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Ashoka

ISSUE:

Top-down problem solving can be inefficient and distant from today's realities. Often the most effective solutions to localized problems come from citizens invested in the needs of their own communities. Their resulting ideas hold the potential for widespread social change, but they normally lack the financial or social capital to realize and/or scale them.

IDEA:

Ashoka's mission is to shape a citizen sector that is entrepreneurial, productive and globally integrated. It develops and supports the profession of social entrepreneurship (a term developed by Ashoka's founder Bill Drayton) by acting as a venture capital firm for visionary change-makers around the world. Where governments and bureaucracies often fail these social entrepreneurs - known as Ashoka fellows - develop sustainable solutions that have the potential to transform the lives of millions of people worldwide.

IMPACT:

Ashoka has invested in more than 1,700 social entrepreneurs in more than 60 countries in areas like education, health, human rights, environment and economic development. Ashoka has supported and scaled organizations such as KaBOOM!, Transfair USA, Polaris Project and College Summit. Five years after their election to the Ashoka Fellowship, over 93% of Fellows have had their work replicated by other organizations, and within10 years, 71% have changed national policy.

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