Social Entrepreneurship
Ashoka has pioneered the field of social entrepreneurship, identifying and supporting the world’s leading social entrepreneurs since 1980. Social entrepreneurs are individuals with innovative solutions to society’s most pressing social, cultural, and environmental challenges. They are ambitious and persistent — tackling major issues and offering new ideas for systems-level change.
In 2018, Ashoka led one of the largest and most diverse studies of system changing social entrepreneurs ever conducted. And we found that Ashoka Fellows are having systems-level impact — 74 percent...
The newest edition features a sampling of the Ashoka Fellows recently brought into the largest global network of social entrepreneurs.
Ashoka Social Entrepreneurship Programs
Ashoka Venture and Fellowship
For more than 35 years, Ashoka has built and nurtured the largest network of leading social entrepreneurs in the world. After a rigorous selection process, they are introduced to a life-long fellowship, where every member is committed to championing new patterns of social good. We encourage Ashoka...
Ashoka Support Network
The Ashoka Support Network (ASN) is a global community of successful, innovative leaders from a variety of fields who see entrepreneurship as the primary engine for economic and social development. The network includes more than 350 members in 25 countries.
Ashoka Executive in Residence
The Ashoka Executive in Residence program fosters high-impact collaborations between companies and leading social entrepreneurs (Ashoka Fellows) that have the potential to change the dynamics of traditional markets, enhance competitiveness, and create systemic social impact.
Ashoka Changemakers
Ashoka Changemakers is building a global movement where anyone, anywhere, can take action to solve a social problem in in their community. We work to build this movement by supporting social entrepreneurs, innovators, business leaders, policy makers, and activists who are changemaking, by delivering...