Ashoka
Ashoka Fellows' response to the invasion of Ukraine
As we watch a humanitarian crisis unfold in Ukraine, Ashoka’s network and community of changemakers are taking action to address the most urgent challenges, in the short, medium and long term.
Ashoka’s network of 3,700 leading social entrepreneurs are selected for their systemic approach to solving problems – they envision a new way of doing things, and re-imagine scenarios for the good of all.
Below is a list of Ashoka Fellows who have temporarily adapted their work to respond to the urgency of the Ukraine invasion, but who still address the root causes of deeply entrenched challenges.
You can visit and follow their work in the links below.
Photo by John Brighenti
From immediate action to long-term impact
Immediate action: In situations of international conflict, there always is a need for urgent, immediate and effective help. Currently, resources are being mobilized from government and humanitarian funds, but there is an urgent need for flexible funding for organizations on the ground. This allows them to design their own projects, bring in needed human resources, and give their staff the support they need to do their work . A number of Ashoka Fellows have already moved their organization to provide essential and urgent action, including coordinating humanitarian organizations, supporting orphans and vulnerable children, fact-checking or lobbying corporations to take a stance. (See below).
Medium-term action: Looking beyond the immediate crisis, Ashoka is identifying some of the systemic changes needed in the medium term. Crises often shine the light on needs already present in societies, or bring completely new, unforeseen challenges. We foresee bringing these needs forward and identifying spaces for innovation will become necessary in 3-6 months, when some of the most urgent allocations of resources have been made. This will be led by the Hello Europe initiative.
Long-term impact: Finally, we must keep thinking for the long-term, identifying systems changes that that need to be implemented for our societies to be more prepared to effectively respond to challenges for the good of all. This is why we select and support Fellows who are developing long-term systemic solutions, some of who are mentioned below. This is why we will continue to select Fellows, support them to scale and broaden their impact, and infuse social innovation and changemaking in society.
Photo by Bartosz Brzezinski
Responses from Ashoka Fellows
?? Poland
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Witold Klaus
Stowarzyszenie Interwencji Prawnej is part of the Polish Emergency Response Group coordinating the human services infrastructure and systems at the Polish-Ukrainian border.
Photo by UN Women/Aurel Obreja
?? Poland
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Andrzej Augustyński
SMH Association offers facilities and professional care for children from orphanages in Ukraine.
Photo by Siemacha
?? Poland
? Response from Ashoka Fellows Katarzyna Batko-Tołuć and Jan Jakub Wygnański
The Civic Fund launched several initiatives to coordinate the efforts of CSOs and citizens willing to support people fleeing the war zone to the territory of Poland.
Photo by UN Women/Aurel Obreja
?? Poland
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Dorota Komornicka
Fundusz Lokalny Masywu Śnieżnika creates refugee reception centers in beautiful places in the mountains, making sure that they can have some peace on their way to a normal life.
Photo by barnyz.
?? Poland
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Barbara Sadowska
BARKA – Fundacja Pomocy Wzajemnej creates a base of places in their communities, social enterprises and the infrastructure they have at their disposal to be able to receive people seeking refuge fleeing from a war-torn country; organizes psychological help; organizes support in the field of Polish language courses for people from Ukraine and translators.
?? Poland
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Jacek Strzemieczny
The Center for Citizenship Education organizes online training and training materials for parents and teachers on how to talk to kids about the war. They also coordinate a systemic response of the educational system, which will have to accept many children and youth from Ukraine to help them continue their education in Poland as soon as possible.
?? Poland
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Katarzyna Oleś
Dobrze Urodzeni has created and promotes information on giving and receiving birth safely under the challenging conditions.
?? Poland
? Response from Agata Teutsch
Fundacja Autonomia (The Autonomia Foundation) deals with counteracting gender-based violence against refugees (protection standards, information materials) and, in cooperation with women and LBT refugees, creates a safe space for cooperation and empowerment (self-support groups, anti-violence workshops etc).
?? Poland
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Teresa Ogrodzińska
The Foundation for the development of children named after Jan Amos Komeński, Fundacja Rozwoju Dzieci – Inspirujemy. Edukujemy. Wspieramy. Od początku., develops a package of Play Groups in Ukrainian for refugees with small children.
?? Poland
? Response from Dominika Szaciłło
Uwaga, śmieciarka jedzie - strona ogólnopolska is using the incredible reach out of her organization to promote good practices of individual contributions to the humanitarian crisis response.
?? Romania
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Ioana Bauer
eLiberare is part of the Emergency Response Group and is setting up the human services infrastructure needed at the border by providing one focal point (social workers and translators) to help refugees with different statuses to navigate what is going to happen to them in Romania and what services and goods are provided by either state, NGOs or civil society.
Photo by UN Women/Aurel Obreja
?? Romania
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Dorica Dan
Centrul Noro provides services and access to medicine and therapies for families and individuals with disabilities or rare diseases and is in contact with the counterpart organizations from Ukraine to communicate their services and offer them to the beneficiaries that are crossing and will cross the Romanian border.
?? Czech Republic
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Dagmar Doubravová
RUBIKON Centrum organizes humanitarian support and activates the community around them, primarily for medical equipment.
In cooperation with Prague city district - organizes adaptation groups for Ukrainian children on their premises. They also have a flat they provide to Ukrainian families. Providing help to prisoners in Czech Republic, they contacted the families of Ukrainian prisoners with potential help for them.
?? Germany
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Inge Missmahl
Ipso organizes online psychological support for Ukrainian people. Since 2017 they have trained more than 30 Ukrainian psychologists in Value Based Counseling (VBC) who are offering their services on the online counseling platform www.ipso-care.com in Ukrainian and Russian.
?? Spain
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Clara Jiménez Cruz
Maldita.es developed a website with up-to-date facts, disinformation correction and accurate data on the circumstances surrounding Ukraine, Ukrainefacts.org, and has upkept it together with top fact-checking organizations across the world.
?? Belgium & ?? United States
? Response from Ashoka Fellows Mark Hanis and Alberto Alemanno
The Good Lobby, founded by Alberto, and Progressive Shopper, founded by Mark, have established together the Ukraine Corporate Index. This Index regularly tracks corporations’ stance vis-à-vis Russia in the aftermath of its invasion of Ukraine. It informs investors, customers, and citizens about whether and how their companies and brands are positioning themselves in the ongoing conflict.
?? Poland
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Janina Mirończuk
Fundacja Światło provided 5 beds for seriously ill people injured in war clashes; employs 2 nurses from Ukraine. They provide rehabilitation rooms with the care of a physiotherapist and would like to take a few children to camps organized for their orphaned children in the summer. They need financial support.
Belgium
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Geertrui Serneels
Solentra, as specialized war trauma psychologists, offer support to volunteers and professionals who take in refugees. Sometimes they need tools to support the refugees, sometimes they want to tell their own story when the stories they hear become too heavy. That is why Solentra has opened a helpdesk to all professional and voluntary aid workers who receive refugees.
?? Poland
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Jacek Schindler
Jacek Schindler works with young people equipping them with tools to deal with intercultural conflicts which might arise in multicultural environments that their schools have become as a result of the arrival of 500 000 Ukrainian children and youth in Poland.
?? Poland
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Dominik Księski
Stowarzyszenie Gazet Lokalnych uses the power of the local media to make sure that the misinformation and fake news campaigns are counteracted, and proper information is provided at the very local level.
?? Poland
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Paweł Łukasiak
Academy for Development of Philanthropy in Poland in connection with the war in Ukraine, a special grant path "Act locally and in solidarity with Ukraine" was launched in the "Act Locally" program. This means that in local grant competitions in 2022, grants will also be awarded to support local initiatives to help refugees from Ukraine. A minimum of one million zlotys from the funds from the Polish-American Freedom Foundation and own contributions of the Act Locally Centers, which annually organize local grant competitions, will be allocated to a special grant path – "Act locally and in solidarity with Ukraine", under which at least 200 projects will receive support.
?? France
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Jérémy Lachal
The Bibliothèques Sans Frontières (Libraries Without Borders) network in Europe - BSF France, BSF Belgium, BSF Italy and BSF Switzerland - is mobilized to deploy emergency reception and integration solutions for Ukrainian refugee populations. The team is mobilizing to set up emergency, information and integration solutions for the refugee populations. Our teams are currently deploying a first emergency Ideas Box at the Polish-Ukrainian border.
?? Hungary
? Response from Ashoka Fellow László Jakubinyi
Szimbiózis Alapítvány (Symbiosis Foundation) is preparing for second wave of refugees, focusing on people with disabilities (especially autistic people). Will be diagnosing people for autism at the border as Ukraine does not do much screening or diagnosing, will provide temporary housing up to 30 people with disabilities for 1 month and suitable assistance, including hiring those with relevant skills in their own social enterprises or at partners' establishments.
?? Hungary
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Eszter Harsányi
Nestingplay creates educational opportunities and art workshops for Roma children of ethnic Hungarian families fleeing from Ukraine. They converted a summer camp site into temporary housing for 60 families where Eszter and her team facilitates workshops as well as arts-based and education programs.
?? Slovakia
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Marek Roháček
Návrat provides consulting, psychological help and training support to children who come with someone or alone from Ukraine and to families who host them.
?? Slovakia
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Michal Smetanka.
Smetanka provides direct help in Ukraine in the town of Velykyi Bereznyi. Michal is building humanitarian air warehouses in Ukraine and in Slovakia. Works together with Community development agencies and Municipalities.
?? Czech Republic
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Klára Laurenčíková.
ČOSIV provides extensive systematic help to instituions working with refugees: transaltions of methodical materials, self-regulation of children, integration of children in collectives, PTSD, conflict prevention in schools, trainings for Czech School Inspection, organizing webinars on crisis intervention, etc.
?? Czech Republic
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Zdeněk Slejška.
As part of its pilot project Eduzměna organization is building a comprehensive solution for the integration of Ukrainian children into the educational system, including support for their parents (teacher education, Czech language courses, adaptation coordinators, support services, etc.
?? Czech Republic
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Martina Těmínová-Richterová.
Sananim helps people with addictions, providing accommodation in their therapeutic communities for Ukrainian families; providing services for substance users - with the EHRA organization they are launching a fund for drug organizations and clients directly in Kiev; organizing a helpline, substitutional program and harm reduction program for Ukrainian users of addictive substances.
?? Czech Republic
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Jeremy Druker.
Transitsions and a group of over 25 media support organizations and media outlets with deep experience across the region has launched the Eastern European Independent Journalist Fund. The fund will pay for stories produced by Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Russian journalists who are reporting the truth on the war despite the enormous risks.
?? Czech Republic
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Kateřina Thorová.
National Institute for Autism (Nautis), established by Ashoka Fellow Kateřina Thorová, who works with children with autism, has launched a fund to collect money for activation services for families with children who ran away from the war. They are taking care of 80 clients from Ukraine at the moment (app. 17 new clients per week). Also, they are working with the City of Prague to employ people from Ukraine (psychologists etc).
?? Germany
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Jörg Richert.
Karuna arranges emergency aid and accommodation with Berlin families for thousands of refugees arriving daily. Everyone can support the project.
?? Germany
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Klaas Glenewinkel.
Klaas Glenewinkel and the team of MiCT plan to set up a hub in Berlin for journalists from Ukraine so they can continue their work – such as news reporting, analysis of the situation of Ukraine media, security training for journalists there, etc. Support for journalists in the Hub will include free accommodation, a monthly salary as well as regular psychosocial support, childcare, language courses, access to know-how, networks and a co-working space.
?? Germany
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Hildegard Schooß.
The mothers' centres Ashoka Fellow Hildegard Schooß has launched are widespread in Eastern Europe. Mothers' centres with a direct border with Ukraine have stopped their daily business and opened their doors to incoming refugee women and children. They also organize transport and distribution of aid in Ukraine. The maternity centres also offer protected public spaces here in Germany for arriving, resting, eating together and talking.
?? Germany
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Silke Mader.
The team of EFCNI advocate on a political level for adequate health care in Ukraine as well as for the special protection of refugee children, mothers and pregnant women. In addition, as a Europe-wide network, they organize transports of sick babies, children and sick pregnant women: https://fundly.com/relief-fund-for-nicus-in-ukraine. For the younger patients who cannot be transported, medical equipment is collected to bring it to Ukraine. Psychological support and information materials for Ukrainian clinics are also provided by EFCNI and local parent groups.
?? Germany
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Hadi al Khatib.
Ashoka Fellow Hadi al Khatib founded the Syrian Archive in 2014, a platform that secures digital evidence (photos, videos) of human rights abuses in the Syrian civil war. He is now making this infrastructure available to Ukrainian civil society to build an "Ukrainian Archive". Syrians Show Support for Ukraine After Russia Invasion | Time
?? Germany
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Lisanne Knop.
The triaphon team improves medical care for patients with language barriers. With its network of translators, has set up the emergency Ukrainian interpreting phone service available to medical stuff free of charge.
?? Portugal
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Hugo Menino Aguiar
Speak builds language groups to learn new languages, make friends, and find employment. They have adapted their format to be able to serve Ukrainians learning new languages, made it free for them, and, especially, opened up classes to include children in the groups as there are many. They have seen a huge demand from Ukrainians who are looking for opportunities to learn, make friends, and adapt to different cultures. Also, Speak's format enables all to teach (you learn a language, but you can also teach one) so many refugees are quickly finding opportunities to not only receive but also to give by sharing about their culture and language, as well as other things.
?? USA
? Response from Ashoka Fellow Jane Leu
Upwardly Global, as a leading organization in placing high skilled refugees in high skilled and well paying positions, has been asked by the government to lead some of the core employment strategies in Poland, along with consulting companies and other major businesses. They have developed skill matching and pipeline building programs that are being adapted to this new context in order to allow job-placing organizations and companies (especially large corporations) to connect newly arrived, high skills workers, with jobs.
Stories and news from the Ashoka community
Read below all the news and stories we are collecting from the first respondents to the crisis in Ukraine
Refugees in Europe: how to help in a systemic way?
New Index Created by Ashoka Fellows Tracks How Brands And Companies Respond To Ukraine Crisis
Ashoka Fellows Map
Localize where the Ashoka Fellows responding to the invasion of Ukraine are operating from
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