Ashoka

Ravi Venkatesan

The event kicked off this morning with welcome addresses by Ashoka-Lemelson fellow Greg Van Kirk, Lemelson Foundation executive director Julia Novy-Hildesley, Indian School of Business dean Deepak Chandra, and Microsoft India chairman Ravi Venkatesan.

Venkatesan said that both he and Microsoft were proud to be a part of Tech4Society. He called himself a "modest student of social entrepreneurship." He said that he's long believed in social enterprise and that it's great to see the idea receiving more mainstream recognition.

On a more nuanced note, Venkatesan also said he's been puzzled by certain social innovations whose potential hasn't quite been fulfilled. He gave the example of the LifeStraw, an invention that got ample press attention and seemed positioned to bring clean drinking water to millions of people. According to Venkatesan, one million units have been sold since 2006, mostly to military servicepeople. "What keeps these innovations from scaling?" he asked. Are enterprises unable to find cost-effective models? Do they have trouble working directly with the intended audience?

The Tech4Society event is warming up for it's opening tomorrow through Saturday, Feb. 11-13 in Hyderabad, India, and even if you can't be there in person, you can still be involved online.

The event – a celebration of Ashoka-Lemelson Fellows – brings together pioneers on the cutting edge of innovation in solar energy, clean water, mobile technology, science education, agriculture and healthcare. In 2006, Ashoka and The Lemelson Foundation launched a partnership that aimed to find, support, and celebrate social innovators whose inventions and technologies offer fresh, effective approaches to advancing social change. Combining Ashoka’s nearly 30 year track record for finding and supporting the world’s leading social entrepreneurs with The Lemelson Foundation’s renowned expertise in incubating and celebrating invention for social good, the partnership has sought to prove that entrepreneurship and invention can align in powerful ways to improve the world.

Press Release: New Delhi, February 09, 2010

Today, Ashoka and The Lemelson Foundation organized a media briefing in the capital as a part of their Tech4Society initiative to recognize and showcase the innovations of two remarkable inventor-entrepreneurs – Hilmi Quraishi and Pradip Sarmah. The agenda of the briefing was The Indian Inventor Entrepreneurs and their contribution towards Sustainable Development.

The first-of-its kind Initiative with support from Microsoft® strives to bring greater attention to the importance of technological innovation in driving global development and highlight effective strategies for cultivating the next generation of inventor-entrepreneurs and scaling their world-changing ideas. The media briefing saw them discussing best practices, demonstrating their inventions and sharing their vision for the future, driven by the combination of invention and innovation.

Hilmi Quraishi and Pradip Sarmah have been chosen for their unique and cutting edge uses of technology, education, capital and support as tools for community development, policy setting and poverty alleviation.

So you have a knack for writing and social media, you are passionate about technology, invention and social change, and you want to travel to India and meet over 100 Ashoka Fellows?

If you said yes to all of the above, we want to invite you to participate in the AshokaTECH Blog your Way to Hyderabad Competition, supported by Ashoka and the Lemelson Foundation.

Check out the full details on how to apply here. Hurry as the application deadline is November 30th!

Bill Drayton speaks with Reporters Uncensored about social entrepreneurship, business-social hybrid value chains, and promoting youth entrepreneurship.

This post contributed by Sarah Brooks.

Ashoka recently teamed up with Thievery Corporation at their concert in Baltimore, MD to get the word out about social change and social entrepreneurship. While I couldn’t have been more excited that my favorite DJ duo wanted us to be there, I was even more impressed with Thievery Corporation’s social focus, and the passions of their fans. During the concert, we asked the 4,000 attendees what they wanted to see changed in the world. Check out their answers and see behind the scenes photos of the concert.

We also asked everyone what their favorite song about change is. Check it out on Ashoka Radio and click play at the bottom to listen to the full playlist. Want to add a song? Email Wil Kristin at wkristin@ashoka.org with your suggestion and a short comment. I was definitely listening to Ashoka Radio while working today!
Have a suggestion for another event that Ashoka could get involved in? Let us know!

I think one of Ashoka's most innovative donor engagement strategies is the Ashoka Support Network (ASN), a global community of really successful business people "who share our belief that entrepreneurs are the primary engine for economic and social development."

What's so innovative about the model is that we believe that ASN members hold knowledge that is incredibly valuable to nacent entrepreneurs so they are often linked as mentors to our Fellows.

Here's a video of one of our ASN members, Max Rutten, at CGI yesterday.

Here's the list of Ashoka Fellows attending CGI 2009; stay tuned for the scoop as the day goes by! Click here for more details on which are speaking and at what time.

If you are coming to Thievery Corp's gig this Saturday, be sure to stop by the Ashoka booth. Ashoka staff will be there asking people how they are changemakers and our favorite answers will be on the web.

For the full details of the event, click here.