ASHOKA
São Paolo - SP - Brazil
Ashoka takes its name from a 3rd Century B.C. Emperor of India who is remembered as one of the world's earliest and most impactful social innovators. Ashoka was founded by Bill Drayton, a former McKinsey & Co. consultant and assistant administrator at the Environmental Protection Agency. An activist since his days as a New York City elementary school student, Drayton is considered a truly lifelong social entrepreneur.
Ashoka’s mission is to shape a citizen sector that is entrepreneurial, productive and globally integrated, and to develop social entrepreneurship around the world. Ashoka's vision is that of a global society that is able to respond quickly and effectively to social challenges everywhere.
Ashoka is dedicated to identifying and investing in leading social entrepreneurs with innovative and practical ideas for solving problems in their communities. The organization looks for social entrepreneurs with the same qualities that make great business executives: people who are visionaries and strategists who can bring new, creative ideas with the objective of achieving positive social change and strong social impact.
The social entrepreneurs selected by Ashoka are financially supported for a period of time so they can be dedicated to the development of their ideas. Beyond that, Ashoka contributes to their lifelong professional development by offering services like seminars, informative programs and consulting through the Ashoka-McKinsey Center for Social Entrepreneurship.
Ashoka has already invested in more than 1,700 Ashoka Fellows in 60 countries. At the local and regional levels, the Ashoka Fellowship is strong in Latin America. There, where Ashoka has been active since 1986, they have elected approximately 600 social entrepreneurs into its Global Fellowship, 240 of whom are from Brazil. Ashoka now elects about 50 new Ashoka Fellows in the region annually. Collaborations in which Fellows share their talents and perspectives with each other are frequent and ongoing. Ashoka has developed an integrated Business Plan Award ( Moviliza Award / Social Entrepreneur Award) in partnership with McKinsey in seven countries from Latin America. The award aims to help CSOs to develop innovative ideas for their sustainability, social impact and income generation for themselves and their communities.
Ashoka's Latin America program is also leading the way in developing a constructive and sustainable interface between the social and business sectors, with successful models of the Entrepreneur to Entrepreneur (E2) and Business Partnerships program.
Other active Ashoka Programs in the area include:
There are today four fully-staffed Ashoka offices in Latin America (Mexico City, Lima, Buenos Aires, and São Paulo). In this link you can find contact information and lists of all Ashoka Fellows in Latin America.
http://www.ashoka.org/global/aw_latin_america.cfm