Ashoka
What Ashoka does
Ashoka builds and cultivates a community of Fellows, Young Changemakers, Changemaker Institutions, and beyond who see that the world now requires everyone to be a changemaker, a person who sees themselves as capable of creating large-scale change.
Together, we mobilise (and accelerate) a movement to build an "Everyone a Changemaker" world where everyone has the right and ability to transform their societies for the better, directly addressing the new inequality facing our societies worldwide.
Ashoka's Priorities and Theory of Change
Ashoka focuses on four strategic priorities to help people understand and adapt to a world of accelerating change, where everyone is called on to be a leader:
Social Entrepreneurship
Ashoka selects world-class social entrepreneurs who are leading the way to an everyone-a-changemaker world.
Empathy & Young Changemaking
Ashoka is leading a movement to transform how young people grow up so they thrive in today’s rapidly changing world where everyone must be a changemaker. Changemaking starts with empathy.
Learn more
Organizing for Changemaking
Living and working in our changemaker world requires breaking through silos, tearing down walls, and organizing in fluid, open, teams of teams.
About Ashoka East Africa
Ashoka in Eastern Africa
Leading social entrepreneurs moving barriers and contributing to 'Everyone A Changemaker' world.
Equipping young people with 21st Century skills such as changemaking, empathy and teamwork
That put young people in charge and trust them to lead
Young people self-identifying as changemakers
Gallery
Ashoka East Africa’s 2025 activities represent a deliberate and impactful effort to realise the vision of an “Everyone a Changemaker” world one in which every individual develops the empathy, creativity, and agency to identify pressing societal challenges and contribute to lasting, systemic solutions. Collectively, these activities strengthened networks, scaled proven models, and cultivated a culture in which changemaking becomes a shared norm rather than an exceptional pursuit.
Our Stories
Advancing an Everyone a Changemaker world
Ashoka East Africa Team
Vincent Otieno Odhiambo
Regional Director, Ashoka East Africa
Ruth Soi
Project Manager
Ruth Soi
Project Manager
Ruth Soi leads Ashoka’s Youth Years work in East Africa, driving a strategy centred on ensuring that every young person identifies as a changemaker and practices changemaking in action. She builds ecosystems that empower youth through partnerships with schools, universities, and institutions, embedding empathy, new leadership, and collaborative problem-solving into learning spaces. She also manages a flagship initiative supported by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, focused on improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in East Africa. Through this project, Ruth convenes and supports a network of social entrepreneurs working at the intersection of renewable energy and agriculture, fostering collaboration, strengthening ecosystems, and advancing scalable, locally rooted solutions.
Zahra Lethome
Community Manager, Ashoka Changemakers
Jedidah Muthui
Digital Content Manager, Ashoka Changemakers
Chris Rasugu
Finance Manager, Ashoka East Africa
Santiago Del Giudice
Globalizer Partner & East Africa Venture
Santiago Del Giudice
Globalizer Partner & East Africa Venture
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.
Julie Mailu
Senior Talent Operations and Partnership Associate - Changemaker Companies
Ifrah Arab
Venture & Fellowship Manager
Abigael Ajuma
Excellence Team - Engagement Manager
Our partners
Frey Charitable Foundation
Swiss Foundation supporting education and youth leadership
Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, established in 1926, is a leading private philanthropic organization with a mission to foster positive social change and empower communities worldwide. Through its focus areas in education, environment, civil society, and community development, the foundation supports initiatives that promote equity, sustainability, and resilience. With a collaborative approach to grantmaking and a dedication to partnerships, the Mott Foundation plays a vital role in advancing social progress and improving the quality of life for individuals and communities across the globe. The Mott Foundation envisions a world in which everyone's quality of life is connected to the well-being of the community, both locally and globally. When it comes to the environment, it supports programs around the world that protect communities and the ecosystems upon which they depend.
Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, established in 1926, is a leading private philanthropic organization with a mission to foster positive social change and empower communities worldwide. Through its focus areas in education, environment, civil society, and community development, the foundation supports initiatives that promote equity, sustainability, and resilience. With a collaborative approach to grantmaking and a dedication to partnerships, the Mott Foundation plays a vital role in advancing social progress and improving the quality of life for individuals and communities across the globe. The Mott Foundation envisions a world in which everyone's quality of life is connected to the well-being of the community, both locally and globally. When it comes to the environment, it supports programs around the world that protect communities and the ecosystems upon which they depend.
Arigatou International
Arigatou International is an interfaith organisation that collaborates with people from diverse religious and cultural backgrounds to promote children’s rights and well-being globally through advocacy, partnerships, and initiatives such as the Global Network of Religions for Children (GNRC).
Arigatou International
Arigatou International is an interfaith organisation that collaborates with people from diverse religious and cultural backgrounds to promote children’s rights and well-being globally through advocacy, partnerships, and initiatives such as the Global Network of Religions for Children (GNRC).
The World Organisation of the Scout Movement (WOSM)
The World Organisation of the Scout Movement (WOSM) is the global federation of national Scout organisations that delivers non-formal education to empower millions of young people as active global citizens through values-based programmes fostering leadership, skills, and community impact.
The World Organisation of the Scout Movement (WOSM)
The World Organisation of the Scout Movement (WOSM) is the global federation of national Scout organisations that delivers non-formal education to empower millions of young people as active global citizens through values-based programmes fostering leadership, skills, and community impact.
Red Social Innovation
This is a resource platform for the Spanish and French Red Cross. The purpose of the partnership is to leverage networks from both organizations to identify and share good practices in social innovation. We will spotlight the work of Ashoka fellows in the region on their website from October/November 2024.
Red Social Innovation
This is a resource platform for the Spanish and French Red Cross. The purpose of the partnership is to leverage networks from both organizations to identify and share good practices in social innovation. We will spotlight the work of Ashoka fellows in the region on their website from October/November 2024.
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Its core mission is to generate strategic ideas and independent analysis, support diplomacy, and train the next generation of scholar-practitioners. These efforts assist countries and institutions in addressing complex global challenges and advancing peace. The Endowment operates as a uniquely global think tank, employing a network of approximately 150–170 experts across multiple continents.
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Its core mission is to generate strategic ideas and independent analysis, support diplomacy, and train the next generation of scholar-practitioners. These efforts assist countries and institutions in addressing complex global challenges and advancing peace. The Endowment operates as a uniquely global think tank, employing a network of approximately 150–170 experts across multiple continents.
The French Red Cross
The French Red Cross (Croix-Rouge française) is a humanitarian organisation engaged in international cooperation, particularly in East Africa, through partnerships with national Red Cross societies. It supports initiatives in areas such as social entrepreneurship, innovation, women’s economic empowerment, and humanitarian response. Notable collaborations in Kenya include co-founding the Women Social Entrepreneurship Institute and contributions to social innovation centres and programs addressing community resilience.
The French Red Cross
The French Red Cross (Croix-Rouge française) is a humanitarian organisation engaged in international cooperation, particularly in East Africa, through partnerships with national Red Cross societies. It supports initiatives in areas such as social entrepreneurship, innovation, women’s economic empowerment, and humanitarian response. Notable collaborations in Kenya include co-founding the Women Social Entrepreneurship Institute and contributions to social innovation centres and programs addressing community resilience.
Kenya Red Cross
The Kenya Red Cross Society is a leading national humanitarian organisation in Kenya, dedicated to providing emergency response, disaster management, health services, community resilience building, and support for vulnerable populations. It operates extensively across Kenya and collaborates on regional initiatives in East Africa, including partnerships with international Red Cross entities for innovation, entrepreneurship, and crisis response. Its vision centres on sustainably promoting well-being, health, and community resilience.
Kenya Red Cross
The Kenya Red Cross Society is a leading national humanitarian organisation in Kenya, dedicated to providing emergency response, disaster management, health services, community resilience building, and support for vulnerable populations. It operates extensively across Kenya and collaborates on regional initiatives in East Africa, including partnerships with international Red Cross entities for innovation, entrepreneurship, and crisis response. Its vision centres on sustainably promoting well-being, health, and community resilience.
Donate to Support Changemakers Everywhere
Donating to Ashoka enables us to elect new social entrepreneurs into our fellowship, provide support services to existing Fellows, and launch collaborations between Fellows, corporations, and citizen sector organizations to promote continued innovation in areas of pressing global need.
Recommend a Changemaker
Ashoka recognizes that it cannot possibly source the world’s leading changemakers on its own. Good nominators ensure that Ashoka receives a constant flow of promising candidates as well as an invaluable perspective on the current innovation in the sector.