Ashoka's Venture Fund for Leading Social Entrepreneurs

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2007 Fellows Supported by the Venture Fund Rodrigo Brito, Entrepreneur Alliance, BRAZIL Rodrigo created the Entre preneur Alliance to develop, together with small businesses, infrastructure and quality services to raise income and profit in low-income communities that are normally excluded from the mainstream market. The Alliance also formed a multi-stakeholder support network to assure sustainability for small business entrepreneurs in low-income communities. Arzum Meleksoy, Alibagis, TURKEY Arzum has designed an entirely new mechanism for building interest, awareness, and citizen support for Turkey’s under-resourced citizen sector. Her Internet platform links users with Turkish citizen organizations in a way that directs corporate money to projects of an individual’s choosing. With it, Arzum is establishing a culture of support for the citizen sector with ripple effects beyond the web. Rodrigo Villar, Center for Sustainable Business, MEXICO Rodrigo founded the Center for Sustainable Businesses in Mexico to promote sustainable business as a critical part of the solution to Mexico’s pollution challenges. Within three years, he started 28 sustainable businesses and brought them US$24 million in investment. To create and support consumer demand Rodrigo is also launching Green Pages, a business directory for “green” businesses. Casimira Rodriguez, the Domestic Workers’ Union, BOLIVIA After 18 years of being mistreated as a domestic worker herself, Casimira realized that she could spur change only by reversing widespread societal apathy about the widespread abuse and exploitation of domestic workers. Casimira changes perceptions by working with employers, raising public awareness, and educating indigenous rural families who send their daughters to the cities in hopes of a better life for them. The Union’s support groups serve as surrogate families for workers far from home. Nalinika Obeyesekere, Blue Paw Trust, SRI LANKA Nalinika is transforming the animal care system in Sri Lanka. To build the veterinary profession, she introduced education programs and incentives for the return of veterinarians who have left the country, including the first multi-doctor veterinary practice in Sri Lanka. The veterinary practice subsidizes free treatment for street animals and sponsors programs in schools and neighborhoods on animal safety awareness.
Megh Ale, Nepal River Conservation Trust, NEPAL By igniting passion for rivers and creating new economic incentives, Megh is building a broad base of support for the long-term health of waterways in Nepal. Through tourism opportunities, river guides become enthusiastic advocates for conservation. Megh also engages local residents through river festivals and in-school educational projects. Nejat Unlu, Positive Life Support Center, TURKEY Nejat has organized the first citizen organization in Turkey to empower those with the HIV virus to support one another, raise awareness, press for ending discrimination, and lobby for reforms in state health policy. Recently the Ministry of Health asked Nejat to incorporate some of his strategies in their AIDS policy plan. Angkhana Neelapaichit, Working Group on Justice for Peace, THAILAND Angkhana is using her own life experience to bring an end to forced disappearances and arbitrary detentions. She combines a grassroots approach to individual cases with a systematic reforms at the legislative and judicial levels, adding appropriate use of media to gain public support. Angkhana makes particular use of families and friends of victims to build systems of peace for all who are oppressed. Selma Demirelli, The Water Lily Project, TURKEY Selma is spearheading the first housing cooperative in Turkey run by women. Beyond providing shelter and financial independence, housing cooperatives give women finance, business development, and urban planning skills for the future. Further, property ownership is a key step to advancing women’s rights and equal legal standing in Turkey. Teerawat Sripathomsawad, Independent Living, THAILAND Rejecting a medical model that keeps disabled Thais dependent on public assistance, Terrawat, himself a quadriplegic, introduced the practice of Independent Living, through which all disabled persons can learn to judge their own capacities and avoid institutionalization. From this empowered position, the disabled become a social, economic, and political force to demand their rights and take an active role in society.
Page 1: Ashoka’s Venture Fund for Leading
Page 4 and 5: Executive Summary Ashoka is the glo
Page 6 and 7: Introduction to the Venture Fund Wh
Page 10 and 11: Fund Structure and Operations The V
Page 12 and 13: Ashoka’s Selection Process NoMiNA
Page 14 and 15: Risks The risks associated with the
Page 16 and 17: Key Staff Biographies Diana Wells D
Page 18 and 19: Ashoka’s Global Reach Asia Fellow
Page 20: “Ashoka is a great global organiz

Ashoka's Venture Fund for Leading Social Entrepreneurs

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