Ashoka's 2009 European Fellow Orientation by Sarah Jefferson

Ashoka Europe 2009 Fellow Orientation Kitzb端hel, Austria, November 22-24, 2009

Contents 1.

Program Agenda

Program Goals

Support Team and Contacts

Letter from Europe Staff

Ashoka: Some Facts

Meet the 2oo9 Ashoka European Fellows

Meet the Ashoka Europe Team

Facility and Logistics at the Venue

Get Connected with Ashoka

Program Agenda Venue: Alpine University at Grand Hotel Kitzb端hel, Malinggasse 12, A-6370, Kitzb端hel, Austria Hotel main telephone: +4353566020, Fax: +43 5356 602 542

SUNDAY, NOV 22

MONDAY, NOV 23

TUESDAY, NOV 24

16:00: Last bus departs from Munich Airport (Meet at the arrival of Terminal 2 (Lufthansa), in front of the "Tucher" Restaurant. Look for big Ashoka tree printed paper.) 18:00: Registration in Kitzb端hel 19:00: Welcome Dinner 20:30: Meeting Program Introduction 20:40: Getting Comfortable Introductions 21:30: Hit the bar

8:30: Group picture 8:50: Hopes and Fears Session 9:05: Ashoka Big Picture 9:30: Ashoka Fellowship Global 10:00: What does it mean to be a Social Entrepreneur? 10:45: Coffee Break 11:15: Introducing Your Work 12:50: Afternoon Briefing 13:00: Lunch and Short Walk 15:00: Developmental Workshop Session I (Topics: Fundraising/Sustainability; Scaling up; Attracting & Retaining Talent; Measuring Impact; Life Balance) 16:30: Developmental Workshop Session 2 (Rotation; per above) 18:00: Country/Regional Meetings 19:30: Dinner 21:00: Hit the bar, with music By 8:30: Breakfast By 9:00: Rooms cleared 9:00-11:00: Parallel Senior Fellow Program 9:00: Developmental Workshop Session 3 (Rotation; per above) 10:05: Developmental Workshop Session 4 (Rotation; per above) 11:00: Coffee Break 11:30: Wrap Up & Feedback Session 12:05: Follow-up & Contact List 12:30: Lunch 14:00: Departure 16:30: Arrive at Munich Airport

Program Goals We hope you leave the Orientation having achieved the following: Understanding 

I have a much better understanding of the Ashoka organization.



I have a much better understanding of what it means to be an Ashoka Fellow.



I have a much better understanding of what it means to be a Social Entrepreneur.

Support 

Ashoka, the organization, is here to help me achieve my goals.



The Ashoka Fellowship is a community of social entrepreneurs who can really help one another achieve goals.

Learning 

I have learned greatly from other Ashoka Fellows this weekend.



I have learned greatly from the Ashoka staff this weekend.

Collaborating 

I have found a way to work productively with at least one other Ashoka Fellow.

Sharing 

It was an excellent opportunity to share my work and challenges with likeminded people.

Support Team Facilitator: Natasha Walker Coordinator: Oda Heister Program: Paul

Florence Rizzo, Elena Correas, Felix Oldenburg, Erin Fornoff

Marketing: Tina Choi, Sarah Jefferson

Logistics: Erin Fornoff

Contacts Michael Vollmann: +4917624085288 Hotel main telephone: +4353566020

Country Representative for Ashoka Ireland Dear Fellows, It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the Ashoka Fellowship and our fourth annual Pan-European Fellow Orientation in Kitzbü̈hel, Austria. Each year, Ashoka elects an ever increasing number of social entrepreneurs from across the world as Ashoka Fellows. In Kitzbü̈hel you will join the Ashoka team together with 24 newly elected Ashoka Fellows from across Europe, building upon a network of 229

Fellows in Europe and over 2,200 globally. The objective of the orientation is to welcome you, to provide you with a better understanding of Ashoka and what it means to be an Ashoka Fellow, to share insights on select challenges, to demonstrate the value of the peer network and to highlight some of the supports available from Ashoka.

an opportunity to share with, learn from and be inspired by peers while exploring ways for

collaboration. In this program you will find the outline of our agenda, logistical information and a short description of the participants and their

work. We encourage you to review the document before arrival and use this opportunity to meet other fellows working in related areas during your stay. The Ashoka staff are here to help you with translation and please do not hesitate to ask for our assistance whenever you need it. Our special thanks go to Roswitha Frenzel from McKinsey & Co. for her generosity in hosting this wonderful event at the beautiful Alpine University in Kitzbü̈hel and for her ongoing support over four years. I would also like to thank the Ashoka team and our facilitator, Natasha Walker. Thank you all.

Looking forward to meeting you all and

to an inspiring, productive and relaxing few days!

Yours Sincerely,

Ashoka: Some Facts Welcome Ashoka Europe 2009 Fellows! We are very happy to welcome you into the Ashoka community! Did you know that

just entered a network of over 2,200

Ashoka Fellows from around the world in 73 countries and 5 continents? These amazing social entrepreneurs are working in and across 6 fields of work: Civic Engagement, Economic Development, Learning/Education, Environment, Health, and Human Rights.

Ashoka elected 33 Ashoka Europe Fellows in 2009, representing 10 countries throughout Eastern, Central and Western Europe, and impacting Europe, North and South America, and Asia. This year, Ashoka elected its very first Ashoka Fellows in Sweden, Denmark, and Israel and its first Fellow working in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Out of all of you, 10 are working in Civic Engagement, 4 are working in Learning/Education, 3 are working in Economic Development, 4 are working in the Environment, 9 are working in Health, and 3 are working in Human Rights--most of you are working in several of these fields.

Ashoka is named after the Indian Emperor of the third century, BC, who may have been the first social entrepreneur, bringing progressive social services to his people. It is also derived from the Sanskrit word meaning "the absence of sorrow." Our first Fellow was elected in India in 1980, and India still has our largest number of Fellows, followed by Brazil.

Please read on to learn more about your peers in the Ashoka Fellowship, elected along with you in 2009, and about the amazing work they are doing.

2009 Participating European Ashoka Fellows

Katarzyna Batko-

Jean-

Manuela Richter-

Ashoka Fellow Jordi Pietx i Colom is establishing the necessary structures, legal tools and networks to help Spanish civil society take a major, active role in land and biodiversity conservation. Ashoka Fellow, elected in 2008.

Ashoka Fellow Abbass Abbass The New Idea Abbass Abbass works to advance the status of the Arab blind and visually-impaired persons on both the social and the individual level: by changing

perceptions of the blind person, and by changing the

self-perceptions of the blind person. He is transforming both social perceptions and self-perceptions of the Arab blind, providing a bridge between the Arab and Jewish communities of Israel, and creating a model for cooperation for Israel and for other Arab countries. Abbass has created the first self-help organization for people with disabilities in Israeli Arab society. His organization, AlManarah (Arabic for "lighthouse"), fosters systemic social change through projects aimed at inclusion, integration and access, as well as self-change through therapy, community-building, and professional training. Abbass has initiated the first Arabic Braille library in Israel, created an audio CD that informs the blind of their rights (and is now being adopted and distributed by the Israeli social security system), and built a community center where blind Israeli Arabs can go for support, training, socializing, and

Country: Israel Country/Region of Impact: Israel Field of Work: Human Rights Language(s) spoken: Arabic, Hebrew, English Contact: almanarah@gmail.com

employment advice. This fosters connection and collaboration within the Arab blind community of Israel.

Abbass is also integrating the blind into the larger Israeli Arab community through school and family outreach, leadership programs, parent and caregiver involvement, supporting advocacy through the court system, and public education through the media. As part of this effort, Abbass is trying to encourage the use of the term

with unique

instead of

with

The Impact Each year, more than 2,500 school children and adults from the Arab-Israeli community are exposed to

information about blindness through

activities, and hundreds of Arab blind and visually-

impaired people within Israel receive the direct services of Lighthouse.

Ashoka Fellow Rodrigo Aguirre de Cรกrcer Churruca The New Idea Rodrigo Aguirre de Cรกrcer Churruca has created a new channel through which citizen organizations (COs) can extract liquid value out of in-kind donations from businesses and individuals. Socialbid, his organization, uses online auction platforms

such as eBay

to monetize in-kind donations by selling them to e-

consumers. Socialbid accepts and markets a wide variety of products and services (from ipods to holiday trips) that are sold using existing platforms to millions of users with varying interests. Through his online bidding tool, Rodrigo is engaging new contributors that traditional charity auctions and fundraising campaigns generally cannot reach. He is also tapping into a new pool of resources by opening the door for more kinds of businesses to participate in funding the citizen sector, whose donations of products and services were previously difficult to accept on behalf of most COs. Rodrigo offers a varied market place in which businesses contribute, citizens purchase and COs benefit. In contrast to other approaches, Socialbid provides a continuous flow of monetary exchanges that result in

Country: Spain Country/Region of Impact: Spain Field of Work: Civic Engagement Language(s) spoken: Spanish Contact: rac@socialbid.es

financing for COs. The model, however, goes beyond simply providing liquidity; Rodrigo aims to build a

culture where businesses and individuals play a legitimate and recognized role in building a strong citizen sector. By bringing businesses, COs and citizens together, Rodrigo is creating synergies that increase funding and awareness through new and large communities of Internet users.

The Impact SocialBid has already run bids for more than 45 COs, including the largest NGOs in the country. In the first 18 months of operation, SocialBid has managed more than 8.000 bids of products donated by 180 companies

and celebrities, accounting for more than 400K of new funding for COs.

Ashoka Fellow Katarzyna BatkoThe New Idea Katarzyna Batko-

is replacing the culture of secrecy that has prevailed in Poland at the local level. By

raising awareness about the mutual benefits gained from citizen participation in public life, Katarzyna is building a new transparent relationship between institutions and citizens. She is implementing the idea of transparency and participatory government at the local level where it is most visible and most needed. Through her School of Watchdog Initiatives, Katarzyna finds and trains local leaders as

normalize the tendacy of citizens asking for information from their governments and taking an interest in public life. These watchdogs formulate best practices of communicating with public officials, acting as examples for other citizens to engage with their local municipality and develop respect for the new relationships they have co-authored. At the institutional level, Katarzyna is introducing the practice of public officials inviting citizens to become partners in the governing processes, thereby building a truly citizenoriented government. Through trainings developed by Katarzyna, public authorities learn how to effectively

Country: Poland Country/Region of Impact: Poland Field of Work: Civic Engagement Language(s) spoken: Polish, English Contact: katarzyna.batko@lgo.pl

listen and respond to

needs rather than assuming that citizens are challenging their authority. By

demonstrating the interrelation between community development and political transparency, Katarzyna is introducing a precedent relationship between citizens and local authorities in post-communist countries, one which proves that a

progress is directly correlated to the extent that people have a right to

information and can participate in democratic procedures of governing.

The Impact Since the inception of the Watchdog school in 2006, Katarzyna has trained leaders in 30 locations across

Poland in both rural and urban communities. The idea applied in

Association is now being

tailored to local contexts outside of Poland, in the Ukraine and Macedonia. While it takes around 2 to 3 years to train a watchdog, Katarzyna expects the network to grow by approximately 15 members every year. In 5 years time, she aims for the network to be present in 75 new locations and engage 200-300 local members.

Ashoka Fellow Sylwia Chutnik The New Idea In Poland, mothers are often expected to fully sacrifice their careers and social lives in order to care for their children. The result is isolation, depression and ultimately complete invisibility to the rest of society. Sylwia Chutnik recognizes this invisibility as the biggest obstacle to the wellbeing and empowerment of mothers. To counter this, she has created a number of initiatives for mothers, led by mothers that empower mothers to become socially and professionally active through a demanding push for them to leave their homes. Through her MaMa Foundation, Sylwia works with all types of mothers mothers of disabled children, mothers from rural areas, etc.

single mothers, disabled mothers,

to prove that a

participation in public,

economic and social spheres is not just for the sake of respecting the rights of mothers, but it also creates a more positive environment for her child. By bringing women out of their homes to engage in spaces -

-child

businesses, Banks of Time, Clubs of Moms and Dads

public she directly

challenges the public perception that mothers are selfish or uncaring when they address their own needs. As

Country: Poland Country/Region of Impact: Poland Field of Work: Human Rights Language(s) spoken: Polish, English Contact: sylwia@fundacjamama.pl

a result of these initiatives, Sylwia is reforming institutions, employers and service providers to be more

open and accessible through enabling mothers to voice their needs and demand respect for their rights. Sylwia is also advocating for changes in public policy to improve the economic situation of mothers by enabling them to choose to be professionally active rather than remain at home.

The Impact The MaMa Foundation website is visited by 1,500 to 2,000 guests every month. Apart from approximately 30 beneficiaries of legal counseling, each month, approximately 100 mothers contact a lawyer through

Internet chat. Sylwia builds further recognition and awareness through publishing the work of her Foundation. After having presented the collection of

of mothers who experienced difficulties

at the workplace to the Ministry of Labor in 2009, she published a collection of stories written by mothers from diverse backgrounds. In the next year, Sylwia plans to further reform aspects of the public presence of mothers. She plans to use the approaching European Football Cup 2012 to influence changes in train system that will make it more friendly and accessible to mothers with children.

Ashoka Senior Fellow Steve Collins The New Idea During his work in famine ridden areas throughout Africa, Steve Collins, a medical doctor, realized that is the basis of

. This realization has lead Steve to develop a new model of nutritional

treatment that is transforming the system of care and prevention surrounding malnutrition. By setting up decentralized local feeding centers and orchestrating the spread of Ready to Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTFs), Steve is bringing treatment out to homes and villages, and equipping communities with the know-how and tools to administer their own treatment through a method called

based

therapeutic care. His tools include portable, fortified food sachets that offer protein and all the nutrients, simple and accurate methods to assess levels of malnutrition (through bracelets that can measure the upper arm circumference of 1,000 patients in an hour), and a unique measurement system that determines direct coverage of care. To accelerate his impact, Steve has established the first hybrid business citizen organization (CO) in Ireland, Valid International, which couples a for-profit company with a non-profit arm to

Country: Ireland Country/Region of Impact: Africa Field of Work: Health Language(s) spoken: English Contact: steve@validinternational.or g.uk

distribute the food source and disseminate his methods. Valid serves the function of data collection,

research and measuring effectiveness.

The Impact Six years after initial pilots,

organization is operating in 3 countries, his innovation has been adopted

by the United Nations and World Health Organization as recommended policy, and the majority of governments and COs working in nutrition in the developing world are adopting his model. In June of 2007, 4 United Nations agencies, including WHO and UNICEF, issued a joint statement in an unprecedented

agreement among disparate bodies advocating home treatment with RUTFs for severely malnourished children without other illnesses, an explicit endorsement of

model. Research collected on over

23,000 cases revealed a mortality rate still cut fivefold. To become more affordable and accessible, Valid has partnered with Irish CO Concern, and already its

are produced locally in 2 countries and it is

building the capacity to grow local production and use local ingredients.

Ashoka Fellow Jean-Claude Decalonne The New Idea Ever since he first heard Louis

Good

at the age of 8, Jean-Claude Decalonne knew

his passion lay in music. As an adult, Jean-Claude decided to dedicate his life to the promotion of music

after seeing an underperforming French school system. Jean-Claude has implemented musical exploration and collective teaching methods to create an inclusive, cross-subject and accessible education experience for at-risk children and youth. For Jean-Claude, school orchestras are a valuable entry point to unlock the entire French education system, which suffers from its structural rigidity and fragmentation. Jean-Claude has developed a program for low performing students to join an orchestra class where they experience 3 transformative years of teamwork

and discipline through music. On top of this, Jean-Claude is working with key stakeholders such as the music instrument industry, parents, school administrations and municipalities to ingrain his pedagogical model into the larger French education system. Jean-Claude is forming a pioneering partnership with the

Country: France Country/Region of Impact: France Field of Work: Learning/Education Language(s) spoken: French Contact: jcd@feelingmusique.com

Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture and gaining meaningful recognition by the public education system that alternative pedagogical methods can prove effective and even indispensable in the success and full development of children.

The Impact Jean-

collective teaching model has transformed the learning experience of students across France.

Studies find that on average, each participating

grade point average increases by 5 to 10% every

year in each subject. In addition to all participating students going on to high school, students also tend to be more punctual, focused, self-confident and pro-active. These benefits extend beyond educational outcomes, as it has also led to reductions in youth violence, which tends to be a major problem in Priority Education School Zones in France. Publicity from local concerts has garnered much interest in Jeanprogram, with the number of classroom orchestras growing from 150 in 2007 to 350 at the start of the 2008/09 school year. This success has also fostered interest abroad; social entrepreneurs in South Africa and Belgium have already contacted Jean-Claude to replicate his model.

Ashoka Senior Fellow Danielle DesguĂŠes The New Idea Since the early 1980

in France, Danielle DesguĂŠes has worked to promote a culture of entrepreneurship in

an economy that has been historically dominated by large firms and state enterprises. Through public outreach, programs in schools and universities, and a network of advisors Danielle is helping entrepreneurs start, sustain and grow their businesses and is contributing significantly to changing the image of the entrepreneur in society. To break the isolation of entrepreneurs in France, especially among the most marginalized groups, Danielle strives to make it possible for all start-up businesses to survive. With peer entrepreneurs, she invented the profession of

and opened her first Management Shop (RĂŠseau des Boutiques de

Gestion) in Paris in 1979. The advisory network distills tools and activities for would-be and start-up entrepreneurs to create and strengthen their businesses and overcome obstacles. Danielle is also using public outreach campaigns to tell the stories of small and medium-sized entrepreneurs to demonstrate that

Country: France Country/Region of Impact: France Field of Work: Economic Development: Language(s) spoken: French, English Contact: danielle.desguees@boutiqu es-de-gestion.com

entrepreneurship is a profession within reach. A further aspect of

works is her efforts to engrain a

culture of entrepreneurship into French society by incorporating entrepreneurship into school curricula and through entrepreneurship education programs.

The Impact Management Shops have been replicated to over 400 locations across France, conducting activities with nearly 100,000 people every year. Of the clients, 15% create a company, while another 60% find or change jobs and start training programs. Moreover, 53% of Management

clients have access

to debt financing (versus a national average of 29%) and have a 70% survival rate after 5 years of existence (versus a national average of 50%). Her model has convinced the government to subsidize entrepreneurship support services, allowing Management Shops to serve over 15,000 business creations every year. Danielle successfully lobbied for the creation of a public collateral-free funding scheme for start-up entrepreneurs. Many social and business entrepreneurs have taken direct inspiration from

work, replicating her

idea so that together these networks support nearly 30,000 business creations every year.

Ashoka Fellow Andrés Martínez Fernández The New Idea Through systems improvements Andres Martínez Fernández is closing communication gaps between the rural medical outposts that serve remote villages - staffed with lightly trained paramedics and lacking both

electricity and telephone connections - and the medical centers where the reference doctor works. Andres is turning dysfunctional and poorly communicated public healthcare systems into highly efficient networks that are able to quickly respond to healthcare needs in rural areas. By creating functional communication processes between healthcare professionals, Andres allows them to save valuable time normally spent traveling between locations for reports and consultations, and therefore drastically enhances their effectiveness as medical staff. To achieve this, he is working with local medical

staff and engineers to design and provide simple, cheap and sustainable technological solutions that allow two-way fluid communication while saving the public healthcare system important financial expenses related to inefficiency as well as travelling costs. Through these process improvements Andres is

Country: Spain Country/Region of Impact: Spain Field of Work: Health Language(s) spoken: Spanish, English Contact: andresmf@ehas.org

transforming the role of healthcare workers, from one of isolation to forming part of a network of professionals with whom they can consult and work together with. Another key innovative element of Andres' model resides in enabling access to new resources to improve the performance of the public healthcare system in rural areas. Aware of the vast potential of local universities, he is giving them a new

role as changemakers for transforming the rural realities around them. Andres envisions a complete transformation in the public health systems: in rural areas all citizens have full access to specialized medical attention, be it directly or virtually, and constant innovations are being included in this system, brought about by local organizations and university researchers.

The Impact The model that Andres has established has already proven successful in over 170 centers and outposts in Peru, Cuba , Colombia, and Ecuador, improving medical attention to more than 150.000 people.

Egemen Yilgur is using media and a team of citizen journalists to empower the Roma people in Turkey to eliminate the discrimination that is at the root of their poverty and vulnerability. Ashoka Fellow, elected in 2008.

Ashoka Fellow Pau Llop Franch The New Idea Through news-based social networking Pau, who recognizes that news and media organizations are quickly losing relevance in an increasingly interconnected society, is providing an alternative media model that empowers citizens to become full participants in creating and sharing news that reaches citizens across Spain and Spanish speaking countries. Pau's new-based social network, Bottup, connects citizens while enabling them to create and share reliable news. Through Bottup, they are taught how to collect information from different sources, contrast the facts, and publish news that follows journalistic principles such as accuracy, fairness and quality writing. By involving ordinary individuals in the news creation process, Pau reduces production costs and extends the coverage of news to encompass local and international events that traditional media institutions are not able to cover. As citizens write about specific affairs that concern them, they begin to establish the public news agenda, not through opinions, but through direct participation. As citizens are empowered, Pau is shifting

Country: Spain Country/Region of Impact: Spain Field of Work: Civic Engagement Language(s) spoken: Spanish Contact: pau@bottup.com

news information from a commercialized commodity to a truly social product to which anyone can

contribute. Pau also engages professional journalists as editors and coaches to the

users in order to

ensure the quality control characteristic of traditional news institutions, but which open-source initiatives often lack. Instead of serving corporate controlled media interests as news-creators, Pau has established a process by which citizens first present their news piece to the editorial team serve as news-brokers

professional journalists who

who then work with the citizen writer to verify the information, diversify sources,

increase writing quality and enhance presentation.

The Impact Bottup, although still in an early pilot phase, already hosts over 1,200 registered Citizen Journalist members and receives between 40-60,000 unique visits per month. Although Pau is still establishing his work, a number of local news-networks in Spain and Latin America have adopted the Bottup model. Recently Dan Gillmore, the author of We, the media and a highly recognized expert in digital citizen journalism, publicly recognized

initiative as one the most innovative and interesting for the future of journalism.

Ashoka Senior Fellow Radoslaw Gawlik The New Idea Since Communist rule, Radoslaw (Radek) Gawlik has remained forefront in engineering a vibrant, crosssector environmental movement in Poland. A master organizer and strategic planner as both a citizen activist and politician, Radek has institutionalized significant legislative and policy changes as well as initiated multiple environmental protection programs. Central to Radek's work is the insight that an effective environmental movement requires cross-sector dialogue and cooperation. Among the pioneering environmental laws and programs introduced by Radek is the first definition of sustainable development incorporated into Polish law, a definition that drew heavily upon his experience working with environmental organizations. He also designed the first political body in Poland dedicated to cross-sector collaboration in the area of the environment, leading to the adoption of public-citizen partnerships in other fields of government work. A further innovation initiated and implemented by Radek is a unique system of national and regional funds to support ecological activities at

Country: Poland Country/Region of Impact: Europe Field of Work: Environment Language(s) spoken: Polish

the community level. The introduction of Ethics Cards for citizen sector organizations is yet another successful endeavor spearheaded by Radek. As of 2001 Radek has been leading his next innovation - an international program that aims at developing a long-term, regional strategy for protecting the resources of the Baltic Sea.

The Impact Through his pioneering environmental initiatives Radek has set the path for cross-sector initiatives and partnerships in Poland as solutions to environmental degradation. From 1989 to 2008 the National

Environmental Fund implemented by Radek signed 14,000 agreements and distributed over 6.7 billion USD. The cost of environmental investments that were co-financed with National and Regional Environmental funds has been over 24 billion USD. Radek's Baltic project was launched in 2007 and since then, his unique work that engages multiple countries and populations that are sharing access to the Baltic Sea is becoming a model example for other large water (oceans and seas) preservation efforts and sustainable development strategies for the management of natural resources with multiple types of stakeholders.

Ashoka Fellow Christian Hiss The New Idea With local small-scale agriculture under threat in an increasingly large-scale monoculture marketplace, Christian Hiss, who grew up in one of Germany's first organic farms, is reinvigorating regional economies by creating alternative flows of capital and value chains for small organic farmers and food producers. Through his unique agricultural holding company, Regionalwert AG, that reports to its shareholders on financial, social and environmental returns on investment, Christian is offering favorable investment opportunities while enabling small agricultural players to shape their regional economies. Christian's insight is that, by defining the success of organic regional agriculture enterprises in environmental and social returns, in addition to financial returns, local farmers and producers will be able to survive in a highly competitive market. In order to attract and hold investors that value a balanced investment, Christian has developed 64 indicators that cover the financial, social and environmental performance of the holding's agricultural companies. At each annual meeting, its shareholders learn about the tradeoffs between these

Country: Germany Country/Region of Impact: Germany Field of Work: Economic Development Language(s) spoken: German Contact: hiss@regionalwert-ag.de

three returns and can therefore make informed decisions on how to balance them in the future. Christian has

found a sustainable mechanism to connect capital with local agricultural enterprises, thus creating benefits for entire regional economies. As a leading model for shareholder participation, his idea is not only on track to grow "organically" but also to spread to other regions and potentially beyond agriculture.

The Impact In 2008, Christian sold his first 300 shares to raise

1million. Since then, Regionalwert AG continually

broadens its financial base by issuing new stock and acquiring small agricultural enterprises, which thereby encourages local value chains. The plan is first to grow organically in the Freiburg region, making shares even easier to access through new retail partners (banks, green investment funds, etc.) and then to begin the nationwide sale of shares. There is great potential for

recently introduced reporting method

to become a major influence on existing reporting standards for concepts like eco-labels as well as on the wider infrastructure of the sector. Finally, Christian is helping other citizen initiatives to use the concept of a citizen holding company in different contexts, such as energy and other areas of regional development.

Ashoka Fellow Rob Hopkins The New Idea Through the model of Transition Towns, Rob Hopkins has created a way to engage citizens to tackle climate change through a solutions-based and action-oriented approach to move away from oil dependency. A Transition Initiative is a community working together to assess what it needs in order to sustain itself and thrive, and then to identify how to increase resilience and drastically reduce carbon emissions. The process Rob employs is a collection of tools and approaches that communities can use to maximize their chances of success across each aspect of local life. Community building processes utilized by the Transition process lead to an Energy Descent Action Plan which, in turn, is the starting point for a whole range of activities designed to lead away from oil dependency and towards a more sustainable, lower carbon community. Multiple groups are formed within each community which tackle a different aspect of local life, from agriculture and energy to the economy and housing. Through the Transition Network groups receive practical tools and training as well as inspiration, support and encouragement.

Country: United Kingdom Country/Region of Impact: United Kingdom Field of Work: Environment Language(s) spoken: English Contact: robjhopkins@gmail.com

Key to

approach is Transition

role in developing communities. Through stimulating a sense of

belonging, citizens are able to see the consequences of their actions on the people and places that are closest to them. By addressing climate change at a community level, Rob has succeeded in making it relevant to everyday life and to the daily choices of everyday people, and not just the environmentally concerned few.

The Impact The Transition Network comprises 100 formal Transition communities with over 1,000 more at an earlier stage of development. Additional groups in a number of countries around the world are looking to the Transition Network for possible replication. Early successes of the Transition movement have been the setting up of energy service companies, the establishment of alternative currencies and the development of local food growing businesses. These combined efforts are beginning to result in policy change as local councils begin to sign themselves up as Transition Authorities.

Ashoka Fellow Albert Jovell The New Idea When Albert Jovell began studying medicine in University, he became concerned by how technical and specialized the practice had become and stunned at the differences between what he learned from his father, who was also a doctor, and the

impersonal view of what it meant to be a doctor. Inspired

by his observations, Albert embarked upon a career focused on redefining healthcare in Spain through a series of initiatives aimed at giving patients a central and participatory role in decisions concerning their health.

Beginning with the

Rights Declaration that Albert promoted in 2003 and the subsequent creation

of the Patients Forum, he is working with patients to identify and articulate specific needs, deficiencies and possible improvements in the healthcare system. Through his Patients University, Albert is able to offer training courses and disease-specific itineraries that take individuals through the key phases of a disease, preparing them for every situation. Albert also works through his Patients Forum to advocate

Country: Spain Country/Region of Impact: Spain Field of Work: Health Language(s) spoken: Spanish Contact: ajjovell2009@gmail.com

with healthcare policymakers to include patient representatives in the governing bodies of hospitals, healthcare policy boards and other institutions. The result is that both

experiences and opinions are

integrated into personal and institutional medical decisions. He has also partnered with University institutions to carry out studies that provide the backing for these recommendations, as well as to monitor and flesh out the positive findings of initiatives involving patients in the healthcare process. These studies offer convincing reports to administrators and policy makers as well as to professional associations of healthcare workers, while raising awareness and promoting advocacy through the Patients Forum.

The Impact Patients Forum has over 500,000 members throughout the country. Currently, Albert is working to spread the Patients University throughout the 17 autonomous regions in Spain. Albert is also involved in a series of international collaborations with entities in the United Kingdom and the USA, and has integrated many of these innovations into pan-European initiatives such as the European Patients Forum.

Jean-term unemployment by training them to produce and sell high-value, organic agricultural products to conscientious consumers. Ashoka Senior Fellow, elected in 2008.

Ashoka Fellow Joachim Körkel The New Idea Joachim Körkel believes that anyone suffering from drug addiction has the capacity to control themselves and lead a self-disciplined life. He has created an individualized rehabilitation program, KISS, that empowers individuals to find the strategy that is best suited for them. While leading an alcohol detoxification center early in his career, Joachim found that immediate and total withdrawal created too high of a barrier for many addicts, deterring many people from trying institutional rehabilitation. Joachim recognizes that addiction is not only a physical condition, but reflects an inner struggle. He addresses the root of the problem, beyond just physical addiction, such as social isolation, unemployment, and infectious diseases. By understanding why an

social, economic, and personal circumstances

led them to use drugs in the first place, Joachim is working towards destabilizing the systemic root of drug use rather than just the

Country: Germany Country/Region of Impact: Germany Field of Work: Health Language(s) spoken: German Contact: joachim.koerkel@evfhnuernberg.de

addiction.

He has applied this insight by building two programs, tackling alcohol addiction and more recently the consumption of multiple illegal drugs (KISS program). The approach is similar: First, Joachim creates a lowbarrier entry for addicts, be it through a self-assessment questionnaire in a newspaper or an informal Café in a drug treatment center. Trained staff then conduct interviews that identify positive personal motivations for change, like reuniting with family or holding on to a job. Propelled by this motivation, addicts guide themselves to document and reduce their consumption, regaining control of their lives and finding support.

The Impact In a KISS study, which compared KISS patients with a random control group in a safe injection center, Joachim found that among the KISS group, between 5% (of alcohol users) and 50% (of cocaine users) became abstinent of at least 1 drug. Moreover, 50% of KISS clients achieved dramatic reductions in alcohol consumption down to a safe level of consumption and only 8% of KISS patients required detox, compared to 24% of users in other facilities. KISS patients were found to be more honest about their levels of consumption, an important indicator for the success of drug treatment. KISS is now active in 2 major German cities (Frankfurt and Hamburg) and is starting to spread to Austria and Switzerland.

Ashoka Fellow Janina The New Idea Janina is

is creating a space in society for the long-term care of apallic patients, proving that there in a

. Recognizing apallic patients as an underserved group in the Polish healthcare system, she

is building a nationwide system of care for patients in a vegetative state that includes new treatment methods, professional trainings, support to families of apallic patients, and general awareness building. Having developed innovative methods of working with apallic patients, including various sensory activities, Janina is providing the best possible care to keep individuals in good physical condition during their

vegetative state, but also with the aim of awakening patients from this state. Through introducing the idea of neurological rehabilitation for awakened adults, which is a completely novel form of treatment in Poland, Janina is designing from scratch the system of care for their awakening, thereby offering higher chances of recovery. Furthermore, to deepen her impact, Janina has organized a successful volunteer movement that is changing the public misperception that the apallic state is a terminal illness. Janina is engaging the families

Country: Poland Country/Region of Impact: Poland Field of Work: Health Language(s) spoken: Polish Contact: hospicjum@swiatlo.org

of apallic and awakened patients by offering therapeutic support services and teaching them how to professionally care for their sick family members. Having developed standards of training for professionals and families, Janina is majorly influencing routine and regulations in this underserved medical area.

The Impact The success of the Foundation is made apparent through its growing budget. In 2007, the budget was approximately 300,000 Polish zloty, whereas in the first 3 months of 2009 the budget had already increased by that same amount. In 2008, percent

Foundation received 500,000 Polish zloty from

from Polish tax payers. Given that

organization is not advocated for through

popular media, since the issue she is dealing with must be promoted in a very delicate way, the success of her Foundation is all the more significant. At present, patients from all over Poland are on the waiting list for medical clinic. This high demand has initiated Janina to develop a model of care for apallic patients that can be franchised by other institutions in Poland.

Ashoka Fellow Mary Nally The New Idea Mary Nally is tapping into an underutilized demographic bounty by creating active contributors among the aging. Having recognized that elderly are one of the most rapidly growing populations, and also one of the most voiceless, she is combating feelings of loneliness and isolation among the elderly by placing them as advocates for other isolated groups. organization, Third Age Foundation, uses its programs as a basis for knowledge gathering which is then channeled into a more articulate and insistent voice for the elderly in national policy-making. Mary equips elderly people to be service providers in social initiatives, including a national helpline (Senior Help Line) for lonely and depressed older people that systematically gathers information on the population. Each call is logged, the frequency, topic, and tone are noted, and the aggregate data is then routinely shared with staff from the Health Service Executive. Mary has begun a new component of her work called Failte Isteach to link elderly people to the broader international and multi-ethnic community by employing

Country: Ireland Country/Region of Impact: Ireland Field of Work: Human Rights Language(s) spoken: English Contact: thirdage@indigo.ie

senior citizens to teach conversational English to new immigrants, another frequently isolated group. She is

now channeling the learning and experience gathered from these elements into plans for national and international expansion of her work. She is also building a stronger data base of information to support her work, and she is planning to develop a center for research and development in the coming years.

The Impact Senior Help Line began with 32 volunteers and has since spread to 300 elderly volunteers manning 13 Help Line centers around Ireland, fielding nearly 11,000 calls per year. Mary has already expanded the service

to the London area, and she has 50 volunteers in place in 4 areas of New York City and is initiating a similar service in Boston with an emphasis on serving needs of the Irish diasporas in the USA. She is exploring options for

and replicating it on a franchise basis to help assure its more efficient and more

efficient global spread. She has found that demand for the training and support that Failte Isteach provides is rapidly outstripping supply, and she is thus laying plans for an expansion of the program. Currently, she is helping to orchestrate 11 centers that are implementing the project.

Ashoka Fellow Shai Reshef The New Idea Shai Reshef, the former Chief Officer of an Israeli test prep company, is placing a college education within reach of millions with the establishment of University of the People, the

first, tuition-free online

academic institution. Incorporating multiple educational strategies, including peer-to-peer teaching and eLearning, UoPeople is designed to reach the most remote and disadvantaged places on earth. In turn, education is transformed from a privilege for the few to a right of the many. UoPeople is built on three pillars: (1) the basic human right to education; (2) the free exchange of information; and (3) the natural willingness of people to help one another. With the support of volunteer and paid educators who develop the curriculum, students learn from and teach one another within online study communities by sharing resources, exchanging ideas, discussing weekly topics, submitting assignments and taking exams. The result is a class of highly-motivated individuals with an investment not only in themselves but also their peers. Harnessing this high-quality, low-cost and global pedagogical model, University of the

Country: Israel Country/Region of Impact: Global Field of Work: Learning/Education Language(s) spoken: Hebrew, English Contact: shai@uopeople.org

People has the incredible potential to democratize higher education and promote the advancement of our worldwide community.

The Impact This September, 179 students from 49 countries began their studies at University of the People as its inaugural class. Ranging from recent high school graduates to retirees, these students are spread across Asia, North American, South America, the Middle East, the former Soviet Union, Africa and Europe. Within the first week, there were 5,200 total online postings (an average of 30 posts per student) and, when asked

about their overall satisfaction with the school, students rated UoPeople a 4.6 out of 5.

Ashoka Fellow Manuela Richter-Werling The New Idea Combating a society-wide fear of dealing with the problem of mental illness, Manuela Richter-Werling shifts the focus from psychological disorders to

thereby effectively removing an age-old taboo.

By developing infrastructure that connects local healthcare organizations with the education system, she has brought the emotional problems of youth to public attention and has equipped both teachers and students with the tools and training to deal with these issues, thus creating a classroom environment that promotes emotional competency. Manuela's organization, Irrsinnig Menschlich e.V. (German for "insanely human") equips local organizations with the knowledge and know-how to conduct effective prevention work in schools and help young people deal with and overcome their mental problems by encouraging them to talk about them and seek help from experts. Her prevention programs incorporate 3 innovations that contribute to the program's effectiveness. First, the program re-frames mental problems as mental fitness, placing the emphasis on possibilities and

Country: Germany Country/Region of Impact: Germany Field of Work: Health Language(s) spoken: Germany Contact: m.richterwerling@irrsinnigmenschlich.de

resources rather than deficits and pathologies. Second, the program places mental health professionals or

individuals who once suffered from mental illness, referred to as

in teams who then work to

educate and demystify the issue of mental health in schools. And third, by relying on regional networks, the program provides a stable, low-threshold link between schools and support organizations, which can help students in crisis. Manuela is further sparking public discussions around the issue of mental illness with the help of prominent ambassadors and a film festival that travels to 70 cities throughout Germany.

The Impact The positive results of

program are scientifically evaluated and have evoked nationwide interest.

An evaluation of the project has found that 84% of the students said that the

in their classroom

gave them courage for life; for 75% he or she was a role model. What is more, 73% said the workshop helped them tackle their mental crises. Through a train-the-trainer concept Manuela has spread her approach to 35 groups all over Germany, and has already reached up to 22,000 children. She is working on deepening her program by establishing a school mentor system that she is working to spread to other German cities and throughout the European Union.

Ashoka Fellow Sandra Sch端rmann The New Idea Overcoming the traditional apathy and frustration among young job seekers, Sandra Sch端rmann is taking a different approach for state employment agencies to target long-term unemployed youth living on state welfare - of which there are nearly 200,000 in Germany. By using performing arts to uncover each unique motivation and skills, participants become attractive recruits, thereby changing negative perspectives of youth living on state welfare. Sandra is using theatre pedagogy as an empowerment strategy that enables young people and their job coaches to work on constructing individual life perspectives and realizing first steps to long-term employment. Through its key project, JobAct,

organization "Projektfabrik" (German for: "project

factory") takes a different approach to youth unemployment. Targeting groups of 30 long-term unemployed youngsters with no special interest or talent in acting, the 10 month program closely intertwines innovative theatre and other artistic pedagogy with careful mentoring and job coaching. Youth create a theater

Country: Germany Country/Region of Impact: Germany Field of Work: Civic Engagement Language(s) spoken: Germany Contact: schuermann@projektfabrik. org

performance in the first 5 months of the program and then complete a 5 month internship in the second

phase. Through combining self-discovery, skills training and job coaching Sandra is using performing arts as a low barrier catalyst for unleashing the productive potential of unemployed youth.

The Impact So far, JobAct has reached 1,650 participants in 5 states across Germany, with 55 theatre premieres over the last 4 years, attended by 10,000 visitors and highly publicized through media and awards. In comparison to the low placement rate of other youth employment programs

a mere 20% - the rate of job placement after

youth graduate from a Projektfabrik JobAct program is 65%. Sandra now deepens the program by spreading regionally and to other target groups and influencing the landscape of public funding employment programs.

Ursula Sladek is building a new energy cycle paradigm, beginning in Germany, by shifting the ownership, management as well as production of energy into the hands of citizens, thereby fostering energy saving and renewable sources. Ashoka Senior Fellow, elected in 2008.

Ashoka Fellow Thorkil Sonne The New Idea Thorkil Sonne is transforming the way society perceives autism - from viewing it as a handicap to recognizing that it can be a competitive advantage. By demonstrating that autistic people can not only function in the business world, but can thrive as specialists in certain types of work, he is offering an often isolated population the opportunity for active, productive and fulfilling lives. â&#x20AC;˘

Drawing upon an extensive IT background and with an autistic child of his own, Thorkil has created a forprofit software testing company, Specialisterne, that assesses and employs high-functioning autistic adults and uses their special skills to out-perform the market and offer an often isolated group of people opportunities for active, productive lives in a way that is unprecedented. Autistic individuals have markedly different vocational needs than other developmentally disabled people. As such, Thorkil is building an office culture that caters to their particular needs while boosting their independence, confidence, and cognitive development. Employees of

Country: Denmark Country/Region of Impact: Ireland Field of Work: Human Rights Language(s) spoken: Danish, English Contact: thso@specialisterne.dk

company begin to identify themselves as

rather than

turning the focus to their capabilities rather than their disabilities. He has created a sister citizen

organization, Specialisterne Foundation, to help meet the high demand for international expansion (with requests in hand from more than 60 countries), broaden his model to incorporate other fields of employment, and develop new programs for lower-functioning autistic people.

The Impact Thorkil is emphatically committed to offering competitor with other, traditional software companies.

services as an equal - or better yet, superior employees are unusually focused in

repetitive testing assignments, and their fault rate in testing is 0.5%, compared with a typical 5.0% fault rate in other firms engaged in software testing. There is great interest in introducing the Specialisterne concept in other geographical settings. New companies, drawing on

inspiration and informal guidance, have

already sprouted in Sweden, Belgium, and Israel, and 2 such companies are being launched in the USA and as many as 4 in the Netherlands. At the start of global expansion Thorkil is beginning to franchise his model in 4 additional countries, including the United Kingdom.

Ashoka Fellow Marion Steffens The New Idea Marion Steffens, having established several help organizations for battered women, recognized the stigmatization and fear that inhibit women victims from reaching out for help, as well as the lack of training provided to professionals to deal with the issues surrounding domestic abuse. To close the gaps in the field, Marion has built long-lasting regional alliances between healthcare professionals and the multiple organizations that already exist to support victims of domestic abuse and in doing so, has transformed the infrastructure for victims of domestic abuse. â&#x20AC;˘

Marion's professional intervention network for health care professionals, the GESINE- network, addresses the lack of support for victims of domestic abuse in 3 ways. First, GESINE provides training and information for healthcare professionals on how to detect domestic violence and recognize abuse as a root cause of health conditions. Furthermore, it sensitizes professionals to adequately address the problem, by listening and building trust instead of judging. Finally, by creating a referral system between doctors, other healthcare

Country: Germany Country/Region of Impact: Germany Field of Work: Health Language(s) spoken: German Contact: steffens@gesine-net.info

professionals and women support organizations, it guarantees a quality of services for victims. Through

these networks, Marion is closing a gap in the support infrastructure for the many victims who would otherwise not seek help.

The Impact The first GESINE-Network (located in the rural district of Ennepe Ruhr Kreis) has 80 network members which reach out to several thousand women a year. This network is reaching 200 additional healthcare professionals and engages about 80 other organizations (police, justice, etc). Before the network was

founded not a single doctor referred a victim to the main support association for domestic abuse in the region; whereas now 20% of all institutional referrals come from doctors. Founded in 2004, GESINE was organized to be transferable to other regions. Marion developed a train the trainer curriculum which she is already implementing with other organizations and also in an European context. What is more, just 4 years after its founding, GESINE was acknowledged to be the innovative approach in the sector by being showcased as the only project of a nationwide model project called MIGG (Medical Intervention against violence). MIGG is providing funding to further develop the spread of GESINE to other regions.

Ashoka Fellow Michael Stenger The New Idea Michael Stenger, who has lead an extensive and entrepreneurial career in the asylum sector, is now providing young refugees a chance for education and integration into German society while also changing negative public perceptions towards this disempowered group. By establishing and spreading a cost efficient and effective private school system for this highly discriminated group, Michael develops the individual skills and potentials of youth refugees throughout Germany and provides them a voice as a disempowered group. Michael realized that the needs of young refugees were not being met by the classical German school

system, which is failing to provide sustainable education and integration to this group. To address these shortfalls, Michael founded the SchlaU-Schule in Munich (German for "school analogous

; SchlaU also

means "clever" in German). SchlaU is one of the only private schools in Germany that does not serve the top stratums of society, but instead targets a marginalized group. By structuring courses analogous to state schools, and by providing first-class student services such as social-psychological aid and legal assistance,

Country: Germany Country/Region of Impact: Germany Field of Work: Education/Learning Languages spoken: Germany Contact: m.stenger@schlauschule.de

his students are set on track to qualify for vocational studies and ultimately for professional careers. Skillfully bringing these success stories to the attention of politicians, state welfare organizations and the wider public, Michael transforms the individual lives of young refugees and challenges societal expectations, political convenience and legal practice around the issue of asylum seekers.

The Impact To date, the SchlaU school has empowered 96% of its pupils from all over the world to graduate within 2 years from secondary school. (Whereas the normal German secondary school graduation process occurs after 9 years.) Moreover, SchlaU pupils get better grades on their exams than average German pupils and all 53 SchlaU alumni who started a vocational training remained employed. In Munich today, thanks to SchlaU's steady political pressure, the municipality accepts the right of every underage refugee to attend school and automatically sends newly arrived refugees to visit SchlaU. Michael even managed to find a legal loophole by proving that it was the city's duty to offer educational support to his students. After having successfully established SchlaU in Munich with 145 students, Michael plans to expand to Nuremberg and then Berlin.

Ashoka Fellow Katja Urbatsch The New Idea Katja Urbatsch, a first generation college graduate, is deeply aware of the challenges facing students from families where higher education is not valued or possible. Struck by the fact that, in Germany, youth with parents who graduated from university are 3 times more likely to attend university than compared to youth with non-academic parents, Katja empowers young people from families without university education to start and succeed in higher education by creating a positive identity for them and fostering their social mobility in society. Through her mentoring network and information platform, Katja supports first generation high school graduates to overcome typical barriers such as financial concerns, lack of personal support and the low regard among family members for university education. First, by using the attention-grabbing label "Arbeiterkind" (German for "working class child"), she gives the group of adolescents with non-academic parents an identity and voice they never previously had. Second, Katja builds up local networks of mentors

Country: Germany Country/Region of Impact: Germany Field of Work: Learning/Education Language(s) spoken: Germany Contact: urbatsch@arbeiterkind.de

who go into schools to specifically target and promote the possibility of attending university and the

connected career opportunities to pupils from families without college educations. These mentors also help students in university to successfully cope with the challenges they face. Third, Katja has created an online resource center and mentoring platform, Arbeiterkind.de, which compiles a wide range of information relevant to people starting university. Its accessible and non-academic language gives practical howthat are comprehensible to all, in contrast to highly sophisticated yet complex information on other websites.

The Impact Since the official launch in January 2008, Arbeiterkind.de over 10,000 people use the website every month. The number of mentors has reached almost 1,000 and local groups exist in 70 cities across Germany. Furthermore, Arbeiterkind.de already received several awards. It was chosen one of the best 25 initiatives taking part in "Start Social 2008", a competition under the auspices of German chancellor Angela Merkel. It also received the "German Engagement Prize 2008" from Peer Steinbr端ck, German Minister of Finance and it is part of the initiative "Germany

Land of Ideas", initiated by the German Federal Government.

Ashoka Fellow Anders Wilhemson The New Idea Anders Wilhemson is changing the way in which people in poor and crowded urban communities with inadequate sanitation facilities deal with human waste. Working closely with such communities, he is providing new opportunities to turn human waste into wealth and solve one of the most intractable problems in such areas. Anders has created a single use, biodegradable bag that can be used as a sanitary toilet in areas where no other sanitation is available. His innovation sanitizes waste and creates a closed loop sustainable waste management cycle, turning the waste into a lucrative resource of viable fertilizer, while also producing employment opportunities and putting communities in charge of their own services. His work goes beyond an incremental improvement and meets an intractable sanitation problem in a manner rooted in the context of the problem, based on the temporary solution improvised by community residents, who used waste plastic bags as ad hoc

Country: Sweden Country/Region of Impact: Africa Field of Work: Health Language(s) spoken: Swedish, English Contact: aw@peepoople.org

toilets. He is building a for-profit company that also creates incentives for

waste collection--a lucrative job option for micro-entrepreneurs to collect the bags and sell them as

fertilizer. Through the collection program he is creating outlets for communities to construct informal municipal services. Anders is setting up a fluid, flexible alternative infrastructure that can be employed in emergency situations as well as in permanent communities in the

largest slums, building sanitation

solutions around the realities on the ground.

The Impact Designed as a for-profit company, Peepoople was commenced through pilots funded by international citizen

organizations (COs), and is engaging existing distribution channels established by COs on the ground to expand their reach. Beginning with pilots in Kibera, Kenya, Anders is expanding work into Bangladesh and will have 240,000 bags a day (projected) net capacity for his production units. The project is receiving wide attention from organizations focused on sanitation provision in emergency situations as well as more permanent settlements for example, UN-Habitat hopes to provide bags for more than 2 million Pakistani refugees currently living in Nepal.

David Egan is empowering a generation of young people in Ireland to choose healthier lifestyles by changing their attitudes towards food and exercise and encouraging schools to adopt policies that support these changes. Ashoka Fellow, elected in 2008.

Other 2009 European Ashoka Fellows

Karl-

Ashoka Fellow Pavel Cincera The New Idea Pavel Cincera is building the foundations for environmental awareness and activism in ex-Soviet countries through independent journalism. By using a nonaligned and recognized issue, such as environmental protection, Pavel has introduced the first independent and objective online portal in the region to raise awareness and activate citizens around the issue of the environment. In the absence of truly neutral, fact-based environmental journalism in ex-Soviet countries, Pavel brings into mainstream media the first fact-based online portal focusing on environmental issues - ekolist.cz. Having created the first print medium to provide objective information about environmental protection in the Czech Republic, Pavel recognized that an environmental movement could only be effective if large numbers of citizens were engaged and involved

and that doing so requires creating an information platform that is

objective, credible, and participative. The ekolist.cz web portal provides accurate and real time news about environmental issues, provides a discussion platform for readers to share opinions and perspectives and

Country: Czech Republic Country/Region of Impact: Czech Republic and Central Asia Field of Work: Civic Engagement Language(s) spoken: Czech Contact: pavel.cincera@ecn.cz

includes an open-source database for users to publish or search for

advice. Through the

experience of interacting with news for the first time, ekolist.cz users go from being passive recipients of news to active users and even generators of news and knowledge. Pavel is in the process of launching aspects of ekolist.cz in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and is leading programs for local citizen organizations in these countries on the usage of communication (including IT tools and technologies) to facilitate civic engagement and cross-sector dialogue.

The Impact In 1997 Pavel launched the Internet site, ekolist.cz, beginning with 2,000 online readers. Ekolist.cz currently reaches 65,000

70,000 readers monthly and it is known across multiple segments of society, including

businessmen, households, students, environmental activists and many more. Pavel plans that over the next few months the audience of ekolist.cz will grow to 100,000 monthly and in the next years to around 500,000 readers monthly.

Ashoka Fellow Tristan Lecomte The New Idea After years of developing Fair Trade channels for organic produce around the world and pioneering the retail distribution of Fair Trade products in France, Tristan Lecomte is now empowering companies and consumers to contribute to large-scale carbon reduction and is paving the market for carbon neutral products. Seeing that the goals of the Kyoto Protocol are hindered by associated costs for traditional industries and the complexity of carbon markets, he has created a unique cycle integrating fair-trade with the assessment, reduction and offsetting of carbon emissions. Tristan is opening the market for carbon-neutral products. While his cradle-to-cradle approach to assess, reduce and offset carbon emissions required to be labeled

-Carbon-

(ZCT) is initially costly for

companies, the ZCT process dramatically reduces costs of production and increases the perceived value in the eyes of customers. With an UN-certified partner specialized in reforestation, Tristan leverages the reliability of Fair Trade cooperatives and the complementarities between organic farming and forestation to

Country: France Country/Region of Impact: France Field of Work: Environment Language(s) spoken: French, English, Spanish Contact: brasil@altereco.com

multiply high quality, sustainable agro-forestry projects. In doing so, he is building carbon wells through a

sustainable and transparent co-development system, with high economic, social and environmental returns. Furthermore, with his first ZCT products, Tristan is using marketing techniques and smart packaging to simplify the message and effectively educate customers about sources of carbon emissions, realities of global warming and responsible behavior. He is also allowing them to track online their contribution to the growth of forestation projects, witnessing their impact when they purchase carbon neutral products.

The Impact Tristan and his pioneering cooperative, Pure Project Entrepreneurs, have already convinced major corporations and brands to go ZCT. This success is setting a benchmark in the market of carbon operators and forcing other players to be more rigorous in their assessment of carbon emissions, to reduce before they offset and to be more transparent in their setting the price of carbon tons. The fluidity and effectiveness of carbon markets is seeing rapid improvement. At their current performance,

forestation projects will

have offset nearly 30 million tons of carbon by 2013 and are setting a precedent on how to multiply carbon wells in tropical regions with limited risks and at a limited cost.

Ashoka Senior Fellow Dennis Karpes The New Idea As a marketing specialist, Dennis Karpes has witnessed firsthand the power of branding in influencing the behavior and social patterns for large groups in society, especially youth. Dennis has built one of the most powerful global brands and is harnessing the energy and entrepreneurship of hundreds of thousands of young people around the world, inspiring them to take action in the fight against HIV/AIDS and, more broadly, for social change. Combining his marketing expertise with his awareness of the potential power of a group representing more

than half the

population, Dennis built

as a youth brand for change-making, with the

goal of making social entrepreneurship an appealing option and building a community of powerful

. To make the brand simpler, stronger and most accessible, he has focused calls for change around the issue of HIV/AIDS

a widespread, generational problem of pressing urgency against which youth can

easily take action and see their impact. He has also designed a virtuous marketing cycle based on peer-to-

Country: The Netherlands Country/Region of Impact: Global Field of Work: Civic Engagement Language(s) spoken: French Contact: denniskarpes@hotmail.com

peer inspiration and mass marketing involving global partnerships and international stars. First attracted and enthused by the marketing and large events, young people join the movement through support from their school, local Dance4Life branches, partner organizations and franchisees.

The Impact Dennis has already shifted the image and experience of youth in 20 countries and will, in the years to come, deeply redefine the youth years around the world. So far, over 300,000 teenagers have been through the transformative Dance4life experience, including launching their own actions against HIV/AIDS. Over 30% of participants come up with solutions to change perceptions and behaviors towards those with HIV/AIDS. The remaining 70% of participants help these entrepreneurs and gain an in-depth understanding of the problem and of their own their power. Dance4Life plans to reach 1 million youth in 35 countries by 2014, and broaden the movement to target the other UN Millennium Development Goals. The movement is strongest and has reached a tipping point in the Netherlands, where the Dance4Life headquarters are located. In partnership with Stop AIDS Now, 20,000 young people have been engaged in fundraising and other youth-led activities.

Ashoka Senior Fellow Pierre Rabhi The New Idea â&#x20AC;˘

Through a hands-on, self-learning approach, Pierre Rabhi, a pioneer in the field of agroecology since the 1960s, is teaching sustainable and productive farming practices that empower the most disadvantaged rural communities to achieve food self-sufficiency and economic self-reliance -- to farmers in France and Africa in order to dramatically increase their own agricultural yields while respecting and preserving the environment. Having founded CIEPAD in 1988, Pierre is leading an agroecology movement in hopes of decreasing the accelerating environmental and social consequences of the industrialization and intensification of agriculture in France and in Africa.

approach lets farmers understand agroecology from their own experiences,

measure the economic and social value of ecological farming, and diagnose the best way to eliminate alienating industrial and chemical farming methods. In doing so, Pierre has invented a new form of NorthSouth development aid in the agricultural sector that allows for local food self-sufficiency and embraces indigenous cultures and knowledge, as opposed to the traditional short-term and content-based aid

Country: France Country/Region of Impact: Europe and Africa Field of Work: Economic Development Language(s) spoken: French Contact: pierre@pierrerabhi.org

programs, which reinforce South-North dependency and endemic poverty.

The Impact Pierre has created numerous local training centers, enhanced partnerships with grassroots organizations, and created agroecological farmers networks across Africa and France to teach and implement agroecology through self-learning. Beyond the agricultural sector, Pierre has united tens of thousands of citizens in local and national movements to create a social and environmental balance. His self-learning methods has proven particularly effective in Africa, where oral traditions are strongest and

farmers need to appropriate changes in order to adopt them. Pierre has in particular leveraged CIEPAD to influence information campaigns and identify and train partner organizations to spread agroecology in Morocco, Palestine, Algeria, Tunisia, Senegal, Togo, Benin, Mauritania, Poland, Ukraine and Romania.

Ashoka Senior Fellow Gilles Reydellet The New Idea Gilles Reydellet was first made aware of the shortcomings of public service entities whilst working at the French postal service. He saw that 15% of the French population was alienated from the public services guaranteed to them by law. This problem urged him to create a network of highly effective platforms that enable marginalized citizens to access and navigate the services and rights to which they are entitled. To make public services accessible to all, Gilles created the first PIMMS (Points Information Mediation MultiServices), which has grown into a national network of 35 PIMMS: walk-in centers, located in at-risk neighborhoods and rural areas, where the most socially and geographically excluded can find personal guidance in their daily life. The broad range of free, easy-to-access services offered by PIMMS includes information and counsel on how to best leverage their social rights, access public service administrations and companies, and pay for energy, telecom and public transportation services. PIMMS is able to provide the best services through employing staff mediators, who come from similar socioeconomic circumstances as

Country: France Country/Region of Impact: France Field of Work: Civic Engagement Language(s) spoken: French Contact: gilles.reydellet@pimms.org

their clients and can therefore advise them in the most relevant manner. These mediators educate clients so

that they can eventually access public services directly and independently, through financial education, computer literacy training, etc.

The Impact In 2008, 270,000 people walked into one of the 35 PIMMS franchises to take advantage of the free and customized services provided, thereby breaking the vicious cycle of isolation and fulfilling their rights as citizens. Forty more PIMMS will open by the end of 2010; progressively, Gilles aims to establish PIMMS in the 300 at-risk urban areas and many more rural territories. Public service corporations and social service administrations are increasingly demanding

trainings, which has helped them to fully grasp the

broader duty they have towards the public. Inspired by Service

work, the government created the Relais de

by decree in 2006, which provides incentives to replicate similar entities across the country

and to serve the socially excluded.

Ashoka Senior Fellow Karl-Henrik Robert The New Idea Former Swedish cancer researcher Karl-Henrik Robert has built both a scientific framework and global institutional platform that brings together disparate strands of environmentalism (scientific, social, economic, etc.) to assist institutions, from companies to governments, to create and implement concrete sustainability strategies. Through his global environmental movement, Karl-Henrik has engaged a coalition of universities, companies, industrial groups, municipalities and larger government entities to pioneer new ways in which humans can interact sustainably with their environment.

When Karl-Henrik Robert launched the Natural Step, he sought to answer a seemingly simple series of questions: what is sustainability, and how can we live productive lives in our world in such a manner as to achieve this elusive goal? In addressing these questions, Karl-Henrik, recognizing the lack of unanimity among stakeholders in the business and environmental communities, embarked on the first unified attempt to create a scientific consensus for sustainability. From Karl-

Country: Sweden Country/Region of Impact: Sweden Field of Work: Environment Language(s) spoken: Swedish, English Contact: karlhenrik.robert@thenaturalst ep.org

work has emerged a framework of

principles for strategic planning that have helped companies and governments guide ecologically sound decision-making worldwide since 1988. Karl-

work uses a systems approach that involves

widespread community awareness-raising, emphatic focus on joint decision making, and integrated stakeholder involvement that reverse-engineers from a notion of success.

The Impact Early in the Natural Step, Karl-Henrik and his colleagues developed 4 sustainability objectives as a common language for how to adopt sustainable practices and guide local decisions. The 4 objectives have become

the building blocks for decision making among governments and corporations and industrial groups alike. To date they have been adopted by over 70 cities and towns in Sweden (over 25% of all municipalities), several in the USA and Canada, and by national planning associations, international companies, and full industries who have examined and overhauled their processes.

Ashoka Fellow Junior Smart The New Idea Junior Brown is developing a model of peer-led mentoring for people leaving prison, breaking the cycle of re-offending by focusing on the individual and placing them at the heart of his approach. Targeting gang members and repeat offenders specifically, Junior is developing a model that works for those offenders who are traditionally hardest to reach. Southwark Offenders Support (SOS) is an individualized, tailor-made, holistic mentoring program run by ex-offenders, that works with prisoners at a high risk of re-offending both before and after their release. Ex-offenders are mentored by other ex-offenders who understand the situations they are in and are in a unique position to offer both emotional and practical support. SOS takes into account the many influences ex-offenders are exposed to on leaving jail, including family, peers, gangs and the local community. The model makes sure these needs are addressed beginning well before the offender is released. In addition, mentors help the ex-offender deal with the many practical challenges they will face on leaving prison, such as finding employment and housing.

Country: United Kingdom Country/Region of Impact: United Kingdom Field of Work: Human Rights Language(s) spoken: English Contact: junior.smart@stgilestrust.or g.uk

By taking their place in society as positive role models rather than gang members, there is a ripple effect from each ex-offender who changes his behavior. Junior works with clients to help them tackle the stigma of being an ex-offender and gives them opportunities to contribute positively to the community.

The Impact Over the 2 years since SOS started, Junior has personally supported 60 clients, fewer than 10% of whom have re-offended (compared to a national average of 55.5% for adults and 75% for young people). To date

mentoring alone has saved the government an estimated ÂŁ5.3 million in conviction and incarceration costs. SOS has recently received funding to more than double the size of the project which will see its work extend into 2 further London boroughs. Junior is currently developing his approach to scaling the SOS model to other areas affected by gang crime.

Ashoka Fellow Tom Steinberg The New Idea Tom Steinberg is creating an environment where politics and democracy is being demystified and made accessible to the general public. He is building an architecture through which citizens can engage with democracy locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. As a result, the people who politics was originally designed to serve, society at large, are reconnecting with the decision making structures that affect their lives and re-learning how to shape their societies. Through the mySociety websites Tom has allowed huge numbers of people to participate in democracy, in many cases for the first time, and reap direct benefit from their actions. mySociety provides a range of tools that empower citizens within the democratic system, by filing Freedom of Information requests, lobbying their politicians, or pushing to get local environmental problems solved, all achievable within a few clicks. Through mySociety people realize direct and tangible improvements to their day-to-day lives. By seeing these direct improvements people are incentivized to engage further with democratic processes and

Country: United Kingdom Country/Region of Impact: United Kingdom Field of Work: Civic Engagement Language(s) spoken: English Contact: tom@mysociety.org

structures

to begin to vote if they had not before or to get involved in more proactive ways with local,

regional and national government. mySociety websites are marked out by the fact that they do not use the language of politics and campaigning which can be so off putting for the uninitiated. Instead, they focus on people seeing direct improvements in their daily lives in a way that is compelling for those traditionally uninvolved in political activity.

The Impact Through

websites, more than 15,000 potholes and other broken infrastructure have been fixed,

9,000,000 signatures have been made on petitions to the Prime Minister, and over 400,000 people have written to their MPs and councilors

with more than half of these being first time writers. Over 75,000

people have signed up to hear about and talk with their MPs and over 160 MPs have actively used the service. To date Tom has led, inspired or collaborated with organizations using the core of

architecture

in Italy, New Zealand, Australia and the USA, with further international interest building month by month.

Ashoka Fellow Petra Vrtbovska The New Idea Petra Vrtbovska has successfully turned a fragmented and substandard set of foster care institutions in the Czech Republic into a comprehensive and professional system that now recognizes all key players, from children, to families, to professionals. Through her work, Petra has successfully brought the problem of foster emotional disorders to public recognition. â&#x20AC;˘

Through her Natama Institute in Prague, Petra has developed a model of specialized support that is uniquely characterized by its all-inclusive approach; Petra recognizes all key players in the field - children, parents and foster care professionals - bringing them together under one institution to be trained and counseled. In this way, foster care services are no longer disjointed, but instead are able to work together in a holistic approach to foster care.

pioneering model combines therapy for at-risk children, an underserved

group in the foster care field, continuing education for adoptive parents and foster care professionals, and research and dissemination of methodologies in the foster care field. To further advance the field of foster

Country: Czech Republic Country/Region of Impact: Czech Republic Field of Work: Human Rights Language(s) spoken: Czech Contact: vrtbovska@natama.cz

care, Petra develops and disseminates the

first shared knowledge and best practices in the field.

The Impact The promotion and publicity of

work has resulted in public acknowledgement of the problems in the

foster care system of the Czech Republic. By 2006 there was a new, progressive legal definition of foster care that states that children may stay in social care homes for a limited period and that there should be an active effort to place them with foster families. In 2008, after Petra had already spread her model across 3 regions of the Czech Republic, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs proclaimed the need for a

transformation of the child care system. In 2009,

model of foster care was recommended by the

state to regional centers across the country, recognizing the success of her program and institute. After seeing

success in working with state-run childcare services to replicate her model in Prague, the

Middle Czech Region, and Morava-Slezsky Region, the government recommended applying the model throughout state-run social care centers in more regions.

Jean-Marc Borello has developed and implemented new practices throughout the health and social services sector in France, and proven how innovation and competition in providing social services will create widespread social impact through economies of scale. Ashoka Senior Fellow, elected in 2008.

Ashoka Europe participating staff members Maria Calvo, Spain â&#x20AC;˘

Maria joined Ashoka after seven years in eBay, as general manager for Spain, leading the team that launched and developed the platform to achieve critical mass. During her years at eBay she partnered with non-profit organizations to help them leverage internet to raise resources, or as a way to self-employment and social integration. Maria also led the local development of the

initiative, supporting people to set up new businesses leveraging online platforms. Prior to eBay, Maria held

marketing positions in various companies and countries. She holds a Degree in Business and Economics and an MBA in Instituto de Empresa, Madrid.

Elena Correas, Spain Elena joins Ashoka after 5 years at McKinsey and United Nations Development Programme. At UNDP Colombia, Elena was in charge of the Environment and Sustainable Development Unit, working with civil society organizations, local communities, indigenous people and local, regional and national governments. She travelled extensively, meeting true social entrepreneurs working for their communities. At McKinsey she engaged in banking, telecommunications and non-profit sector related projects. Elena holds a BSc in Environmental Science, a degree in Environmental Management from George Washington University and a MS on International Cooperation and Project Management from Instituto Ortega y Gasset (Universidad Complutense in Madrid).

Andres Falconer, United Kingdom Formerly Director of the Ashoka Support Network. Before joining Ashoka in 2007, Andres was the Executive Director of ABDL, a Brazilian NGO affiliated to the LEAD International network, and co-founded and managed CEATS, the Centre for Social Entrepreneurship of the University of SĂŁo Paulo. Andres holds a Masters Degree in Management and was a Fellow of the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, he lived most of his life in Brazil before coming to London.

Erin Fornoff, United Kingdom Erin has recently returned to Ashoka after working as a Field Organizer for Barack Obama's campaign, and is now managing Venture for Ireland and Scandinavia. Previously at Ashoka, she organized Fellow collaborations on water, launching new initiatives in Africa, South America, and Asia, and helped launch a DVD project on the world's leading social entrepreneurs. A graduate of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, she founded a community garden and won a social entrepreneur fellowship to start a civic education program. Before Ashoka she worked for an Academy Award winning filmmaker, interned at the United Nations, and served as a homeless shelter supervisor in Washington, DC.

Oda Heister, Germany With an interest in economics and roots in a social-oriented family, Oda has always looked for ways to combine economic thinking and societal goals. She studied economics in Freiburg, Brighton (UK) and Berlin. In Berlin, she co-founded the Economic Forum with a focus on ethics and society. Looking for a way to build on her business and citizen sector interests, Oda went to Warsaw, Poland, where she worked for four years with a foundation on fostering democracy, social market economy and human rights. She created dialogue programs that brought together actors from the third sector, politics and business to overcome the communication gap between both worlds, and went on to start a new country program for the foundation in Belarus. When finding out about Ashoka, Oda felt that Ashoka and its programs were the missing link she had been looking for.

Ashoka Europe participating staff members Silvia Giovannoni, United Kingdom Silvia joined Ashoka UK in 2005 during the re-launch of UK operations and during that time played a variety of roles involved in its start-up, from managing and creating key relationships to raising the

profile. Silvia currently manages the Ashoka Support Network in the UK, a programme to engage business leaders with social

entrepreneurs. She is also responsible for engaging with the fifty or so International Fellows who regularly come through London every year. Silvia is originally from Brazil, where she first came across Ashoka, and holds a

Degree in Law. Before Ashoka, Silvia was a partner at a Brazilian legal firm co-founded with university

colleagues which today specialises in Third Sector Law and providing legal advice to COs.

Sarah Jefferson, Global Since a young age Sarah has been deeply committed to social justice and activism. Growing up, she was involved in various youth programs that allowed her to work for drug abuse help lines, participate in discussions with inmates on death row, and facilitate environmental justice classes. In college Sarah continued to value activism as a means to social change when she organized a school-wide walk-out of classes to protest racism on her undergraduate campus. Sarah went on to complete a degree at the University of Edinburgh where she strengthened her background in international relations and international human rights law. Sarah currently works for Ashoka's Global Venture, helping select social entrepreneurs in Europe, and for Ashoka's Global Communications team.

Ewa Konczal, Central and Eastern Europe Prior joining Ashoka Ewa worked in Egypt, where she has established Egyptian Polish Businessman Association. She had also volunteered with a Global March Against Child Labor in Delhi, India. Pursuing her passions

mountaineering - in 2004 Ewa has found her own organization Magic Mountain Foundation that creates opportunities

for various disadvantaged youth and adults to climb their own Everest. Ewa is a Ford Motor Company Fellow and a member of the Remarque Forum, at the New York City University. In 2006 Ewa had received the AIESEC International Global Leadership & Entrepreneurship Award and entered the AIESEC Alumni Hall of Fame.

Catriona Maclay, United Kingdom Catriona joined Ashoka in 2008 to work on UK Venture and Fellowship. She has previously worked as a 'Teach First' teacher in a London secondary school where she developed and implemented a school-wide active Citizenship curriculum to give young people the knowledge and practical experience they need to be informed, critical and engaged citizens. She has also worked in Bolivia as a journalist and in Brazil as a carer in an orphanage. At university she led college efforts to improve access to Cambridge for students from underrepresented backgrounds. She studied at Trinity College, Cambridge and the Freie Universitaet, Berlin.

Sarah Mariotte, France A Sciences-Po graduate, Sarah has been working for Ashoka since March of 2007 as an intern as part of her studies at the ESSEC (where she is a Social Entrepreneurship Chair.) She belongs to two associations:

grande Ecole: pourquoi pas

(Ivy League Schools: Why not me?) which helps students from challenged backgrounds to

attend ivy league schools and universities, and GENEPI which helps re-integrate ex-convicts into society. She also participates in Ashoka's Venture program (with the selection of Innovative Social Entrepreneurs) and helps with the newly selected candidates and the coordination of Ashoka events, and helps to promote Social Entrepreneurship.

Ashoka Europe participating staff members Valeria Merino, Global Valeria is a social entrepreneur who for almost two decades has been involved directly in the development and implementation of public policies, at the national and regional levels, in areas related to strengthening of Democracy, Rule of Law, transparency and civil society participation. Before coming to Ashoka she was the Director of the Venezuela Office of the Pan American Development Foundation and its Senior Civil Society Adviser. Since 1994, she has been an individual member of Transparency International and served on its Board on two occasions; she also founded and was the Executive Director of CLD, then

TI chapter, for fifteen years. She is also a

founding member of Participacion Ciudadana and Transparencia Ecuador, two citizen organizations in Ecuador. Valeria was appointed member of the Council of the United Nations University based in Tokyo, from 1995-2001, by the Secretary General of the United Nations and the Secretary of UNESCO.

Arnaud Mourot, France Arnaud has been

CEO in France since November 2005, and he has also managed the development in Belgium and Switzerland since 2006. He has enabled the

launch of the Venture and Fellowship programs (already 21 Fellows), and of a Social Business Plan competition in the 3 countries. Arnaud holds an MBA from the Paris Management School, ESCP, where he focused on "Innovation and Entrepreneurship." For 10 years he was also a prominent member of the French Wrestling team and an international champion. He created the Sport Sans FrontiĂ¨res (SSF) NGO in 1999, which he has chaired since Ashoka hired him.

Paul

Dublin, Ireland

Paul is leading the development of the Ashoka in Ireland, launching key programmes in support of social entrepreneurs. Born and raised in the beautiful West of Ireland, Paul studied Commerce at NUI, Galway, Marketing at the Smurfit School of Business - University College Dublin, and spent the next five years working in various marketing and commercial roles at Unilever Bestfoods and Cadbury Schweppes. An entrepreneur since his teenage years, in 2005, Paul founded an award winning social enterprise called The Hope Concept.

Felix Oldenburg, Berlin, Germany Felix joined Ashoka in 2009 as Country Director Germany with experience as an entrepreneur, project pioneer and consultant at the interfaces of government, business and the social sector. Previously, he served as Director at the political consulting firm and think tank IFOK, pioneering large scale citizen participation projects. He started his career as a management consultant with McKinsey & Company in London, and co-founded a social network. Felix studied Philosophy at Bonn, TĂźbingen and Oxford University, and obtained an Executive Master in Policy Management from Georgetown. He has published on citizen participation, governance and corporate social responsibility.

Florence Rizzo, Paris, France Florence was born in the East of France. She holds a master in Political Science and an MBA with a focus on Social Entrepreneurship. During her studies, she created several student organizations. She has lived one year in Finland and has travelled a lot in different countries. She works at Ashoka since 2005.

Ashoka Europe participating staff members Nir Tsuk, Israel After serving as a director of and political sciences

Global Fellowship program, Nir is now launching Ashoka in Israel, his homeland. Nir holds a PhD from Cambridge University in social

where he wrote his dissertation on social networks, social capital and intentional communities (such as the Israeli Kibbutz and the English Garden

City). He continues to explore those areas as he builds

global community today. Previously, Nir led policy research initiatives at the Community Development

Foundation in London and at the Committee for Social Affairs in the Israeli Parliament in Jerusalem. He has been, among other things, a curriculum developer at the Rabin

Centre and the Israeli national authority for Holocaust remembrance, the editor of

bestselling computer magazine, a restaurant manager, and a street cleaner. Nir

advises and lectures citizen organizations, academia, government bodies, and companies. He is also a compulsive tea drinker and a fan of animated movies.

Michael Vollmann, Germany Michael works in venture and fellowship, manages the contacts to universities and is the "tech-guy" in the team helping Ashoka Germany to connect and catch up with the digital economy, and become savvy in online marketing. The summer 2009 he spent assisting

Changemakers' outreach team in Arlington. He has written his

Diploma thesis in cooperation with Ashoka about "Social Entrepreneurship in Germany" and completed his studies in International Cultural and Business Studies at Passau

university and Universidade do Estado de Rio de Janeiro. What is more, during his studies and his compulsory community service in Chile he gained deep insight in the field of international development cooperation. Michael used to be an active scout and a youth leader, and built up a youth apprenticeship center.

Facilities and Logistics at the Venue FACILITY AND LOGISTICS AT THE VENUE

INTERNET AND INTRANET ACCESS

ADDRESS IN KITZBÜHEL Alpine University at Grand Hotel Kitzbühel Kitzbühel Malinggasse 12 A-6370, Kitzbühel, Austria Hotel main telephone: +4353566020 Fax: +43 5356 602 542

All sleeping and meeting rooms are equipped with high speed internet access. Public internet access is available in the lobby.

MEETING ROOMS

PHARMACY AND SHOPS

Our main Meeting Room is the Ballroom and is located in the Grand Hotel.

ATTIRE Smart casual attire is appropriate during the program. Jeans and sneakers are acceptable if in good condition. No bathrobes in public areas (including the bar and lobby).

MEALS All meals are served in the dining room. Breakfast starts at 7:00. There will be snacks and beverages throughout the day. Lunch is served according to our daily schedule. Dinner is served between 19:00 and 21:00.

WAKE UP CALLS You may set up wake up calls with your sleeping phone or TV, or you may ask the Reception to give you a wake up call.

TELEPHONE While we enjoy a slightly discounted rate for phone calls, we encourage you to use a telephone credit card for more cost effective rates. Access codes for calling cards are: At&T Direct 0800 200 288 MCI 0800 200 295 US SPRINT 0800 200 236

ATM MACHINE If you need cash, there is an ATM machine located in the main street in Kitzbuhel just across the hotel gate.

Shops and pharmacies are located at a walking distance, on the main street. The pharmacy is open from 8:00 to 12:00 and from 15:00 to 18:00. Most shops are open from 9:00 to 18:00.

RECREATION / ENTERTAINMENT The hotel has a pool, sauna and fitness centre located on the lower level of the building. The pool is open from 6:00 to 22:00 and the sauna from 16:00 to 22:00. There is an entertainment area with a billiards table and foosball table located next to the pool on the lower level. The entertainment area is available 24hrs.

MEDICAL EMERGENCIES Should an emergency medical situation occur the Reception will alert the nearest hospital or doctor. If you require medical attention, but it is not an emergency the Reception staff will refer you to the general assistance (hospital is located 5 minutes away by car).

TRANSPORTATION Bus transfers will be available to and from Munich airport. If you are arriving later or leaving earlier, you will have to make your own travel arrangements.

Get connected with Ashoka ASHOKA EUROPE WEBSITES Ireland: http://ireland.ashoka.org/

Spain: http://spain.ashoka.org/

France: http://www.ashoka.asso.fr/

Switzerland: http://switzerland.ashoka.org/

Germany: http://germany.ashoka.org/

Turkey: http://turkey.ashoka.org/

Poland: http://poland.ashoka.org/

United Kingdom: http://uk.ashoka.org/

SOCIAL MEDIA Some of our Blogs General Ashoka: http://ashoka.org/newsblog Ashoka TECH: http://tech.ashoka.org Ashoka Peace: http://peace.ashoka.org Ashoka News & Knowledge: http://knowledge.ashoka.org Ashoka Arab World: http://ashokaarabworld.wordpress.com/ Other Social Media

YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/ashokavideos Ashoka Fellows on LinkedIn: http://bit.ly/FellowsLI Ashoka Fellows on Facebook: http://bit.ly/FellowsFB Ashoka on Twitter (@AshokaTweets): www.twitter.com/ashokatweets Find furtherAshoka social media resources here: http://www.lakeinnovation.org/wiki/index.php/Social_media_tools

FELLOWSHIP BULLETIN (news, funding, conferences, resources) Fellow Feed: http://ashoka.org/fellowfeed