South Africa

Ashoka-Lemelson fellow Douglas Racionzer tells the story of his shift from healthcare services to advocacy:

Douglas went on to tell me that the primary problem keeping Africans from speaking out isn't politics, it's culture. "The mindset is, 'The politicians are the experts. Let them be in charge.'" He said that his organization doesn't work with any politicians or party; they only engage directly with citizens.

"I don't want to build an empire," he said. "I don't care about having a scalable model. It's anti-going-to-scale; it's about creating an infection in society."