June 14, 2021

Collaborative Systems Change: the way forward

Welcome to our fourth special episode of a podcast series developed in collaboration with Leading with social impact*. In this episode, we present you to the award-winning and leading social entrepreneur Jeroo Billimoria.

Source: Jeroo Billimoria

Jeroo has been in the field for 40 years, founding many successful social ventures such as One Family Foundation, which aims to initiate positive change in the world through collaborative working methods - incubating and facilitating projects to scale globally.

Our second guest in this episode is Odin Mühlenbein, partner at Ashoka Germany and co-leader of the Systems Unit at Ashoka Globalizer. Learn more about Jeroo’s changemaking journey and unique insights on collaborative mindsets by listening to our latest broadcast:

In this episode, Jeroo walks us through Collaborative Systems Change, the importance of giving up control and concrete steps on how to maximize long-term impact. In her opinion, 

“Every social challenge can be approached through a systems change vision, enabling others to become part of the solution”. 

Scaling impact and not organizations

Jeroo does not see big challenges but big opportunities, and states the need for a holistic transformation in the development system, bringing development up to the 21st century and current standards:

That means the whole way of funding needs to change. It needs to be more trust-based, co-created and facilitated, placing impact at the center.   

We have to stop working in silos, and work more collaboratively towards systems change. This includes partnering with governments”.

During this episode, we asked Jeroo what it meant for her to join the Ashoka Fellowship:

Jeroo Billimoria: “I love Ashoka. I see it as something that is there to fold on, it’s a fellowship and it's always there. What I love about it is meeting amazing social entrepreneurs and being with them.

I’m a dinosaur in the field, and I don’t know where I am going to go in the upcoming 10 years, but what I know is that Ashoka will be part of it, it has always been”. 

Less than two years ago, Jeroo co-founded Catalyst 2030, a global movement of agents for change spread across 196 countries – NGOs, social entrepreneurs, intermediaries, funders and other social change innovators – that actively collaborate to attain the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Discover this year’s Catalysing Change Week and join the Catalyst 2030 global movement.

* Ashoka  works in the Nordic region  to share the wisdom of leading social entrepreneurs with a global audience and contribute positively to this rapidly changing world. If you are interested in being part of this mission, recommend a candidate to join the Ashoka Fellowship.

* Leading with Social Impact is a podcast series hosted by Shreyas Bharadwaj that aims to connect people to the inspirational thoughts and ideas of the leaders who work to create a positive social impact. 