INTRODUCTION Ashoka is a global association of leading social entrepreneurs that has been supporting remarkable change agents and their pathbreaking initiatives for over 40 years. Over this period, Ashoka has distilled and spread profound learnings on entrepreneurship that have helped shape the citizen sector around the world to adopt and strengthen system-changing approaches to societal problems. Societal Platform is an ecosystem of entrepreneurial tech leaders and philanthropists that is carrying out pioneering work in redefining the field of societal platforms and digital public infrastructure in India and globally. In 2020, Ashoka1 and Societal Platform2 joined forces to launch ASPIRe.3 Supported by Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies,4 the joint initiative seeks to explore and learn how platforms can be leveraged by social entrepreneurs to support their system-change work and scale up impact. From the experience of Ashoka’s partner Societal Platform and by studying the work of Ashoka Fellows who have built platforms for impact, we have learned that the inherent feature of platforms is the capability for large-scale impact achieved by connecting exponentially large numbers of stakeholders in networks that interact openly, exchange value, and evolve while activating agency and catalyzing participation. All these merits make platforms a useful strategy and tool in advancing an ‘everyone a changemaker’ world. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the system-change potential of diverse platforms by showcasing strategies of Ashoka Fellows that are effectively leveraging platforms for systemic change. Towards this end, the paper shares key design principles5 that should be taken into account and applied when developing platforms for the good of all.
www.ashoka.org https://societalplatform.org 3 aspire.ashoka.org 4 rohininilekani.org 5 The design principles have been distilled from the core values of Societal Thinking curated by Societal Platform. In this paper, we have adopted and modified these core values (under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License) to reflect how platform design principles are manifested in the work of Ashoka Fellows. 1 2
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Leveraging Platforms for the Good of All: Insights from Leading Social Entrepreneurs
