June 22, 2007 - 10:40am — sassafras
Ashoka Fellows in Minnesota
Hey guys,
Did you know that Youth Venture grew out of a global nonprofit that supports social entrepreneurs around the world? Ashoka: Innovators for the Public was founded by Bill Drayton over 30 years ago and shares Youth Venture's vision of an "everyone a changemaker" world. To make this vision a reality, Ashoka finds, networks, and supports leading social entrepreneurs from over 60 countries across the globe! Just as entrepreneurs change the face of business, social entrepreneurs act as the change agents for society, seizing opportunities others miss and improving systems, inventing new approaches, and creating solutions to change society for the better. Within their first five years, 50% of Ashoka Fellows achieved national policy impact and 90% have seen their innovation adopted by independent organizations!
We are lucky to have 4 Ashoka Fellows right here in Minnesota! The newest fellow, Steven Clift with e-democracy, works to bring democracy online through his innovative community forum model. Anyone who wants to use his model to discuss community issues must first find a board and get 100 community members to agree to log-in to the site. In this way, e-democracy allows people who would normally not interact to discuss an issue in their community and access each other any time, anywhere. This increases the number of community members having voice and impact in their communities. You can visit e-democracy at www.edemocracy.org.
Minnesota's other Ashoka Fellows are Jim McCorkell with Admission Possible (www.admissionpossible.org), Kevin Long with Global Deaf Connection (www.deafconnection.org), and Steve Rothschild with Twin Cities RISE! (www.twincitiesrise.org. Admission Possible works with low-income youth to help them gain access to college; last year 100% of the seniors they were working with gained admission to college! The Global Deaf Connection works to increase social, economic and educational opportunities for Deaf people in the world's poorest nations. They are doing so by increasing the ratio of deaf teachers to deaf children in developing countries and educating and training hearing teachers in the methods of deaf education and sign language. Lastly, Twin Cities RISE! works to reduce the number of people living in poverty and provide employers with skilled workers--primarily men from communities of color in the Twin Cities area--by training under- and unemployed adults for skilled jobs that pay a living wage of at least $20,000 annually.
Please help us support our Fellows here in Minnesota by visiting their websites, promoting their causes to your friends, families, and networks, and/or volunteering with their amazing programs! For more information on Ashoka and Ashoka Fellows around the world, visit www.ashoka.org.