Summer greetings!

Dear friends of Ashoka, 

We are now approaching the time of the year where we can slow down and relax. Even though this spring has been one of increased uncertainty, we have continued to learn together, strengthening cross-sector collaborations and contributing to an “Everyone A Changemaker” world.

We want to take this chance before the holidays to remember some of the highlights from the first half of the year across the Nordics. 

Celebrating nine Nordic social entrepreneurs with  solutions for climate and circularity after eight months of support

On May 12, we gathered for the final event of the Nordic Changemakers Accelerator program “Social Entrepreneurship Actions for Climate & Circularity”, which gathered 100+ stakeholders to jointly develop and strengthen networks and solutions addressing climate change through circular economy. Together with the core partners Nordea and Accenture, Ashoka supported nine social entrepreneurs towards scaling their impact in a morning of inspiration, celebration and co-creation. You can read all about it here. 

Celebration of the Dela I Partnership with IKEA

Together with IKEA Social Entrepreneurship, we closed the first part of the Dela Partnership, a cross-sector collaboration that supports social entrepreneurs globally while creating and leveraging shared value, allowing for new solutions and approaches to scaling on a global scale, and addressing critical challenges around livelihood, equality and inclusion that are affecting vulnerable and marginalized populations around the world. You can read the most relevant activities and outcomes from the Dela Accelerator program here.

Online community and learning calls during times of Covid-19 

Community call "How to build and strengthen cross-sector partnership so that they weather crises and challenges" - We enjoyed a collaborative discussion on how to build and strengthen cross-sector partnership. The community call served as a joint learning platform to strengthen our community more than ever and help us guiding through these challenging circumstances. You can read some highlights from our conversation here. 

Online discussion “Leading social entrepreneurs in the Nordics, creating impact for resilient communities” - We engaged the growing community in Finland in a discussion with the leading social entrepreneurs Sofia Appelgren (Founder of Mitt Liv, Sweden) and Ole Kassow (Founder of Cycling without Age, Denmark) as well as the Ashoka's Director for Europe, Marie Ringler where we could learn about the impact that innovative social entrepreneurs are creating across sectors, leading with purpose at the core. 

In addition, as Ashoka has just launched its office in Helsinki and is actively looking for the first Finnish Ashoka Fellow and inspiring Young Changemakers, we developed “The superpower of changemakers” campaign, where we get to know some Finnish changemakers.  You can read more about it here.

Emerging Insights Report - learn about patterns and trends from our new Ashoka Fellows in Europe

This year we launched a new Emerging Insights report to share patterns and trends in Ashoka Fellows’ work. From Ashoka, we are building a highly engaged community where everyone is a changemaker, working in collaborative and holistic ways to create innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing problems. Access to the full report and learn about Fellows who are creating transformative systems change around the globe. 

Changemakers United Summit - social innovators responses to Covid-19

On May the 20th, Changemakers United Summit took place as a collective effort to support social innovators at the forefront of the Covid-19 crisis. The Summit consisted of seven different sessions around health, education, fake news, vulnerable groups and economics. We are glad to announce that the Ashoka Nordic Fellows Lone Koldby (Aktivitetsdosetten) and Ole Kassow, (Cycling Without Age) where two of the 20 selected Ashoka Fellows from Europe that showcased amazing approaches to the Covid-19 crisis. You can visit the profile of all our Nordic Fellows here.  

What is next?

Ashoka events

You can now find all Ashoka events around the world in one place. Dive in the new Ashoka page to see all events offered in the next weeks/months and learn more about Ashoka’s impact, network and global community here. 

All opportunities and offers for Nordic fellows

We are happy to share with you the updated list with current opportunities for our Fellows for the coming months, which includes training sessions, events, networking opportunities, pro-bono support, and much more! 

Ashoka Europe Fellowship Program

Keep looking at the exciting new offers from Ashoka Europe Fellowship Program’s page, a co-learning and co-creation community of Ashoka Fellows, ASNs, staff and partners from civil society, public institutions, media, business and academia.

Be updated with our latest news

Follow Ashoka Nordic social media channels and get up to date information about everything we and our community got going on. Subscribe to our newsletter, and discover new stories such as the Nordic LeadYoung Series with young changemakers. 

First and foremost, make sure to relax and recharge energies to come together again and create new solutions for building a better world. 

Happy holidays! 

Ashoka Nordic Team