We work with changemakers around the world to identify and effectively address systemic root causes of social and environmental problems.
In doing so, we activate and support a global network of social entrepreneurs, innovators, executives, policy makers, foundations, academics and activists to build an Everyone a Changemaker world. Let's collaborate. Get in touch.
Systems Change Strategy Accelerator
We support social entrepreneurs from the Ashoka network to design and refine effective systems change and changemaker generating strategies.
Systems like health care, education, environmental protection, and others are human-made systems that often do not serve the good of the many, even when created with the best of intentions. However, where governments are too slow to innovate and companies do not see a business case, there are teams of changemakers who take on the responsibility to improve systems for the good of the many.
Ashoka calls the initiators of these teams systems-changing social entrepreneurs. For the last 40 years, the Ashoka team has been identifying and selecting such social entrepreneurs as Fellows to help them increase the positive impact of their work in the world.
We launched Ashoka Globalizer in 2010 to support Fellows to take their work global. Shortly after launching, we recognized the need to focus on spreading ideas instead of growing organizations. Finally, we saw a gap in identifying root causes and the systems that create problems, and began to support Ashoka Fellows to recalibrate their strategies or build entirely new ones based on systems analysis.
social entrepreneurs developed clear and robust systems change strategies
A common feature across strategies - activating changemaker
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in people to improve systems.
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US dollars raised by social entrepreneurs through new strategies
Knowledge Production
Working alongside leading social entrepreneurs across topics and countries for years, we started noticing patterns in how they go about improving systems and creating more changemaker opportunities. We realized that this knowledge, if captured, could serve many more changemakers working on improving systems than our team could ever serve directly.
For this reason, in 2018 we emphasized creating open knowledge products on how systems change happens. Our priority is to make the learning process well-structured, fun, free and accessible for anybody in the world.
Our knowledge products take the form of animated online courses, podcasts, reports, articles and keynote speeches. Thousands of changemakers across the citizen sector, companies, and governments are already using this knowledge to improve systems and engage more changemakers in North and South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.
continents is where thousands of changemakers use our knowledge.
Co-creating a supportive environment for all changemakers
With time we have come to realize that for changemakers to successfully implement systemic changes, they need more than strategic support and knowledge. They need an entire supportive environment – including funders who understand why and how to finance systems change efforts and intermediaries (incubators, accelerators, networks and door-openers) who are willing and able to offer suitable support.
We have thus started our ecosystem endeavors to unlock more funding for systems change initiatives and enable intermediaries to effectively support changemakers in their systems change work.
Our report on funding systems change was presented at the
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What changemakers and peers say about our work
Globalizer was an excellent experience; it allowed me to scale the impact of my organization from 10,000 people to 4.5 million. It was one of the most important professional growth experiences and came at a difficult time that allowed us to keep our organization alive and fulfill our mission.
Gaby Arenas de Meneses
Ashoka Fellow from Venezuela | Founder of Fundacion TAAP | Cohort Participant 2018
The key change was in moving from a micro to a macro level goal, perspective and strategy - from being content with dealing with a few farmers to having a goal and strategy to transform the life of all farmers in the sector.
John John
Ashoka Fellow from India | Founder of Grassroot Tea Corporation
I previously looked at our social impact at IKEA as having a one-way focus from corporate to social change and mostly as donation of product, money or time. Now I see it as a two-way street where we collaborate to create win-win solutions that make society better.
Rob Olson
COO at IKEA USA | Thought Partner in our Process
The Globalizer materials were greatly relevant and helpful for me and our work. They highlighted how important it is for everyone to have a role in changemaking and encouraged us to set up a meeting with multiple stakeholders and establish the tone of their participation as active participants.…
Ximena Abogabir
Ashoka Fellow from Chile | Founder of Casa de la Paz | Participant of our Online Course
The Mindset Shift course contains such good, thought-provoking content. When you link it up with Ashoka Globalizer’s other resources on systems change, working with government, scaling and funding, it adds up to a very practical ecosystem of support for social entrepreneurs.
Brendan Dunford
Ashoka Fellow from Ireland | Founder of the Burren Programme | Participant in the Mindset Shift Course
Case Studies of the Strategies of Changemakers who worked with us
Find more examples, for instance on tele-health in Nigeria and early childhood development in Colombia, mapped in our Globalizer Fellow Case Study Library!
We are a close-knit global team sharing a mutual passion for systemic social impact and the activation of changemaking around the world. Amongst us you'll find enthusiastic strategists, authors, philosophers, diplomats, psychologists, social economists, and teachers.
We work remotely out of 8 different countries meeting on screens and in person as well as in virtual reality!
Eda Yurt was born in Ankara in May 15th, 1979 is the Ashoka Globalizer and Ashoka Turkey Finance and Operations Manager.
After graduating from high school at TED Ankara College, Eda Yurt received a Bachelors degree in Economics and a Masters degree in Finance from A.Ü Social Sciences Faculty.
She started to work at ING Bank as an Auditor. She worked as a specialist and mid-level manager in Oyak Head Quarter, Hobby Cosmetics and Allianz Sigorta A.Ş. companies. She changed her career path towards the third sector, where she eagers to make different contributions. She became a co-founder of Temiz Hasat Consumption Cooperative, Riva Woman Cooperative, and she volunteered for Mame Woman Cooperative.
She had individual contributions to the volunteer movements of non-governmental organizations such as; İz Movement, Democratic Objection Movement (DIH), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Vote and Beyond (O&O), AIESEC, SPoD. Eda Yurt is fluent in English, she held CPA certificate (SMMM), Independent Auditor License and Capital Market licenses.
Florentine co-leads the Ashoka Globalizer team as Team Council member and as Lead of Strategy, and is a Member of the Ashoka Europe Leadership Team.
Since 2018, the core of her work is to directly and indirectly motivate, empower and equip social entrepreneurs worldwide to effectively and efficiently address the root causes of social problems.
She currently guides leading social entrepreneurs through strategy development processes, while also shaping this team’s broader strategy to embed systems change and promote changemaking as a core design principle in addressing the world’s most pressing societal challenges.
Prior to Ashoka, she conducted and published research on value systems in social entrepreneurship and managed social projects in Peru. She is a graduate of the Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University with a bachelor's degree in International Business, a Master of Science in Business, Language, and Culture from the University of Southern Denmark and a Master of Arts in International Management Studies from the European University Flensburg.
Ina is a Team Operations Lead at the Ashoka Globalizer team developing and implementing processes and structures that provide everything for a team to thrive. Ina takes care of the team culture and co-leads the Team Development area.
Another passion of Ina is impact measurement and data management; thus, she leads on the development of the Ashoka Globalizer impact measurement strategy.
Ina holds a bachelor’s degree in Social Education from the Spanish University of Distance Education (UNED) and a post-degree in Social Innovation management from Amani Institute.
Prior to Ashoka, Ina gained extensive experience in the hospitality industry across Spain. Ina calls home both, the Basque country coast by San Sebastián and the Black Sea coast in Varna.
Co-Founder | Co-Lead of Partnerships | Lead of ASPIRe
María Zapata
Co-Founder | Co-Lead of Partnerships | Lead of ASPIRe
Location: Spain
Maria has been focused on the field of scaling social impact for the last decade. She co-founded The Globalizer (Ashoka´s flagship accelerator on scaling impact) and is now the Executive Director of ASPIRe, Ashoka´s global initiative exploring innovative ways in which social entrepreneurs can make systemic impact using platform thinking supported by technology.
Maria joined Ashoka in 2003 to launch Ashoka Spain and to support the setup of Ashoka in Western Europe. Prior to that, Maria worked for over eight years in General Electric across different countries and businesses.
Nadine has over 20 years of experience working closely with social entrepreneurs. Through the Globalizer she has helped build and hone an innovative process that places leading social entrepreneurs together with other experts to develop effective strategies to spread social impact and create long term systemic change.
Before joining the Globalizer team Nadine led Ashoka’s Andean Region and Latin America Fellowship programs, contributing to establishment of social entrepreneurship as a critical field in the region.
Prior to joining Ashoka, Nadine was Director of Programs at South North Development Initiative where she helped to create some of the first impact investment funds in southern Africa and Latin America.
Nadine, former teacher, is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Washington University with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Spanish and an M.B.A. from the Anderson School at U.C.L.A
Olga leads knowledge production in our team and at Ashoka globally. In this capacity, Olga has developed multiple online courses and case studies on systems change, as well as on working with government and mindset shift as key pathways to systems change.
Olga is also one of the most experienced strategy thought partners in Globalizer’s accelerator, having facilitated the development of systems change strategies with over 40 Ashoka Fellows across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas since the moment she joined Ashoka in 2012.
Prior to her current roles, Olga was building up the Czech office of Ashoka. She was also responsible for selecting Ashoka Fellows in Central Europe, building up the Czech national support ecosystem for social entrepreneurs – along with biggest foundations and social ministry, and designing multiple peer learning programs for social entrepreneurs – one on impact evaluation and one on advocacy.
Independent from Ashoka, Olga has also founded and co-led multiple social and environmental ventures in her home region, and provides systems thought partnership to foundations and social entrepreneurs from diverse countries and topics.
Olga holds a BA and MSc degree in Diplomacy/ International Relations from MGIMO, Russia and speaks 6 languages.
Reney is the Program Manager for the Social Innovation Hubs Program, a global initiative co-created by Boehringer Ingelheim and Ashoka. She oversees the program’s end-to-end operations, ensuring seamless coordination across partners, participants, and internal teams. Her work focuses on building strong processes, supporting social entrepreneurs through their systems-change journey, and delivering a smooth, high-impact program experience.
Before joining Ashoka, Reney worked as a Project Coordinator at the Institute for Developing Across Differences while completing her Master’s in International Peace, Conflict, and Development Studies. She is also the co-founder of Semillero, a Spain-based association dedicated to promoting a Culture of Peace.
Reney is a proud queer mom, happily married to a woman, and mother to a joyful toddler. She loves this new chapter of her life and, in her spare time, enjoys exploring specialty coffee shops in Valencia and watching Thai GL series.
Program Manager at the Globalizer team and East Africa Venture Representative, Santiago brings the power of coordinating different processes in the team such as programs, knowledge products and events.
As Venture Representative, he is in charge of searching social entrepreneurs and championing them in their journey to become Ashoka Fellows.
Before joining Ashoka, he worked as a consultant in the intersection of tech and the humanitarian sector in Washington DC.
Santiago loves spending time in nature, whether on the beach or in the savannah.
Adjunct Systems Thought Partners
Our extended team of Globalizer Systems Change Strategy Facilitators
María Fernanda has been with Ashoka since 2023, leading strategic partnerships and Changemaker Companies work in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. Deeply interested in the role of institutions as drivers of systemic change, her focus areas include building partnerships across the business, education and social sectors; advancing Ashoka’s vision of an Everyone a Changemaker world; and creating opportunities for companies and universities to strengthen changemaking capacity. Her work includes Ashoka’s Making More Health initiative with Boehringer Ingelheim in Mexico, supporting regional efforts in health and social innovation. A core focus of María Fernanda’s work is creating opportunities for companies and universities to develop changemaking capacity. She leads Ashoka’s Making More Health initiative with Boehringer Ingelheim in Mexico and is co-intrapreneur of CMC², an innovative co-creation model connecting universities and companies to promote changemaking and human flourishing. This work is featured in a forthcoming book chapter connected to Harvard University’s Human Flourishing Program. She studied International Tourism at Universidad de Monterrey, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude.
Joanna is a partnership and knowledge professional with over 15 years of experience spanning the international humanitarian and social sector. At Ashoka, she drives cross-sector collaborations around resilience, disaster management and other issues, building impactful alliances that strengthen the ecosystem of social entrepreneurs working toward an Everyone a Changemaker world in Poland and Europe. After completing an Anthropology degree and a Master's in Peace and Development Studies, Joanna built her career at the intersection of civil society, humanitarian response, and systemic change. She led the NGO Forum "Razem”, bringing together civil society organisations supporting refugees from Ukraine. Joanna has expertise in grant writing, donor relations, strategic planning and execution. Joanna is passionate about knowledge management and innovative learning solutions that bridge civil society, academia, and business. She lectures in project management at the University of Warsaw.
Yannick, trained in political sciences and urban planning is the coordinator of the Ashoka Participation Hub, where he is building spaces for Ashoka Fellows, civil society leaders and policy makers to co-create in the fields of democracy, migration, climate & technology. As a systems change strategy coach for Ashoka’s Globalizer programme, he also collaborates with social entrepreneurs to scale their grassroots, community-driven solutions and achieve more systemic impact.
Chipo Paradzai is a Co- Facilitator at Ashoka Globalizer and also serves as Fellowship Coordinator for Ashoka Southern Africa. Through her work, she supports social entrepreneurs in strengthening their strategies, building meaningful partnerships and connecting with the people and resources needed to advance systems change. Chipo brings a strong commitment to locally led, collaborative social transformation and believes that lasting change is created when communities are equipped to shape solutions and lead their own development. She is the founder of Refined Hearts, an initiative that equips young African women with mentorship, confidence and opportunities to lead. She is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in International Development at the University of Edinburgh under the Mastercard Foundation Scholarship program.
Agnieszka Płoska is a Poland-based strategist, project manager, and youth engagement practitioner passionate about helping young people discover their potential and create change. With 15 years of experience and more than 100 completed projects, she has spent her career building bridges between social innovation and youth development. Her journey started with design and managing the crowdfunding campaigns and evolved into working with social innovators, foundations, and educational organizations on projects that address social challenges. She is inspired by young people and focus on strengthening their sense of agency and leadership. Today, as Youth Changemaking Manager at Ashoka Poland, Agnieszka develops youth communities and learning spaces where teenagers and young leaders can experiment, collaborate, and grow. Her greatest strengths are strategic thinking, connecting people and ideas, and creating initiatives that turn vision into meaningful social impact. This goes in line with her monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) second role as well, allowing to connect the dots as well as recognize the social impact.
Lucila is a Partnership Manager & MEL lead at Ashoka. In this role, she supports social entrepreneurs in assessing systemic change strategies and manages the institutional collaboration with IKEA. Another passion of Lucila's is social entrepreneurship education. She has taught "Introduction to Social Innovation" as an adjunct professor at Universidad Austral and has facilitated programs and workshops across Latin America. Prior to Ashoka, Lucila served as Programs Director for Latin America and the US at Bridge for Billions, and has worked with organizations including Yunus & Youth, Facebook, and the Government of the City of Buenos Aires. She holds an MSc in Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship from the London School of Economics (LSE) and holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Social Innovation Management from Amani Institute (Kenya) and a degree in Social Communication from Universidad Austral. Lucila calls Buenos Aires home.
Martyna Rubinowska is Co-Director of Ashoka Poland and co-leads Ashoka’s Venture work across Europe, where she is dedicated to building a world where everyone is a changemaker. For over a decade, Martyna has been at the forefront of identifying and supporting visionary social entrepreneurs, nurturing Ashoka Fellows across Poland and Europe. She empowers changemakers to grow their impact, foster transformative collaborations, and build bridges across sectors – unlocking new possibilities for the good of all. Martyna has co-created ecosystem-building processes, innovative programs, and a “school of collaboration” that strengthen the fabric of the social sector. She has convened cross-sector dialogues and catalyzed partnerships in education, social innovation, and systems change – always guided by the belief that trust, curiosity, and collective leadership can unlock systemic solutions. Before joining Ashoka, Martyna co-founded Baśnie Właśnie, a social startup harnessing the power of storytelling for social good, and led the Youth Poznan Ecumenical Group, a collaborative platform for youth action. She holds degrees in economics and social policy (UEP) and psychology (UAM) from Poznań, and has trained in facilitation and dialogue at the TROP School and the Nansen Center for Peace and Dialogue. Martyna draws inspiration from books, the forest, mountain trails, and the slow restoration of a historic home – always seeking new ways to nurture changemaking in herself, her two little once and others.
Stella has been with Ashoka in different capacities, starting from the Greek local office in 2017 and transitioning to the Globalizer team.
Deeply interested in supporting people and organizations in the journey to find and fulfill their vision, her focus areas are strategy development with social entrepreneurs accross the globe, building partnerships between the business and social sectors and designing employee engagement and development journeys.
Before Ashoka, Stella was a psychologist working with children and adults and founded a center offering psychological and other services to children, adolescents and parents.
She studied Psychology (BSc, MSc) and Entrepreneurship (MSc) in Athens and London.
