Ashoka
[Johannesburg, September 14] – Leading technology company, Lenovo, and Ashoka, a global organisation dedicated to promoting social entrepreneurship, continue to partner and inspire the next generation of changemakers in South Africa (SA). The collaboration brings together Ashoka's extensive experience in social innovation and Lenovo's technological expertise to foster positive change in this diverse region. With a shared vision of creating a global community of Changemakers and Kind Cities, Lenovo and Ashoka aim to equip young individuals with the necessary tools, resources, and mentorship to become leaders in driving social impact social innovation. Award-winning Thembiso Magajana partnered with Lenovo and Ashoka to share her powerful story of how she is contributing to a Kinder Johannesburg. She is an inclusion activist and technophile who partners with companies, government, and foundations to help bring digital inclusion to rural communities in SA. Lenovo recently donated $100K USD to Ashoka to accelerate innovation and support initiatives based in Guadalajara, Mexico; Puerto Princesa, Philippines; Salta, Argentina; and Johannesburg, South Africa. Ashoka themselves have invest circa $5m USD to support social entrepreneurs and projects in South Africa.
Embracing SA’s tech hub to drive inclusive innovation and social empowerment
South Africa is one of the top three tech hubs in Africa. Nestled in the southernmost region of the continent, it offers a variety of technological advancement, cultural diversity, and a complex social landscape. It is also home to significant challenges descending from its history of apartheid and ongoing issues of inequality.
With a robust infrastructure, skilled professionals, and a growing pool of startups, the country has attracted major technology companies, entrepreneurs, and investors. This has resulted in the establishment of numerous tech hubs, incubators, and accelerators across the nation, fostering an environment of creativity, collaboration, and technological breakthroughs.
However, even with this progress, the country is faced with social and economic inequalities, where disparities in wealth, education, and opportunities persist. To address these issues, the tech community in South Africa is working towards inclusive innovation, using technology to bridge divides and create opportunities for all.
Lenovo and Ashoka are partnering to harnesses the power of technology as a tool to advance social innovation and build a more equitable society where everyone can contribute to solutions. This collaboration builds on Lenovo’s Kind City initiative, a crowd-sourced vision for a more empathetic and empowering future. As well as Ashoka’s ‘everyone’s a changemaker’ initiative, which believes in the power of the social entrepreneur to activate others’ changemaking potential to make a positive impact in their communities.
Meet the local changemakers
The following changemakers are also honoured as Ashoka Fellows, a prestigious title awarded to social entrepreneurs driving meaningful change:
Thembiso Magajana is a visionary leader dedicated to education and digital inclusion. As the co-founder and CEO of Social Coding SA, she leverages technological innovation to bridge the digital divide and empower marginalized communities. Magajana strongly believes that digital literacy is essential for expanding socioeconomic opportunities, particularly for young people in peri-urban and rural areas.
Through Social Coding, she has provided digital skills training to over 5,000 youth in 45 schools since 2016. By embracing cutting-edge technologies like virtual reality, Magajana ensures that the education offered by her organisation remains relevant and equips students for the advanced digital age. Her outstanding contributions have earned her recognition as a World Economic Forum Global Shaper and a TEDx speaker. Watch this video to experience the impact of Social Coding SA in local communities.
Neo Hutiri is an accomplished engineer and the founder and CEO of Technovera, a pioneering organisation focused on improving last mile access to medication for chronic illnesses. With a passion for leveraging technology to overcome access barriers, Hutiri has cultivated a more patient-centric and collaborative healthcare ecosystem.
Recognising that over 4.5 million man-hours are lost per month due to patients spending hours in queues at primary healthcare facilities, Pelebox was invented. This is a smart locker system that enables patients to collect their repeat chronic medication in under 22 seconds. It has been successfully implemented in hospitals across the country, positively impacting the lives of countless individuals.
Neo's groundbreaking work has garnered recognition and accolades. He, amongst others, is the recipient of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s 2019 Africa Prize for Engineering Innovation.
Claire Reid is an innovative architect and entrepreneur known for her visionary work in green spaces and food security. At the age of 16, she invented and patented a groundbreaking process for planting seeds, now known as Reel Gardening. This innovative method has revolutionised the value chain behind food production in home and school-based gardens.
Reel Gardening offers a simple, cost-effective, and convenient way to grow vegetables, herbs, and flowers from seed. It empowers communities throughout South Africa, to implement their sustainable food projects, contributing to alleviating food shortages and fostering self-sustaining communities. With an emphasis on user-friendliness and education, Reel Gardening has already impacted over 2 million people.
Garth Japhet, a medical doctor turned entrepreneur, is the founder and CEO of Heartlines and ForGood. Recognising the power of storytelling in breaking down misconceptions and fostering unity, he initiated "What's your Story?" through Heartlines. This initiative promotes understanding, community, trust, and reconciliation by encouraging the sharing of personal stories in schools, workplaces, and churches.
Garth's belief in the transformative nature of storytelling extends to building kinder cities through authentic conversations. His groundbreaking drama series Soul City, which educated and empowered viewers while promoting positive values on a national scale, continues its legacy.
Championing the pursuit of a better future for all
Embarking on a remarkable journey, Lenovo takes its visionary initiative, the Kind City, to new heights, through its initiative with Ashoka and their network of changemakers. This endeavour transcends boundaries, paving the way for a future where empowerment reigns supreme.
“We are honoured to partner with Ashoka and recognise Social Coding SA, amongst others, as impactful organisations. These organisations share our commitment of driving socioeconomic inclusion and creating smarter technology and Kinder Cities for all,” says Jane Govindsamy, CSI Champion at Lenovo, South Africa.
Collaborating with 250 change institutions and fostering alliances with 300 partners across more than 95 countries, Ashoka champions the universal pursuit of a brighter future, where the power to make a difference lies within everyone’s grasp.
“With its inception in 1980, Ashoka has stood as a guiding light, uplifting over 4,000 remarkable system leaders. Additionally, it has nurtured and supported over 100 young changemakers, who serve as extraordinary ambassadors of the "everyone a changemaker vision,” says Stéphanie Schmidt, Partnership Director at Ashoka, Africa.
Join the initiative on Twitter Space
To support social entrepreneurs and encourage citizens to actively participate in the Kind City and changemakers initiative, Ashoka will host a Twitter Space talk titled Johannesburg Kind City on September 27, 2023 from 5-6pm. The Twitter Space will provide an inclusive platform to discuss opportunities for individuals to become changemakers.
If you are keen to join Ashoka and Lenovo to support social entrepreneurs and changemakers in South Africa, please contact Xabiso Lombo, at [email protected]. This is an excellent opportunity to engage with like-minded individuals and make a meaningful impact in your community.
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About Lenovo
Lenovo (HKSE: 992) (ADR: LNVGY) is a US$70 billion revenue global technology powerhouse, ranked #159 in the Fortune Global 500, employing 75,000 people around the world, and serving millions of customers every day in 180 markets. Focused on a bold vision to deliver smarter technology for all, Lenovo has built on its success as the world’s leading PC player by expanding into new growth areas of infrastructure, mobile, solutions and services. This transformation together with Lenovo’s world-changing innovation is building a more inclusive, trustworthy, and sustainable digital society for everyone, everywhere. To find out more visit https://www.lenovo.com.
About Ashoka
Ashoka identifies and supports the world's leading social entrepreneurs, learns from the patterns in their innovations, and mobilizes a global community that embraces these new frameworks to build an "everyone a changemaker world."
Ashoka supports this idea through its programs in more than 90 countries. Ashoka focuses on three strategic priorities to help people understand and adapt to a world of accelerating change, where everyone is called on to be a leader: Social Entrepreneurship, Empathy and Young Changemaking, and Organizing for Changemaking. To find out more visit https://www.ashoka.org/en-us/about-ashoka. Follow us on @AshokaAfrica on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.