Ashoka: Innovators for the Public

Investing in the World’s Leading Social Entrepreneurs

Ashoka is the world’s leading association of social entrepreneurs.

Founded in 1980, Ashoka has since supported 2,000 social entrepreneurs in over 60 countries.

We believe social change comes from innovation developed locally and adapted globally. Nothing is as powerful as a new idea in the hands of a leading social entrepreneur.

Ashoka: Everyone A ChangemakerTM

Mission

Vision

Opportunity

Ashoka strives to shape a global, entrepreneurial, competitive citizen sector: one that allows social entrepreneurs to thrive and enables the world’s citizens to think and act as changemakers.

Ashoka envisions a world where everyone is a changemaker: a world that responds quickly and effectively to social challenges, and where each individual has the freedom, confidence and societal support to address any social problem and drive change.

As the business and citizen sectors become partners in solving global problems, a historical opportunity is taking place. To better serve this burgeoning community, Ashoka has evolved from exclusively supporting social entrepreneurs to become a platform for the growing global network of people dedicated to changing the world.

Citizen sector evolution and challenges

•Early social entrepreneurs build, others follow

•Still very few citizen groups working

•Wave of social entrepreneurs start up but face many barriers

•Social entrepreneurs multiply

•Citizen sector begins to tip toward competitive

•Tipping accelerates•Social entrepreneurs run major

movements•Sector gains power•Sector faces major new

challenges as it expands and competition increases

•Core idea of Ashoka formed

•Ashoka pilots “social venture capital” idea in India, Indonesia and Brazil

•Achieves social venture methodology that will scale

•Founders probe around globe on idea and design

•Expands to many new countries

•Steep growth in budget and number of Fellows

•Selection quality improves

•Services and community grow quickly

•Expands across globe•Budget and Fellow numbers

keep growing•Responds to maturing needs

of Fellows and sector •Develops new programs:

group entrepreneurship, social financing, bridges to business sector, etc.

•Ashoka an incubator of social change initiatives

Ashoka’s actions

1963-67 1968-80 1981-86 1987-91 1992-today

•How to close North/ South gap?

Ashoka has developed in response to the evolving challenges that social entrepreneurs have faced

over time

1,000,000

464,000

1989 2002

1,000

30,000

1973 2004

>10,000

10

1989 1999

1,000,000

<5,000

1980 2001

400,000 officially registered

Citizen Groups - Israel Citizen Groups - Slovakia

Citizen Groups - USA*Citizen Groups - Brazil

* IRS registered 501(c)(3)s onlySources: Urban Institute, Ministry of Economics (Brazil), Walhi (Indonesia)

Social entrepreneurship is a driving force behind the growth of the citizen

sector

“They grew because the seed was there and the soil was right. You have restless people seeking to deal with problems that were not being successfully coped with by existing institutions.” – Peter Goldmark, former president of Rockefeller Foundation

Ashoka’s Global Reach

Ashoka Fellow as of 2007

Planned Expansion

Since 1980, Ashoka has identified and elected 2000 leading social entrepreneurs in 63 countries

Ashoka’s Integrated Approach

SocialEntrepreneurs

GroupEntrepre-neurship

Infrastructure for the Sector

Ashoka invests in social entrepreneurs, supporting them financially and professionally throughout their careers

Ashoka convenes groups of social entrepreneurs to identify problems and opportunities, and collaborate to change entire fields

Ashoka builds the infrastructure for the citizen sector that changemakers need in order to succeed

Supporting Social Entrepreneurs

Venture seeks out and elects social entrepreneurs to be Ashoka Fellows and provides financial stipends and global visibility

Fellowship facilitates networking exchanges, collaboration funding, and personal and professional support for Fellows

Strategic Partnerships provides pro bono training and consulting to Fellows from strategic partners such as Hill & Knowlton and McKinsey & Co.

1

What is a Social Entrepreneur?

Selection Criteria:

A New Idea

Creativity

Entrepreneurial Quality

Social Impact

Ethical Fiber

Has the same qualities as a business entrepreneur: vision, creativity, pragmatism, innovation and determination

Creates a radically new solution to a social problem with the potential to change the entire field

Fellow Search and Selection

Ashoka Fellows benefit from:

A 3-year living stipend that allows them to work full time on their idea

Professional support from Ashoka staff and partners around the world

Access to a global network of peers in over 60 countries

The Venture program and the social entrepreneurs we support are the core of Ashoka. We have developed a rigorous method for finding and selecting our Ashoka Fellows, who innovate in all areas of social need.

Ashoka Fellows are chosen through a 5-stage selection and due diligence process involving experts in the candidate’s field, international leaders in social entrepreneurship, and Ashoka’s entrepreneurial staff and global board of directors.

The 5-Stage Selection Process

1. Nomination: Relies on a robust network across all sectors to source the best candidates

2. First Opinion: Entails site visits, reference checks, and interviews conducted by Ashoka’s local representatives

3. Second Opinion: A senior Ashoka staff person from outside the region conducts an in-depth 3-5 hour interview with each candidate, covering life history and probing the new idea

4. Panel: A panel composed of local social entrepreneurs and creative leaders in their fields assesses the candidate based on the five selection criteria with a focus on potential impact in country context

5. Board Review: Ashoka’s board of directors reviews each candidacy and makes the final sign off

Fellowship: A Network of Social Entrepreneurs

“The engaged global community of social entrepreneurs that Ashoka has fostered helps each one of them to have more impact than would

have been possible individually.”  -- Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay

Fellowship is Ashoka’s global community of social entrepreneurs working together to accelerate their individual and collective impact.

Investing in Sustainability: Ashoka helps social entrepreneurs build sustainable and replicable innovations. Through Ashoka’s package of personal and professional support, Ashoka Fellows are better positioned to operate on a regional and global platform.

Group Entrepreneurship: Ashoka seeds and cultivates collaboration from a local to global scale. Ashoka connects Ashoka Fellows, business entrepreneurs, policy-makers, and partners across sectors and regions to amplify their social impact.

Fellowship Services: Personal Support

■ Fellow Security – Offers prevention strategies and emergency support to Fellows facing threats

■ Fellow Exchange – Enables one-on-one peer exchanges around solving critical challenges

■ Access Dinners – Introduces Fellows to top leaders in their field or country, facilitating powerful connections

■ Awards Nominations – Showcase Fellow’s work to global networks of support and recognition

■ Young Ashoka – Engages Fellows’ families and children in social entrepreneurship

■ Language Incentive Fund – Supports Fellows to learn an additional language, allowing them to communicate across diverse regions and cultures

Fellowship Services: Organizational Support

■ Consulting Services – In partnership with leading consulting firms (such as McKinsey & Co.) Ashoka facilitates Fellows’ access to organizational consultants for queries on management, marketing, accounting, technology, business planning, and organizational and financial sustainability

■ Advocates for Social Entrepreneurs (ASE) – Provides access to a global network of pro bono legal support

■ Internet Incentive Fund – Facilitates access to the internet and develops technology infrastructure for Fellows

■ Ashoka Support Network (ASN) – Pairs Ashoka Fellows with business entrepreneur mentors

■ Induction/Orientation and Graduation – Ceremonies to mark the beginning and end of the stipend period and accompanying workshops to prepare Fellows for their personal and organizational post-stipend financial sustainability

Apprenticeship

Studies the field and gains entrepre-neurial skills

Socia

l I

mp

act

HighMillions of

beneficiaries

LowPotential

impact not yet

achieved

Involvement of Ashoka

Concept, launch of first pilot project

Success and development

Global impact

Envisages and creates a pilot for an innovative solution to a social problem Spreads

solution until it becomes a reference point in the field, on a national or international level

Thinks and acts globally, making their best ideas accessible worldwide

Mature entrepreneur

5-10 years

Ashoka intervenes at the launch phase of a social entrepreneur

The Life Cycle of a Social Entrepreneur

Youth Venture inspires and invests in teams of young people to start and lead their own social ventures

Changemakers.net is a transparent online community that “open-sources” innovative solutions to global social problems using collaborative competitions

Full Economic Citizenship facilitates joint ventures between businesses and social entrepreneurs to improve the participation of small producers and underserved consumers in the market economy

The Law for All Initiative aims to ensure that historically marginalized populations will have equal access to social, political and legal recourse

Facilitating Group Entrepreneurship2

2

Social Financial Services improves access to capital in the citizen sector through innovative social financial products

Global Academy facilitates global system change with the world’s most accomplished social entrepreneurs

Citizen Base Initiative helps citizen sector organizations to see the importance of building a broad citizen base of support for their work

Ashoka Support Network (ASN) builds ties between business and social entrepreneurs to transfer knowledge and leverage impact from one to the other for mutual benefit

Building Infrastructure for the Citizen Sector

3

Consistent Impact and Significant Social Change

Persistence94% remain engaged in consolidating and spreading their innovations

Idea Spread93% have proven their ideas to be so effective that they have been replicated by independent groups

National Policy Impact56% have achieved changes in national government policies or legislation

Leadership54% are considered leaders in their fields

Within 5 years of election as an Ashoka Fellow:

Ashoka Fellows’ work spans all areas of human need

* While there are 6 primary fields of fellows’ work, most forge solutions that cut across sectors.

Human rights18%

Civic participation

13% Environment17%

Health16%

Learning/Youth development

19%

Economic development

17%

Ashoka in Israel

• Venture – election of 9 leading social entrepreneurs as Fellows or Senior Fellows over the first 3 years

• Youth Venture – launch of YV in Israel, following a careful mapping exercise which is already underway

• Business-Social Bridge – work with the local McKinsey office and other partners and building an ASN-Israel base of support

• Group Entrepreneurship – connect Ashoka's global community to the Israeli business and social innovations, and vice versa

• Partnerships – with the JDC, UJC, NIF, IVN, and almost any organization or person who is willing to partner with us…

…And Finally “Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is

little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage”

Niccolo Machiavelli

“The value of communities is not what they have done, but the revolution which they indicated is on the way.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.”

Marcel Proust