Grantee Profile

Ashoka is in its 30th year of recognizing, supporting, and connecting visionary social entrepreneurs around the world. The organization’s central tenet is that there is nothing more powerful than an innovative social idea in the hands of a first-class entrepreneur. When working together, these changemakers can bring systemic and sustainable social change to create a better citizen sector. Thus far, Ashoka has invested in nearly 2,500 Fellows from 70 countries on five continents, providing an array of services that build infrastructure, encourage collaboration at the community, national and international levels, and change the dynamic of the capital markets available to social entrepreneurs. Five years after Ashoka finds and elects a Fellow, between 50 and 60 percent have changed national policy and roughly 90 percent have seen their innovations copied by independent groups.

About Our Grants

In 2012, the Woodcock Foundation approved funds in the amount of $25,000 to enable Ashoka U, which infuses and embeds social entrepreneurship into university campuses nationwide, to continue efforts to influence the educational trajectory and preparation of future social change leaders.  This will be accomplished via a BeHeard program for Ashoka U, facilitated by Hattaway Communications.  The Woodcock Foundation’s 2010 grants, two at $50,000 each, were used for general support and to strengthen the Global Venture Fund, Ashoka’s most flexible source of funding to find and engage leading social entrepreneurs around the world.