ASHOKA IN THE UNITED STATES A TRACK RECORD OF TRANSFORMATIVE CHANGE
“Ashoka’s vision represents a radical departure from a world in which, for millennia, elites have been telling most everyone else what to do.�
WHO WE ARE Ashoka is the world’s largest network of social entrepreneurs. We pioneered the field 35 years ago and have supported more than 3,500 Ashoka Fellows across the globe, guiding them to grow unexpected ideas into transformative social progress. We believe the world’s most powerful force for change is a new idea in the hands of the right person. Time and again we’ve seen these extraordinary changemakers and their teams move mountains. They see the world not as it is, but as it should be. And they build the pathways to get us there. Ashoka accompanies them along their journey— with catalytic investments, with strategic guidance, and with an unmatched peer-to-peer community. Our vision is of a world where all of us play a role, no matter how small, in solving problems for the good of all—as if it’s second nature. We call this an Everyone a Changemaker society. And with the help of our Ashoka Fellows, we’re working to make this vision a reality.
“Ashoka is a living encyclopedia of social innovation in every field around the world.” Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia founder
NORTH AMERICA 302 Fellows
3,500 social entrepreneurs in 80+ countries. Across the globe, Ashoka Fellows are pioneers in education access, in human rights, in healthcare delivery, in environmental justice, and many other areas of human need. As a part of Ashoka, these social innovators no longer have to work alone. They gain access to critical resources and visibility, and most importantly to each other. The Ashoka network propels their individual success while also making us collectively smarter about how to solve our most pressing social problems.
LATIN AMERICA 1.034 Fellows
AFRICA
471 Fellows
EUROPE
346 Fellows
90% of Fellows see their ideas replicated by government bodies or other organizations
57% of Fellows change a national policy within 5 years of their election
83% MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA 104 Fellows
ASIA
1.020 Fellows
of Fellows change a system within 10 years of their election
250 Ashoka Fellows
Our 250 Ashoka Fellows in the United States are at the leading edge of the most significant social and economic challenges of our time—increasing access to quality education, introducing solutions to mass incarceration, facilitating economic development on American Indian land, caring for an aging population, combating climate change, and more. All have one thing in common: a breakthrough idea, in action.
States in blue where Ashoka Fellows are living and working.
WHAT OUR U.S. FELLOWS ARE WORKING ON: A SAMPLING
CASEY WOODS ARMS WITH ETHICS
Reducing gun violence and the flow of illegal guns via unlikely alliances that find common ground within one of our most divisive issues.
RAJ JAYADEV SILICON VALLEY DE-BUG
Building a new practice of “participatory defense” where communities most affected by mass incarceration take action to reduce prison sentences and push for policy reform.
AI-JEN POO NATIONAL DOMESTIC WORKERS UNION
Setting new labor standards— including via state legislation—for domestic workers, and creating a culture of caring for our aging population.
BREN SMITH GREEN WAVE
Reinventing the fishing profession to include “climate farming” in a way that feeds us and creates jobs while restoring our oceans and combating climate change.
15 new Fellows are selected each year in the U.S. across a wide range of issues, including early childcare, financial inclusion, college affordability, immigration, digital security, and more.
THE ROLE ASHOKA PLAYS Ashoka bets on the adventurous: on men and women with a fundamentally new vision of what is possible in the world. We’ve set the global standard for how to find local talent and how to nurture that talent via a vibrant peer network. Our support for early-stage innovators is leveraged many times over: in the form of organizational growth, policy change, independent replication, and more.
“Ashoka is a homecoming for social entrepreneurs who have been homeless. There is no better community that understands and celebrates their commitment to cause, or the loneliness of leadership.� Mary Gordon, Founder, Roots of Empathy, Ashoka Fellow
Clockwise from far left: Ashoka Fellows Bren Smith (Green Wave), Morgan Dixon (GirlTrek), Casey Woods (Arms with Ethics) and Kathryn Hall-Trujillo (The Birthing Project).
THE ROLE ASHOKA PLAYS FIND
SUPPORT
CONNECT
GROW
Our rigorous selection process and criteria have been refined and tested for more than 3 decades.
From Day 1, Ashoka Fellows join the most extensive, diverse community of peer entrepreneurs in the world.
Ashoka Fellows receive tailored feedback, customized support, and a 3-year financial stipend.
The Ashoka network helps entrepreneurs envision and then step into their next level of impact and influence.
Ashoka Fellows (left to right): Raj Jayadev, Christina Fialho, Gina Clayton
80% 97% 74%
Volunteers taking samples on the American prairie as part of Ashoka Fellow Gregg Treinish’s Adventure Scientists
OF ASHOKA FELLOWS GLOBALLY COLLABORATE WITH AT LEAST ONE OTHER FELLOW
OF NEW U.S. ASHOKA FELLOWS CREDIT ASHOKA WITH DEEPENING OR REFINING THE WAY THEY THINK ABOUT THEIR WORK
OF U.S. ASHOKA FELLOWS REPORT THAT ASHOKA HAS HELPED THEM GROW THEIR IMPACT
A TRACK RECORD OF TRANSFORMATIVE IMPACT $25,000,000
TOP 5
250 FELLOWS
90% OF FELLOWS
Ashoka has invested more than $25,000,000 into U.S. social entrepreneurs
This includes 250 innovators advancing creative solutions across 36 states
40,000 PEOPLE
The average Ashoka Fellow in the U.S. reaches 40,000 people directly and 600,000 people indirectly (via policy change, etc.)
Ranked top 5 most influential NGO in the world for the second year in a row (2017 & 2018 - NGO Advisor)
are still working toward their original visions 10 years after becoming Fellows
57% OF FELLOWS influence national policy within 5 years of joining the fellowship
“What’s most important about Ashoka… is that they make people believe that change is possible.” Anne Wojicki, 23&me CEO & Co-Founder
“If one were to examine the forensics of significant impact in healthcare, education or the environment, they would often find the fingerprints of Ashoka.” Stuart Davidson, Sonen Capital Partner, Labrador Ventures
“The engaged global community of social entrepreneurs that Ashoka has fostered helps each one of them to have more impact than would have been possible individually.” Pierre Omidyar, Ebay Founder
ASHOKA’S IMPACT EXTENDS TO MILLIONS OF OTHERS EVERY TEACHER A CHANGEMAKER
EVERY NEIGHBOR A CHANGEMAKER
Through Ashoka Fellow organizations like World Savvy, Relay Graduate School of Education, Teach for America, and New Teacher Center, more than 100,000 changemaker teachers across the U.S. have been trained in new ways of catalyzing learning, and at more than 80% of public schools nationwide an innovative teacher like these has had a classroom project funded through DonorsChoose. Through these efforts, more than 30 million students have been reached.
More than 40 million Americans live in a “Welcoming Community”, a designation conceived of by Ashoka Fellow David Lubell for cities and towns that commit to supporting immigrants and new arrivees. And millions more live in neighborhoods made healthier by the 6,000 members of Public Lab, a global community sharing DIY tools and techniques for monitoring—and acting on—local water, air, and ground pollution.
EVERY FARMER A CHANGEMAKER
EVERY CHILD A CHANGEMAKER
Ashoka Fellows take abstract and complex ideas—like empathy, humane treatment of animals, or savannah ecosystems—and translate them into specific, measurable actions and incentives for others, like cattle ranchers and farmers. This is how Temple Grandin has transformed the way the majority of livestock is raised and slaughtered in the U.S. and how Allan Savory championed the widespread practice of rotational grazing, which is better for farmers, our environment, and the food system overall.
Ashoka Fellows work with young people more than any other demographic group. Whether it’s through structured recess, immersive field trips or running clubs, these children learn critical life skills like empathy that they will rely on as changemakers today and tomorrow. Thanks to Ashoka Fellows in the last year alone, 2 million kids enjoyed recess at a Playworks school, 50,000 attended an Expeditionary Learning school, 200,000 girls were part of a Girls on the Run club, and as many as 9 million kids played at one of KaBOOM!’s 17,000 playgrounds.
–AS WELL AS–
CAREGIVERS, FISHERMEN,
COUNSELORS, COACHES, JOURNALISTS,
CODERS, BIOLOGISTS, LAWYERS,
HIKERS, VOTERS, DOCTORS,
TRUCKERS, AND COOKS WHO BECOME CHANGEMAKERS AS A RESULT OF THE WORK OF ASHOKA FELLOWS
Thanks to Ashoka Fellows and their changemaker teams, registering to vote in America is easier, school lunches are healthier, and veterans’ health benefits have been protected. And if you’ve ever looked something up on Wikipedia, landed a job via Idealist, or worked a gig in the shared economy (which platforms like CouchSurfing helped launch), you have an Ashoka Fellow to thank.
WE DON’T DO THIS ALONE WITH THE EINHORN CHARITABLE TRUST, WE SET OUT TO EMBED EMPATHY AND CHANGEMAKING INTO THE U.S. EDUCATION LANDSCAPE
WITH BANK OF THE WEST WE GREW OUR CAPACITY TO SPOT TRANSFORMATIVE IDEAS EMERGING FROM THE MOUNTAIN WEST
“Team Ashoka delivers impact by being a changemaker for the changemakers – and in doing so, delivers a compelling bang for one’s philanthropic buck.” James Jensen, The Jenesis Group
WITH THE LEGO FOUNDATION WE SUPPORTED DOZENS OF GLOBAL INNOVATORS AT THE FRONTIER OF LEARNING THROUGH PLAY
WITH RACHEL’S NETWORK WE MORE THAN DOUBLED THE NUMBER OF WOMEN ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERS WE FOUND AND SUPPORTED EACH YEAR
ALL AMERI THE FRESHEST IDEAS COME FROM WHERE PROBLEMS ARE FELT In 2016 we launched an ambitious new effort to push the boundaries of social entrepreneurship beyond the coastal bubbles. We know that Ashoka—and the country—is at its best when pulling from the full range of lived experience and creative approaches.
SINCE THEN WE’VE · Elected 40 new Ashoka Fellows, the majority from underrepresented areas · Sparked a conversation in our field about diversity and relevance · Increased our fellowship offerings to serve more isolated innovators · Launched a national challenge to support young changemakers with creative ideas for solving community problems
ICA GOING FORWARD WE PLAN TO
· Double our impact in 3 years and begin supporting 20 new Ashoka Fellows annually ·Pilot 3 media projects that illustrate the power of citizens everywhere to create change · Secure 5 national partnerships of $1M or more to grow our work
THE ALL AMERICA INITIATIVE is an opportunity to invest in the future of America– one that is smarter, more resilient, and full of possibilities.
MEET SOME OF OUR NEWEST ASHOKA FELLOWS FROM HENDERSON, TX: Steve Miller is working with churches and universities to begin healing racial trauma through story-sharing alliances.
FROM ALBUQUERQUE, NM: Kara Bobroff is building an education system based on indigenous traditions that prepares young people to shape their future. FROM DULUTH, MN: Rachel Armstrong is creating a new legal landscape that empowers our country’s farmers and entrepreneurs.
FROM WAYNE, WV: Brandon Dennison is transforming the workforce and building an economy that works for all in Appalachian coal country and beyond.
ASHOKA U.S. FINANCIAL SNAPSHOT $10M
LOOKING FORWARD:
raised for All America since 2016
$18M
$150K
Begin selecting
invested in each new Fellow
100%
funded by individuals, foundations and corporations
REVENUE SOURCES 2018 Corporations
28.6% Foundations
50.9% Individuals
20.5%
growth plan through 2021
20 FELLOWS each year in the U.S.
DOUBLING INVESTMENT in fellowship network
Recess at one of the more than 3,000 schools across the U.S. that partners with Playworks, founded by Ashoka Fellow Jill Vialet
CHANGEMAKERS ARE EVERYWHERE IF YOU KNOW WHERE TO LOOK. ASHOKA DOES.
WWW.ASHOKA-USA.ORG