social entrepreneurship for youth ashoka’s mission: everyone a changemaker sarajevo, september 28,...
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Social Entrepreneurship for youth
Ashoka’s mission: Everyone a Changemaker
Sarajevo, September 28, 2009
Ryszard Praszkier, Ph.D.
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Vision of Ashoka
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.
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Big dream and the „impossible”
Munir Hasan always dreamed of big mathematic international Olympiads for Bangladesh…
...in a country where there was nearly no mathematics....
...and none of the publishers wanted to publish mathematical text books....
Munir HasanAshoka Fellow
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A different solution....
Munir: Seems impossible to directly talk people into maths, so it needs a different solution....
This is a story on „the impossible” and how it turned into „possible” because of an innovative approach....
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The first step....
First step: festivals!
Not: „Olympiads”, but „festivals”
In the evening bonfire, singing, also taking public honesty oath
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Second step
Second step: maths riddles in the newspapers
Open Q&A sessions with the teachers (not easy in a post-British authoritarian school system)
Q&A sessions with the teachers
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Third step
Third step: the „festivals disease” (including Olympiads) disseminates to schools on various levels
Maths publications are skyrocketing Finally: participation in international Olympiads A huge youth movement volunteering and
supporting the new approach to teaching maths
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Social Entrepreneurship: Ashoka’s definition
Ashoka Fellows are totally committed to solving a burning social problem.
They have dreams and they know how to realize them.
The definition and selection criteria:
New Idea
Creativity
Entrepreneurial skills
Social impact
Ethical fiber
William Drayton,
Founder and CEO of Ashoka
David Bornstein’s book
Big dream
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Rodrigo Baggio, Ashoka Fellow, Brazil: “I had a dream…”
New Idea
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New Idea: High Himalaya regions in Nepal
Girls are totally deprived from education
Often treated as impure…
Various top-down solutions failed…
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Ashoka Fellow, Lucky Chhetri, Nepal: New Idea
Solution: girls from high-Himalaya villages learn to became guides
During this course in a natural way they also learn hygiene (most didn’t even know how to comb at the beginning,) English, geography, environmental issues, biology, etc
The girls guide school became famous and competitive, as female guides are known as sensitive; the guides venture generates revenue, which is channeled back to education
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From „impossible” to social change... and a good business
Besides the season girls go back to their villages and teach other girls
Lucky’s trekking school became well known and valued; generates income part of which is designated for training girls
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Lucky ChhetriAshoka Fellow
Change process:
Instead of bulldozing against the problem of educating girls’ in high-mountain areas she found a harmonious and win-win solution
Entrepreneurial skills
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Entrepreneurial skills: How to reverse the drop-out pattern of the low-income workers?
• The low income workers are one crisis away from unemployment”
• The usual pattern is that they call their manager that something happened and they can’t show up at work
• The manager yells: It’s already the third time, you are fired!!!!
McDonald’s in Seattle
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Steve Bigari, Ashoka Fellow: using the crisis as an opportunity!
“America’s Family”
• Steve has created a system where the crisis calls are transferred to the top manager…
• … who says: “Johnny, great, we will use it as an opportunity to train you so that you will know how to cope in the future”
• Hundreds families are saved from the vicious circle of unemployment….
• Treated in a respectful way they grow, learn, advance and become loyal partners…
• Steve is spreading the system to other companies
Steve BigariAshoka Fellow
Social impact
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Muhammad Yunus, Ashoka Global Academy Member
Grameen Bank: inclusive economy
The microcredit idea spread throughout the world
Muhammad Yunus, banker for the poor, the Peace Nobel Price winner
By David Bornstein
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Social Entrepreneurship: new philanthropy
Bill Drayton, Ashoka Founder and CEO:
• Social entrepreneurship is not about giving a fish, nor is it about teaching how to fish. It is about building a whole new industry.
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Ashoka and social entrepreneurship:
Accomplishing impossible
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• Kiberia slums near Nairobi: 800.000 people
• Sanitary disaster• Resistance to top-down solutions• All UNO and governmental
attempts failed
Kiberia slums in Kenya
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Kiberia slums in Kenya
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• In small groups playing with drawing dream toilets
• Result: build it!• Impact: the cleanest and most
beloved place in the community, social focal point
• Impact: mushrooming enterprising
Ashoka Fellow, David Kuria: why don’t you play with drawing dream toilets?
David KuriaAshoka Fellow
Ashoka and the generation next
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Youth Ventures at Ashoka
Youth Venture seeks to create impact by transforming:
The youth participant, through the enabling experience of starting a social venture
The youth team, as they learn important life skills and realize that they can create change
The community, as growing numbers of Youth Venture teams “tip” the local culture toward greater youth leadership
Society at large, by fundamentally redefining the role of young people as leaders of social change
Youth Venture
Enables young people to learn early on in life that they can lead social change.
Ashoka developed the concept of Youth Venture from understanding a key insight of Ashoka Fellows in the field of youth development: one of the most effective ways to improve the lives of youth is to empower them to realize their own ability to make positive social change.
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Youth Ventures examples
Divine and his teammates, Deandra, Jamaal and Fernando, created Team Revolution, a youth center that provides recreation and leadership opportunities for teens in Brooklyn. Most recently, Divine has been named by Polo Jeans as one of 21 men and women who are “redefining volunteerism.” This year, Team Revolution performed in a post-game Super Bowl concert.
Natasha Kewalramani, India, venture name: ‘Aeena’Natasha plans to work with the unregistered student voters, emphasizing on their ‘Right to Vote’. Using films and relevant campus spaces, she wants to see each and every eligible youth registered on the ‘Electoral Roll’ as a Registered Voter. She would like to see each youth of today aware of the political dialogue in India. Increasing awareness among the citizens - and simultaneously urging the citizens to voice their opinions is the basic outline of her project.
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Examples:
Confronted with a lack of nutritional options and jobs for young people, Uriel, Kimberly and Monserrat started in Mexico JOMEC (Jóvenes Micro Emprendedores de Cocina), a cooking school and catering service to benefit young people and families alike in their neighborhood in Mexico City, Mexico
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Ashoka School for Young Social EntrepreneursBUS, Bridge for Universities and Society
Initiated in 2000 in Poland
… in a bus…
Influencing the next generation with the idea of social entrepreneurship
Instilling in the next generation of the future leaders of the society and at the universities the idea of “everyone a changemaker”
To accomplish this Ashoka Fellows are introducing the values and profession of SEship to the younger generation
Through mutual exchange with the students Ashoka Fellows gain substantial professional inspiration and tangible input from the students.
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Long-term and cyclical learning, sharing and exchange
WORKSHOP #3
WORKSHOP #1
WORKSHOP #2
•STUDENTS VENTURES: PURSUING
OWN PROJECTS
•STUDENT-LED UNIVERSITY MARKETING
6 MONTHS
ALUMNI
NETWORK
INDUCTION INTO ALUMNI NETWORK
ALUMNI COLLABORATION
WITH ASHOKA
4 – 6 WEEK INTERNSHIP WITH ASHOKA FELLOW’S PROJECT
Booster shot of SEship: Fellows
present hands-on to students
Reporting internships, planning own
projectsInspiration from Fellows
continues
Reporting own venture
Planning alumni clubBig closing
marketing ceremony
Helping AshokaChanging
universitiesSpreading the
message
Fellows mentor students
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In Poland:
Gabriela (Gabi) Gibas, Poland: “It showed me how to change the
reality, having nothing but a vision, strong will, commitment and faith, plus innovative and entrepreneurial ideas. That there exists such thing as GOODNESS, which helps in realizing the dreams. After BUS I learned how to fill the gap between the dream and just doing it.
“It gave me knowledge that many persons have already accomplished impossible things, starting from nothing but their vision.”
“And that I am not alone, what is presumably most valuable.”
After BUS Gabi postponed her business career and started her own cross-border non-profit venture together with a Polish and a Slovak Fellows
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Students’ opinion…
Mateusz Eichner, Poland „Just as Ashoka operates, the BUS
program proved that investement in individuals makes sense – I am already „influencing” my community and sourrandings.
The BUS proved that it is critical to have GOALS. It gave me the feeling that being idealistic does not mean being crazy. It gave me strength to defend myself from scepticism and unfriendly environments.
It showed how to transform ideas into action.
After the BUS program Mateusz launched his own organization in an high unemployment area among, aimed at young people in the urban south Poland. He is also engaging business communities into the CSR program that he developed.
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… in Nepal
Sudents from Nepal: The workshop provided me with an
opportunity to meet people – Fellows who were dedicated to a cause that encompassed a mission far beyond their own material gain.
This experience has been an experience booster. This is an opportunity where people can network and capitalize on that.
A lifetime experience. It will not only help me in my professional life but also my personal life. One of the most important things that I learnt from my Fellow mentor is to follow the heart. The tools can be always obtained; support from exceptional individuals is rare.
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… in Indonesia
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...one more Ashoka story from Nigeria...
...a young Christian boy and a young Muslim leader hated and wanted to kill each other...
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The Imam & the Pastor, Nigeria
Imam Mohammed Ashafa
Pastor James Wuye
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The Imam and the PastorThe Interfaith Dialogue
Center
Imam & the PastorAshoka Fellows
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Contact info
Ashoka
www.ashoka.org
www.changemaker.net
Ryszard Praszkier, Ph.D.
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One more surplus case from Kenya if there is enough time
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Collins Apuoyo, Kenya
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Collins Apuoyo, Kenya
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Collins Apuoyo, Kenya
A garage built due to the micro-loan as exchanged for used oil
Collins ApuoyoAshoka Fellows