Nov 15, 2006
“Everyone a Changemaker”, Ashoka and Google
By: Alvaro Fernandez
What an event yesterday night. My wife and I were fortunate to visit the Google Campus and attend the Sixth Annual North American Fellowship Induction Program of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, a social venture fund where we have been involved for a number of years, and thanks to which (thanks Michele!) my wife and I met in the first place.
18 new Ashoka Fellows/ social entrepreneurs were elected, and after a fun cocktail reception the ceremony began. Sergei Brin (Google Co-founder), Sheryl Sandberg (who helped launch Google Foundation and google.org), Salar Kamangar (the mind behind AdWords) gave introductory remarks. Salar explained how he first heard of Ashoka (through the book How to Change the World, by David Bornstein) and how he saw tremendous similarities between Ashoka and Google: both 1) see and support individuals as forces of disruption, give them the freedom to grow and experiment, while they make sure to “get out of their way”, 2) once the ideas and models grow, they help create the right connections to help scale.
Other speakers included Anousheh Ansari, entrepreneur and “first female private space explorer”, Master of Ceremonies Don Shalvey, founder of Aspire Public Schools, Trabian Shorters, Ashoka US Co-Director, and James Jensen, ED of the Jenesis Group, the foundation that helped Ashoka launch its US chapter in 1999. James delivered a very touching a passionate welcome to the new fellows, calling them “merciful mavericks that motivate the human heart” and “whose main compass is impact and compassion).
Then, of couse, we had the luxury to hear Bill Drayton, Founder and CEO of Ashoka, entrepreneur and visionary, who helped launch the field of social entrepreneurship 25 years ago. Some of his remarks (may not be verbatim, but close)
- (About the new Ashoka Fellows) “based on our historical data, we can predict that 18 out of the 18 entrepreneurs we are welcoming today will still commited to their fields in 5 years, that over 90% of them will see their projects replicated by third-parties nationally and internationally, and more than 50% will have influenced national policy in 5-10 years.”
- “We are living a historic moment, where the monopoly of initiative by a few is being replaced by the new adage that Everyone Is a Changemaker, where every person can be a full citizen”
- “The business sector has been so successful for centuries because it has motivated and rewarded changemakers very well. The citizen sector is now undergoing the same process”
- “This new attitude is not easy. Leading change is more complex than learning how to ride a bike; it requires teamwork, planning, perseverance. Teenagers and young adults must be offered the opportunity to practice and practice, as early as possible, which is why we launched and are so excited about Youth Venture ”
- Business and Society are coming together. Today there are multiple examples of “hybrid value chains’ in which companies and citizen organizations partner in order to accomplish their goals more successfully
- “We all must give ourselves permission to find the answers, connect to our dreams, and prepare a better world for the children of tomorrow”
Some previous related posts:
Microfinance, and a very sharp brain
The joy of giving, and the Cognitive and Emotional Health Project
Brain and Mind Fitness Programs: resiliency, on top of attention, memory…
Executive Functions and MacArthur “Genius Grants”
In our view of the world, each of these social entrepreneurs are very very sharp brains. Enjoy,Â
Alvaro
I was inpsired by the energy and commitment of everyone in the room at the Ashoka induction ceremony at Google to find ways big and small to make a difference in the world. Everyone is a Changemaker is a motivating concept that says that we are the change that we want to see in the world. We have the power to make a difference. Thank you to all of the sharp, sharp, sharp brains that remind us that we have this power and inspire us to take concrete steps forward to improving our world.
Thanks Lisa for your comment. I couldn’t agree more, and will join you in thanking the thosands of social entrepreneurs worldwide who are creating and showing such positive paths.
Dear Sir: Mr. Burr Heneman
Alvaro Fernandez
In answer to the request hers to know the organizations the Indigenous Network of Tourism of Mexico “Red IndÃgena de Turismo de México A. C.â€, him shipment a list where the name of the same one can be appreciated and place in which one is.
Relation of organizations who conform the Indigenous Network of Tourism of Mexico. From the 17 of September of the 2006.
Appreciating all its attentions and waiting for a quick answer I make its available for any doubt, receives a warm greeting.
Fabiola Escribano Angoa.
Area of Commercialization
Number. Federative Organization Municipality Trade Name of microcompany
1 Distrito Federal Xochimilco Umbral Axochiatl
2 Distrito Federal Xochimilco Yoloxmichin
3 Distrito Federal Tlahuac Union of Canoeists of Tláhuac
4 Distrito Federal Magdalena Contreras Ejidal Park San Nicolás Totolapan
5 Edo. De México Ocoyoacac Tourist Center of Ecology valley of the nuns
6 Estado de México Teotihuacan Handicrafts of Obsidiana of Tehotihuacan, Quetzal
7 Morelos Tepoztlan Guide Ecologist Tlayecanqueh
8 Morelos Amatlan Atekocolli
9 Hidalgo Ixmiquilpan Cleverness Center and Development Sustainable of mushrooms
10 Hidalgo Ixmiquilpan Indigenous Organization Hñañhu
11 Puebla Cuetzalan Maseualsihuamej
12 Puebla Xochitlan Teht-Tlan
13 Puebla Cuetzalan Organization of Alternative Tourism of Cuetzalan
14 Tlaxcala Españita Cleverness Center Vicente Guerrero
15 Oaxaca Jalapa de DÃaz Services of ecology tourism Nijme
16 Veracruz Catemaco Lake Apompal
17 Veracruz Pajapan Manglar Rojo
18 Veracruz Tatahuicapan de Juárez Sea Turtle
19 Guerrero Xochistlahuaca Weaving Women Amuzgas
20 Guerrero Cacahuamilpa Tourist Center of Ecology Grottos of Cacahuamilpa
21 Michoacán Uruapan Tourist Center of Ecology Tzararacua
22 Michoacán San Juan Nuevo Integral Development of the Indigenous Community Nuevo San Juan Parangaricutiro
23 Quintana Roo Felipe Carrillo Puerto X`yaat
24 Quintana Roo Thiosuco communitarian Museum
25 Tabasco Nacajuca the Voice of the Mother Chontal
26 Campeche Edzna Ubel Maya
27 Campeche Pich Iris of Pich
28 Campeche Hopelchen Emiliano Zapata II de los Chenes
29 Campeche Xpujil Tourist Center Calakmul
30 Chiapas Ocosingo Tsol K’in
31 Chiapas San Cristóbal de las Casas Tourist Center of Ecology Tzeltal-Tzotzil S.C.L. (Chol Xumulja)
32 Chiapas San Cristóbal de las Casas Women Mayas of Jovel
33 Chiapas Frontera Comalapa Wanin Maya
34 Yucatán Temozon Unajil-Ek Balam
Thanks Fabiola: I will provide the introduction as promised.
[...] Full interview: here (via Huffington Post) You can read more about Ashoka at "Everyone a Changemaker", Ashoka and Google [...]