Founded in 1980, Ashoka has created the first and largest professional network that supports leading social entrepreneurs around the world, with nearly 4,000 Ashoka Fellows from 93 countries.
Fellows are best described by the impactful actions that they take whether that means getting the government to pass beneficial laws, creating new ways to conduct businesses, or shifting the mindset of society around a social issue. Most importantly, their efforts are aimed towards the good of everyone, not just their personal interests.
In short, Ashoka Fellows are pragmatic visionaries who create systems change.
Systems change entails long-term and deep impact. One framework envisions achieving it in three ways:
Scaling Up: changing policy or impacting laws, to change institutional rules
Scaling Out: replicating a particular social innovation in different communities to reach greater numbers of people
Scaling Deep: changing the deeper values, cultural beliefs, meanings and practices of people, and the qualities of their relationships
In the Philippines, Ashoka Fellows who pioneer systems change come from all walks of life and diverse backgrounds. Initially, many of them didn’t think of their work as systems change, entrepreneurship or innovation. They generally started their work to solve a problem or close a gap that made them angry, worried them, or affected their community in a negative way. There are currently 17 in the Philippines. Here are a few examples:
Ryan Gersava is the youngest of eleven and spent his childhood in Sultan Kudarat. Despite living in abject poverty, his parents always put great importance on their children’s education and Ryan and his siblings were always at the top of their class. It was during his first year in college that Ryan discovered he was positive for Hepatitis B. Despite graduating with impressive marks, he failed to secure a job due to his diagnosis.
In 2015, he co-founded Virtualahan with his siblings to make employment accessible to marginalized sectors, including people with disabilities, solo parents, persons deprived of liberty, etc. Virtualahan has created a program to train students on in-demand skills. This is combined with other equally important elements, namely, wellbeing sessions, coaching, and partnering with companies to make their hiring more inclusive. This approach seeks to address the employment issue holistically. Externally, trainees are set up for success as they are better matched with appropriate jobs. At the same time, trainees also experience a deep internal transformation; Virtualahan nurtures their self-confidence and self-worth so that they advocate for themselves. The company also reports a 60% employment rate for over a thousand graduates.
Tina Liamzon was an activist all throughout her school years. As a young professional, she immersed herself in civil society organizations, especially those from rural areas. In 1990, she eventually moved to Italy where her husband had accepted a position. She met many overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Europe and learned of their challenges. Interconnected problems such as difficulty integrating with foreign cultures, the inaccessiblity of financial literacy, and the scarcity of well-paying professional jobs in the Philippines created systems that trapped OFWs in difficult, demeaning, and dangerous jobs.
It was in middle age when she identified the right combination of elements to activate the agency of OFWs. With her husband, she founded ALSE OF-LIFE (Ateneo Overseas Filipinos’ Leadership, Innovation, Financial Literacy, and Social Entrepreneurship) to equip Filipino migrants with skills and mindsets for self-sufficiency. The program has reached 26 countries globally and has 4500 alumni, many of whom give back to society as volunteers.
Bai Rohaniza “Honey” Sumdad-Usman was born into an inter-faith family. Her father is a Maranao Muslim, while her mother is a Christian who converted to Islam. When she was two years old, her family relocated to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and she was seven years old during the outbreak of the Gulf War. She vividly remembers explosions, missiles, and the daily routine of preparing for a possible chemical attack.
When Honey returned to the Philippines, she heard similar stories from her countrymen and envisioned peace as a way of life for all Filipinos. She recognized the influence the youth have on society and founded the Teach Peace Build Peace Movement (TPBPM). TPBPM teaches children to aspire to be peace advocates through formal and non-formal Peace Education which includes music, arts, games, sports and community service. At the time of its founding, TPBPM was the only peace program in the Philippines for elementary-aged children in both conflict and non-conflict areas. Focusing on a young demographic follows Honey’s belief and experience that prejudice and discrimination are the foundation of conflict and ultimately normalize violent views within children.
Achieving systems change is beyond challenging. Though it can feel lonely, no one person can reach it alone. Every changemaker in history was successful because they had a support system or dream team to help them out.
To support pioneers of systems change who have impact at a national or even continental level, Ashoka offers them a lifelong Fellowship since changing systems is a long-term commitment and solutions must evolve with ever-changing problems. Rather than going through the typical application processes of other fellowships, Fellows are scouted, nominated by people like you.
Do you know of anyone who is solving an important social issue or problem with an eye towards systems-change and could use support? Ashoka would like to learn more about them!