Este libro es una lección para los que alguna vez han pensado: “Quiero hacer algo por mejorar las condiciones de los que me rodean” y se desanimaron al ser conscientes de las dificultades que conllevaba la tarea. Porque el libro habla de personas corrientes, como tú o yo que un día decidieron emprender una tarea que iba a mejorar totalmente las vidas de muchas personas.

El autor, David Bornstein, narra casos de diversas personas de todos los continentes que han puesto en marcha proyectos de mejora de la educación, sanidad, medio ambiente etc…y que han conseguido unos resultados dignos de admiración. Estos casos fueron identificados por la red mundial de Ashoka, una organización sin ánimo de lucro liderada por el estadounidense Bill Drayton, que se dedica a apoyar a los emprendedores sociales de todo el mundo. Les ayuda económicamente y les ofrece sus servicios.

Existen algunos emprendedores sociales muy conocidos como Muhammad Yunus, el fundador del Grameen Bank en Bangladesh que ha popularizado la extensión de los microcréditos a los más desfavorecidos, o Florence Nightingale, “la dama de la linterna”, que atendía a los soldados ingleses durante la guerra de Crimea. Pero este libro nos desvela muchos otros casos, de gente en apariencia corriente como una mujer en la Hungría de los ochenta que tuvo un hijo con retraso mental. En aquella época en Hungría no había atención adecuada para los enfermos mentales. Las residencias que había estaban en condiciones lamentables. Ella no quiso resignarse a que su hijo fuera encerrado de por vida entre cuatro paredes y con su esfuerzo ha creado una red de residencias en todo el país en las que se trata a los enfermos mentales como personas, no como bichos raros: se les da trabajo, se les humaniza. Y de esta forma, esta costurera húngara ha pasado a ser consejera del Gobierno en asuntos relacionados con la discapacidad. Por las páginas del libro desfilan también personas tan singulares como Fabio Rosa, que llevó la electrificación rural de bajo coste a Brasil, Vera Cordeiro, una pediatra brasileña que ha creado una organización para ayudar a que los niños  no decaigan en sus enfermedades mediante la ayuda a las familias en la mejora de las condiciones de vida, Verónica Khosa y su atención a enfermos de sida en Sudáfrica etc…

Lo mejor: Comprobar cómo no tienes que ser un superdotado intelectual o un economista con MBA para poder ayudar. Es cierto que en este libro se remarca que el emprendedor social tiene un carácter especial que le hace no doblegarse ante las muchas dificultades que le surgen en el camino. Como dijo la madre húngara, “si realmente crees en algo sólo tienes que hacerlo, hacerlo y hacerlo”. Pero también es cierto que esa mujer era una “simple” costurera húngara.
Lo peor: Los capítulos que hablan de Ashoka, el entramado de su organización, cómo escogen a los emprendedores entre las miles de solicitudes que tienen etc..quizá se hacen densos en ocasiones.

En resumen: si queréis leer un libro positivo cien por cien, escoged “Cómo cambiar el mundo”. Porque bajo este título un tanto sensacionalista, quizá increíble, se esconde toda una lección de humanidad y una inyección absoluta de energía para los que creemos que otro mundo es posible. Por cierto, Ashoka, en sánscrito significa “ausencia de tristeza”.

Good job and congratulations to Seham Ibrahim and Nike on their successful dance program for the children!

Located at Pantheon Road, Egmore.

Ashoka International (no idea where in Delhi, India) 
Breakfast was served wee early at around 5am today.  We had toast and eggs for breakfast, plus mango juice and tea.  A feast for some, I would say.

Our tour guide and driver dropped us off the train station, where we boarded the train to Agra to meet with another tour guide (we were passed around on this trip like batons in a relay race).

Follow this ****[link]**** to check out some photos of the train experience and the day, as wordpress does not support photobucket's slideshow feature.

On the train were served a round of snack and hot tea

then later breakfast

some pictures we took en route to the Taj Mahal

We splurged and spent about $15 for a roundtrip ride on the camel to and from the Taj Mahal.  People are not allowed to ride automobiles because the pollution would damange the Taj, so it's either buses, bicycle ride or camel.  Choose camel.  but not Joe Camel.

yeah, this picture is a fake.  just kidding. Today was really a beautiful day.  apart from this photo, our tour guide was completely un-artistic and took pretty bad pictures of us.  For example, he had us smack in the middle of the picture, blocking the entire Taj.   

I have another slide show for you here: follow this **** [link] ****

After Taj Mahal, we went to Agra Fort.

We paid the foreigner admission, which was probably 10 times more than locals', and we got a bottle of water. 

Agra Fort photos behind this ***[link]***

So that took about most of the morning.  For a late lunch, we were taken to a Sheraton franchise.

(Taj Bano at The Mughal, Taj Ganj, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India)
Multi-cuisine Indian buffet.   When they say it's multi-cuisine, it really means that the food comes from multiple regions of India.

I am extremely thankful that during the trip thus far, Montezuma had not thought of exacting revenge on me.

The set up was a buffet in a large dining area, which was pretty nice, except a whole group of Jebus Lovers showed up at the same time, therefore inhibiting us to be gluttonous.

Namaste, biyatch.

 After lunch was the long drive to Jaipur.  Long ride indeed it was.  Pictures are included in the slides above.  Check out the cow getting milked on the side of the road.

By the time we got to Jaipur, it was time for shower and sleep.  We weren't hungry so we didn't eat. We just had snacks that we brought with us.

Urmarind un filmuleţ de la Ashoka mi-am dat seama că sunt extrem de norocoasă că trăiesc în aceste timpuri, în România.

Filmuleţul prezintă cum femeile din zone rurale ale Indiei pot obţine finanţare prin intermediul unei bănci-ONG. Nu le este uşor. Sărăcia, seceta, foametea, analfabetismul, marginalizarea şi inegalităţile sociale sunt regulă pentru acele femei. Ele nu deţin proprietate, în general, nu mai mult decât trupurile lor.

Interesant este sistemul folosit de aceasta "banca" pentru a le ajuta. Te invit sa urmaresti filmuletul. Poate cateva idei ar putea fi folosite pentru a ajuta persoanele din mediul rural, de etnie rroma, si nu numai, de catre vreun ONG sau institutie de stat care printr-un miracol ar deveni eficienta.

Aici este filmuletul. De urmarit doua lucruri: sistemul folosit precum si conditiile in care traiesc acele femei.

Vazand acestea, am simtit nevoia sa imi exprim in mod deschis recunostinta.

Sunt recunoscătoare miilor şi miilor de oameni care au făcut posibile toate lucrurile bune pe care le avem noi acum, libertăţile de care ne bucurăm, pacea şi speranţa de viaţă mai mare. Faptul că ne necăjim pentru una sau alta reprezintă de fapt nerecunoştinţa noastră pentru eforturile acelor oameni care şi-au riscat (şi chiar sacrificat) viaţa, reputaţia, sănătatea pentru a construi lumea aceasta.

These inscriptions preach principles of matery of the senses, purity of thought, gratitude, devotion, self-control, secular thinking, kindness and oppose animal sacrifice and greed. The Edicts depicts the tale of Ashoka's repentance for death and destruction during the wars waged by him.

• Just learned that Ashoka is running a Geotourism challenge in partnership with National Geographic. The deadlines for submission are already up (sorry we missed it). But you can vote on some cool ideas, including this one by Dhan Foundation, focused on rural tourism.

Ashoka is leading a profound transformation in society. In the past three decades, the global citizen sector, led by social entrepreneurs, has grown exponentially. Just as the business sector experienced a tremendous spurt in productivity over the last century, the citizen sector is experiencing a similar revolution, with the number and sophistication of citizen organizations increasing dramatically.

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.

Youth Venture thus inspires and invests in teams of young people to start and lead their own social ventures, and is building a powerful network of young changemakers across the world. It is currently operating in the US, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, India, South Africa, Thailand, France, Germany, and Spain.

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 plays a critical role in actualizing Ashoka's vision of Everyone a Changemaker™. By giving young people the means to know that they have the ability to change the environment around them, Ashoka believes that youth will gain the skills and innate understanding that they can be powerful long into their adult future. Through this experience, young people will grow up practicing applied empathy, teamwork, and leadership—the underlying skills needed to make change.

Ashoka works on three levels. First, they support individual social entrepreneurs—financially and professionally—throughout their life cycle. Second, they bring communities of social entrepreneurs together to help leverage their impact, scale their ideas, and capture and disseminate their best practices. Finally, they help build the infrastructure and financial systems needed to support the growth of the citizen sector and facilitate the spread of social innovation globally.

Read about Youth Venture in India at http://yvchallenge.blogspot.com

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I used a polarizing filter in some instances, typically to bring out the clouds. Hope this gives good feel to pictures. The pics may seem bit dull, not bright enough. It seems a printing problem to me, but I am soon going to develop my own negatives, so lets hope its not something serious. Yeah...I still use film!!

It was a sweaty, hot Delhi summer day and I took some 72 shots. These pics below seemed the best to me, especially in context of composition. But that all is a matter of viewpoint. Leave your comments man. Lets rock this place :-D

CLONE WARS EPIC BATTLES:

 

Speakers included George Needham (VP of Member Services, OCLC), Leslie Crutchfield (Managing Director of Ashoka), and Dr. Rush Miller (Director of the University of Pittsburgh Library System). Crutchfield is the co-author of Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High-Impact Nonprofits and Miller co-author of Beyond Survival: Managing Academic Libraries in Transition. I have only read the latter book and, despite being rather sensationalist in diction, the authors take a progressive stance when it comes to library management.

You can stream the entire presentation here. (But only in Internet Explorer... bizarre!) George Needham, in addition to four other OCLC staff members, run the blog It's all good. They are not mindless drones and have a pretty good sense of humor, so I suggest subscribing to it.

:: Bibliography ::

OCLC. New leadership for new challenges [OCLC]. Online Computer Library Center (OCLC), Inc. http://www.oclc.org/info/newleadership/ (19 April 2008).

Ashoka pillar and Qutub standing side by side, is such an astonishing site. Why someone as staunch an Islam follower like Aibak and many others who contributed to Qutub Minar decided to keep the iron pillar and not bring it down? Its true that Qutub was built by demolishing many Jain temples, as is evident from ASI reports, but then why did they not demolish the Ashoka pillar? These reasons can be debated forever or they may not exist at all but certainly anyone who came to India and recognized its cultural diversity, sure survived for long. And those who failed to do so and pestered their will on us, perished... regaled to ranks of dacoits and invaders, not warriors and great rulers!!

To me Qutub Minar represents a weird combination of perhaps how our lives unfold. There is a unfinished Minar (Alai Minar) just across Qutub Minar, which was supposed to be built twice as tall as Qutub, but remained unfinished as Ala-lu-din, the conceiver of this idea, died even before the first level could be completed. And then there is Ashoka pillar. Sometimes even our greatest ideas fail and sometimes we survive and succeed even in face of adversities. How true!!!

This is perhaps what I learnt from my day with Qutub.

In der gerade erschienenen Ausgabe von Red Herring, dem amerikanischen Technologiebusiness-Journal, findet sich ein interessantes Interview mit Jacqueline Novogratz, Gründerin des Acumen Fund. Acumen ist ein weltweiter Venture Fund, der in Unternehmen und Technologie investiert, die das Leben armer Menschen - an der Bottom of the Pyramid – verbessern.

Ziel des Funds ist es bis zum Jahre 2001 $US 100 Millionen einzusammeln und mit diesem Geld das Leben von 50 Millionen Menschen nachhaltig zu verbessern. Siebe Jahre alt, hat Acumen bislang $ 32 Millionen aufgebracht – meist von wohlhabenden Individuen und Stiftungen – und in Unternehmen in Kenya, Indien, Pakistan und Tanzania investiert. Ein Investment in Tanzania ist beispielsweise A to Z Textile Mills, die Insektizit-imprägnierte Mückennetze vertreiben und mittlerweile mit 7000 Angestellten, den meisten davon Frauen, der zweitgrößte Arbeitgeber im Land ist.

Die Investitionen des Funds belaufen sich zwischen $300,000 und $2 Million, immer mit dem Ziel Geschäftmodelle zu entwickeln, die kopiert und skaliert werden können.

Das Interview greift einige der Fragen auf , die uns auch schon bei betterplace beschäftigt haben: so zum Beispiel, ob der Markt ein effizienterer Hebel zur Armutsbekämpfung ist, als der non-profit Sektor. (Novogratz sagt: Ja.)

Interessant ist auch, nach welchen Kriterien Acumen sich für oder gegen eine Investition entscheidet. Von größter Bedeutung ist dabei die Person des Sozialunternehmers selbst. Er muß nicht nur schon einen Vertrieb vorweisen können, sondern auch intime Marktkenntnisse besitzen.

Jaqueline Novogratz zitiert Bill Drayton (von Ashoka), das nur einer von einer Millionen Sozialunternehmern das Format von Mohammed Yunus, dem Gründer der Grameen Bank, hat. Um ihm dann aber auch gleich zu widersprechen, da sich mit der zunehmenden Präsenz und Professionalisierung immer mehr begabte Menschen für den Sektor interessieren. „Als wir im April 2000 anfingen, schauten wir uns 700 potentielle Investments an und wir konnten uns für keines begeistern. Mittlerweile sehen wir jedes Jahr qualifiziertere Sozialunternehmer."

¿Cuál es la diferencia principal entre un emprendedor social y un emprendedor de negocios?
Son un 90 por ciento similares, pero operan en ambientes diferentes. No es lo mismo crear una nueva industri que dirigir una franquicia local.
El emprendedor social tiene una visión y el deseo de ver esa visión convertida en una realidad; no se detiene frente a nada y transforma lo negativo hasta lograr sus metas. Ashoka acompaña a quienes provocan cambios estructurales a nivel social.

¿La empresa social es un nuevo tipo de negocio?
Si, esta categoría está creciendo exponencialmente. Pero la ¿diferencia? entre los negocios y la sociedad es que los negocios hicieron el pasaje hacia la competitividad con mayor rapidez que el sector social. Ambos sectores se diferenciaron y la verdad es que no se llevaban bien.
Las diferencias en cuanto a productividad se achicaron durante las últimas dos décadas y hay nuevas oportunidades de colaboración entre ambos sectores.
Uno de los temas en los que estamos trabajando en Ashoka es demostrar que hay un nuevo mercado potencial para ambos, y ya lo estamos demostrando en cuatro industrias, en casos en los que se unieron herramientas de negocios con grupos de ciudadanos que ahora son emprendedores sociales competitivos. Juntos son más fuertes y pueden generar nuevos mercados: todos ganan.
Actuando juntos estos sectores pueden cambiar la cara de la agricultura en poco tiempo. Estamos trabajando en esquemas similares en India, Brasil y la Argentina. El sector social abre nuevas posibilidades de negocios para las compañías. Esto no era posible hace diez años. Muchas empresas no ven esto aún, pero las que lo ven están obteniendo resultados exitosos.

¿Ashoka es una cultura?
Si, algunos dicen que lo es y que sus particularidades son la visión y la humildad.

¿Cree que los emprendedores sociales señalan un camino posible para generar un cambio social profundo?
Sí, definitivamente creo que las generaciones más jóvenes vivirán en un mundo mucho mejor que éste.

Más información:
www.ashoka.org.ar

This is a fun question because it provides you the reader, the opportunity to get to know more about our fellow bloggers. Though I keep my name anonymous (for now), let me tell you what I'm looking forward to, and I invite you to share your upcoming celebrations, events, etc. as I love to hear what others are doing, exploring, pioneering and creating.

Personally, my answer is: What am I not looking forward to!

'n Life

In May, I am graduating with my Master's degree, with my research focus in social marketing. Some of you readers have participated in the study and wow, I can not say thank you enough. It's been a grueling journey, but one I've enjoyed and loved every moment. Most exciting as a result of my studies, I am presenting my paper at the 1st World Social Marketing Conference in Brighton, England in September 2008. If you will be there, drop me a line, as the MOST exciting part of this opportunity is the chance to meet and learn from others who share this passion.

'n the Blogosphere

SocialButterfly is currently being developed in my spare (and rare) free time, but it is one of my favorite things to do. I must thank everyone in the virtual world. Your guidance, motivation, perseverance, advice and community is something I greatly enjoy and appreciate. In the next couple months, I plan on moving SocialButterfly to its own domain and developing the blog a lot further so be on the lookout, ;)

'n Social Marketing

Rumblings are surfacing that a Social Marketing Association is in the works and may be tangible within the next year. This is exciting. Get ready. The branding of social marketing is reaching another level!

'n NonProfit Arenas

I am really excited about all the growing number of businesses that are beginning to discover new ways for their organization or company to become socially conscious. Marketing ploy or not, it's an increasing trend, and every little piece helps form the puzzle.

I'm most curious about how the field of social enterprise will continue to develop. David Brooks from the New York Times offers a great profile of a social entrepreneur. Most simply, Brooks defines a social entrepreneur as someone who does business....without the main objective of profit making, and goes on stating:

"We might as well take advantage of this explosion of social entrepreneurship. These are some of the smartest and most creative people in the country. Even if we don’t know how to reduce poverty, it’s probably worth investing in these people and letting them figure it out. "

And we can figure it out! The more I here about this rising area of entrepreneurship - the more excited I am about our fields and where they are headed. Be it business, nonprofits, NGOs, health communications, social change, social marketing, public service and more - we are gradually coming together and discovering how we interrelate and how that is seen in practice. Some examples of social enterprises are below:

• Ashoka.org is the front-runner in social enterprise education and implementation, claiming that everyone can be a change maker in his or her community.
• A Social Enterprise venture providing with jobs and personal development for the mentally ill and past drug abusers
• A social enterprise park initiative proposed for London's Summer 2012 Olympics
• A local U.K. grocery remains open despite pressures to foreclose after launching social enterprise efforts
• White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives addresses international social enterprise initiatives, Rwanda

So cheers to the future, and really, what's not love??

(ps: photo picked at random and happens to be listed on Foxhall Consulting Services' site who does consulting for social enterprises....see, the worlds are connecting already ;) )

Moderne Helden

Stiftung Bürgermut  

Schwab Foundation

Ashoka

Certains estiment aussi qu'un projet d'entrepreneuriat social est "une initiative privée au service de l'intérêt collectif, une entreprises dont la finalité sociale est supérieur ou égale à la finalité économique" (Chaire de l'entrepreneuriat de l'ESSEC). Le profit n'est donc pas la priorité de la firme, qui cherchera à remplir des objectifs économiques et sociaux et à satisfaire, par la production de biens et services, des solutions innovantes aux problèmes d'exclusion et de chômage (OCDE). Enfin, il paraît même, selon la Fondation Schwab pour l'entrepreneuriat social, que "l’entrepreneur social est un visionnaire pragmatique, qui atteint des objectifs larges de changement social grâce à une nouvelle invention, une approche différente, un travail rigoureux empreint de vision stratégique. Il combine les caractéristiques de Richard Branson et de Mère Teresa". Gare vous donc, car ils "dépotent" hein!;-)

A l'avenir, vous allez entendre parler d'eux de plus en plus souvent. Il suffit d'ouvrir grand les yeux et les oreilles, et vous verrez, il seront bientôt partout;-) Pourquoi? Parce qu'il s'agit d'un mouvement de fond, que les fondations et écoles de commerce commencent à sensibiliser leurs ouailles en ce sens, et que le concept est applicable à tous les domaines de l'économie, ou presque.

Leur objectif? Agir sur le terrain de l’exclusion, de la santé, de la culture ou encore de l’écologie. Toutes les formes juridiques (associations, coopératives, SCOP, SARL, SAS, travailleurs indépendants,…) sont représentés dans ce mouvement.

Les entrepreneurs sociaux inventent ou réinventent des modèles, et sont persuadés et convaincus d'une chose: nous pouvons concilier économie et développement humain pour rendre notre société plus juste.

Afin de savoir qui sont ces fameux entrepreneurs qui vont révolutionner le monde, voilà donc un annuaire créé par Equitel, une agence spécialisée dans le montage d’opérations associant une marque à une cause/ONG et dont la mission, depuis 2001, est de drainer des ressources supplémentaires et de nouveaux donateurs à des associations reconnues pour leur efficacité et leur expérience.

Le concept restant encore flou et peu visible pour beaucoup, Equitel a voulu lui donner corps avec pour "ambition de faire un panorama en montrant des structures, des personnes, et ce qu'elles pensent": ce n'était pas une demande, mais le succès de l'annuaire confirme qu'il s'agissait d'une attente! Les informations sont vérifiées et les fiches mises à jour très régulièrement. Outre la partie annuaire classique, le site comporte une partie interview qui permet à l’entrepreneur social de mieux décrire son activité, sa philosophie mais qui permet également de nourrir et d’engager une réflexion sur le concept d’entrepreneur social.

L'annuaire Anenso est soutenu par Ashoka, La Ruche et Virgine Seghers (spécialiste du mécénat et des questions de responsabilité sociale des entreprises), pour qui "l’idée de créer des réseaux, de faire se rencontrer des entrepreneurs sociaux différents, qui au delà de leurs particularismes se reconnaissent dans une identité commune" était toute naturelle: "l’entrepreneuriat social, c’est aussi un éclairage nouveau de pratiques existantes ou émergentes, qui créent ou reconstruisent du lien social, et surtout un sentiment d’engagement et d’appartenance partagés".

L’inscription est totalement gratuite mais limitée aux seuls entrepreneurs sociaux respectant donc les critères suivants:

- proposer une réponse innovante à un défi social ou écologique,

- avoir la volonté de concilier économie et développement humain.

Bref, pour une fois, nous allons dire "avis aux pros" donc! Sachant que l'on apprend aussi beaucoup en parcourant les fiches des entrepreneurs déjà référencés! De quoi donner des vocations, c'est certain:-)

++Pour plus d'info++

• Anenso
• Voir aussi le réseau Coneccs, dont le site vient de changer.
• Dans la barre d'outils: section Consom'action-Au Bureau Entreprises-Entrepreneuriat Social/Réseaux Pro

Three social innovators in the fields of veterinary education, technology for youth and human rights have been selected as 2007 Ashoka Fellows.

Dr. Nalinika Obeyesekere (Colombo), T. B. Nandasiri Wanninayaka from Mavilachchiya in the North-Central Province and Fr. Nandana Manatunga (Kandy) are those who have been selected as Ashoka Fellows.

They join the nine other Ashoka Fellows in the country to receive this prestigious international award since it was established here in 2003.

Ashoka is an international citizen sector organisation that invests in social entrepreneurs with system-changing solutions that address the world’s most urgent social challenges, a press release stated. Founded in 1980, Ashoka has selected and invested in more than 1800 Fellows in 60 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, America and Europe. Ashoka Fellows work in the six broad fields of education, environment, health, human rights, economic development and civic participation.

Venkatesh (Venky) Raghavendra is currently the Chief Philanthropy Officer of the American India Foundation (www.aif.org) and works out of AIF’s New York office. He will share best practices in the social entrepreneurship field, drawing upon case studies from South Asia.

Prior to joining AIF Venky worked in Washington DC with the global citizen sector organization “Ashoka: Innovators for the Public”. While at Ashoka Venky promoted social entrepreneurship in India and several other Asian countries. He engaged leading business entrepreneurs in the U.S. to invest in social entrepreneurs and their innovations as Director for Global Partnerships with Asia. Earlier, in the late 80s and early 90s Venky co-founded an organization in the rainforests of South India to create livelihood opportunities for indigenous communities through eco-tourism and adventure-tourism. Through activities such as hiking, canoeing & rock-climbing Venky was able to build awareness about the rich but fragile ecosystem of the Western Ghats of South India. He played an active role in replicating this new paradigm of community-owned eco-tourism enterprises across the country.

(Co-Sponsored by Brown South Asian Students Association)

These Fellows will receive three-year stipends allowing them to focus full-time on their efforts to provide lasting, visible, systemic change in the way journalism works or the way society sees journalism. They will start new journalism organizations, create new kinds of news outlets, develop new models for investigative reporting, and campaign for public understanding of freedom of expression - launching projects designed to be expanded and copied. They also will become lifelong members of the Ashoka community, sharing and learning with more than 2,000 Ashoka Fellows working around the world in the fields of learning/youth development, the environment, health, human rights, economic development and civic engagement.

Ashoka wants to select at least 5 fellows by August 31st, 2008. They will expand to at least 10 fellows in 2009 and 15 in 2010. Go to their website to learn more.