~ Ashoka founder and CEO Bill Drayton
Ashoka's Initiatives in Social Entrepreneurship
Ashoka Venture and Fellowship
For more than 35 years, Ashoka has built and nurtured the largest network of leading social entrepreneurs in the world. After a rigorous selection process, they are introduced to a life-long fellowship, where every member is committed to championing new patterns of social good. We encourage Ashoka Fellows to take ownership of the network and we partner with them to co-create Ashoka’s vision of an Everyone a Changemaker world.
Next Now
Powered by Ashoka, Next Now identifies, supports and lifts up these examples, and the changemakers behind them. From a bird’s eye perspective, we see patterns and frontiers of innovation that show a way to a better future. We weave a community of innovators committed to building it, and share our findings and insights with the world.
Next Now has started to identify these patterns in the following fields: The New Longevity, Gender, Planet & Climate, Tech & Humanity
Ashoka Changemakers
Ashoka Changemakers is building a global movement where anyone, anywhere, can take action to solve a social problem in in their community. We work to build this movement by supporting social entrepreneurs, innovators, business leaders, policy makers, and activists who are changemaking, by delivering ground-breaking analysis, by accelerating intrepreneurship, and creating strong partnerships that will drive the movement forward.
WISE (Women's Initiative in Social Entrepreneurship)
WISE is a global initiative led from the global South that aims to elevate the number, knowledge, and power of women in social entrepreneurship by redefining success from a gendered lens and celebrating the unique ways in which women successfully lead and make impact.
It includes the WorldWISE storytelling initiative, the WISE Up online series, and the ChangemakHERS Collaborative platform.
Entrepreneur-to-Entrepreneur (E2)
Entrepreneur-to-Entrepreneur (E2) is an invite-only, exclusive network of high-impact, visionary business entrepreneurs. Our members step up to provide transformational co-leadership in their metro areas, region, or globally. We are open sourcing the newest, best big pattern ideas our social entrepreneurs are leading and demonstrating patterns with entrepreneurs who are tackling big issues in health, environment, gender, technology, and humanity.
Ashoka Globalizer
The Globalizer program taps into Ashoka’s broad network of changemakers across the business, government, and citizen sectors. It begins with a three-month advisory phase where a support team of volunteer advisors—leading strategy consultants and high-level business leaders—help Ashoka Fellows reflect on key issues and establish a solid strategy to spread their impact.
Ashoka Support Network
The Ashoka Support Network is a global community of committed leaders who share, support, and advocate for Ashoka’s values and vision, while unleashing their own potential as changemakers.
Social Entrepreneurship
Ashoka has pioneered the field of social entrepreneurship, identifying and supporting the world’s leading social entrepreneurs since 1980. Social entrepreneurs are individuals with innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social, cultural, and environmental challenges.
Social entrepreneurs are ambitious and persistent — tackling major issues and offering new ideas for change at a systems-level. They model changemaking behavior and catalyze organizations and movements where everyone can be a changemaker.