solidarity movement. In the 90s coordinated Ashoka's expansion to the Baltics; in 2000 helped building Nominators network in the US; participated in launching Ashoka in Ireland and Great Britain. Has co-initiated the BUS program linking university students and Ashoka Fellows. Designed and facilitated int’l staff training programs. Chaired many Ashoka selection panels globally.  Is researching social entrepreneurship and authored several related publications.

Ashoka-Spain Staff

(visit the Ashoka-Spain Website)

Maria Calvo, Spain
Maria joined Ashoka after seven years in eBay, as general manager for Spain, leading the team that launched and developed the platform to achieve critical mass. During her years at eBay she partnered with non-profit organizations to help them leverage internet to raise resources, or as a way to self-employment and social integration.  Maria also led the local development of the entrepreneurs’ initiative, supporting people to set up new businesses leveraging online platforms. Prior to eBay, Maria held marketing positions in various companies and countries. She holds a Degree in Business and Economics and an MBA in Instituto de Empresa, Madrid.

Kenny Clewett, Spain
Kenny has been working for Ashoka since 2006, first as an intern and later on as the Venture program coordinator. Born in the US and raised in Spain, from a young age he has been involved in initiatives empowering young people to make their own decisions and innovate. While obtaining his degree in Humanities at Alcala University (Madrid) he spent his free time leading mission teams from Spain to foreign countries including Europe, Nepal and China where he helped start an initiative that aims to teach top Chinese students leadership, teamwork and integrity.

Elena Correas, Spain
Elena joins Ashoka after 5 years at McKinsey and United Nations Development Programme. At UNDP Colombia, Elena was in charge of the Environment and Sustainable Development Unit, working with civil society organizations, local communities, indigenous people and local, regional and national governments. She travelled extensively, meeting true social entrepreneurs working for their communities. At McKinsey she engaged in banking, telecommunications and non-profit sector related projects. Elena holds a BSc in Environmental Science, a degree in Environmental Management from George Washington University and a MS on International Cooperation and Project Management from Instituto Ortega y Gasset (Universidad Complutense in Madrid).

Ashoka-UK Staff

Tina Choi, United Kingdom
Tina Choi leads Ashoka’s strategic marketing and communications initiatives in Europe.  She brings over 15 years of multi-sector experience, with previous positions at the United Nations, Random House, the Bertelsmann Foundation, and as a White House Fellow.  She started her career as an Echoing Green Fellow and remains committed to supporting the work of social entrepreneurs.  She has been selected as one of the "100 Global Social Entrepreneurs” by IDC and received the "Women Redefining Leadership" Award from the State of the World Forum.  Tina has lived and travelled in over 50 countries and speaks several languages.  Tina holds degrees from Wellesley, Harvard, and Oxford.

Andres Falconer, United Kingdom
As Managing Director of the Ashoka Support Network, Andres oversees the expansion of Ashoka’s community of business leaders supporting social entrepreneurs around the world. Before joining Ashoka in 2007, Andres was the Executive Director of ABDL, a Brazilian NGO affiliated to the LEAD International network, promoting leadership for sustainable development, and co-founded and managed CEATS, the Centre for Social Entrepreneurship of the University of São Paulo. Andres holds a Masters Degree in Management and was a Fellow of the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he has lived most of his life in Brazil and is currently based in London.

Catriona Maclay, United Kingdom
Catriona Maclay joined Ashoka in 2008 to work on UK Venture and Fellowship. She has previously worked as a 'Teach First' teacher in a London secondary school where she developed and implemented a school-wide active Citizenship curriculum to give young people the knowledge and practical experience they need to be informed, critical and engaged citizens. She has also worked in Bolivia as a journalist and in Brazil as a carer in an orphanage. At university she led college efforts to improve access to Cambridge for students from underrepresented backgrounds. She studied at Trinity College, Cambridge and the Freie Universitaet, Berlin.