Ashoka is the global association of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs—men and women with system changing solutions for the world’s most urgent social problems. Since 1981, Ashoka has elected over 1,800 leading social entrepreneurs as Ashoka Fellows, providing them with living stipends, professional support, and access to a global network of peers in more than 60 countries.


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

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

Ashoka ensures that the leading ideas for social change are fully developed and sustained. This is achieved through a three-level approach:

Supporting Social Entrepreneurs
Social entrepreneurs are the engines of social change and role models for the citizen sector. Ashoka identifies and invests in leading social entrepreneurs and helps them achieve maximum social impact.

Promoting Group Entrepreneurship
Groups and networks of social entrepreneurs working together accelerate and spread social impact. Ashoka engages communities of entrepreneurs and develops patterns of effective collaborations that change entire fields.

Building Infrastructure for the Sector
A global network of changemakers requires tools and support systems to deliver sustainable social solutions. Ashoka creates needed infrastructure, such as access to social financing, bridges to business and academic sectors, and frameworks for partnerships that deliver social and financial value.

Ashoka was founded in 1981 by Bill Drayton, who is credited as the “godfather of social entrepreneurship.”  Ashoka began with an annual budget of $50,000, and elected its first Fellow in India in 1981. During its first decade, Ashoka focused exclusively on finding and investing in leading social entrepreneurs in Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Central Europe.  Ashoka tripled in size between 1988 and 1990, and again between 1999 and 2002.  Today, Ashoka has expanded to serve North America, Western Europe, East Asia, and the Middle East (in addition to the regions above), and has an annual revenue of nearly $30 million. In 2006, Ashoka elected its first Fellows in Palestine, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Ireland, Germany, Spain, France.  

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