Changemakers United: from immediate pandemic response to #buildingforward
What started as an immediate response of Ashoka in Europe in April 2020 to strengthen Social Entrepreneurs as pioneers of social change in the pandemic, we today look at a global initiative as an immediate answer to the crisis, but also as a collective platform to drive the societal shifts and changes we need for a thriving future. To date, the initiative has supported over 105 leading social entrepreneurs in Europe, Africa, Latin Amerika and South Asia to accelerate their solutions related to COVID-19. Hundreds of mentors, pro bono experts and partner companies across the world stepped up to dedicate their resources, time, and knowledge to help them scale their impact. Setting the stage to showcase innovations in the social sector and exchange on emerging shifts, the Changemakers United online events hosted ~10,000 people from five continents. The initiative now shifts from individual support to strengthening collaborative efforts, focusing on the systemic view on building forward futures worth living in.
Solutions are out there
Mobilizing the network to accelerate them
Fostering collaboration globally
Building forward for the good of all
Changemakers United opened the possibility of working hand in hand with large organizations like Zalando. Their mentorship, and the opinions of experts helped us shape the kind of organization we are building today.
David Cuartielles and César García Sáez set up the Coronavirus Makers Forum in Spain. What started with volunteers 3D printing respirators in March 2020, grew into a DIY movement of over 20,000 makers worldwide to provide protective equipment to medical personnel and other first line workers. So far, over 1 million face shields and 475,000 ears protector units have been produced. Today, their organization MasQueMakers goes beyond designing medical equipment as they are taking a more holistic view of the situation and try to tackle larger issues such as the environmental impact of single use face masks. The platform focuses on sharing knowledge and success stories of cross-sector collaboration – serving as a role model for other countries.
The pandemic challenged us to constantly experiment, reiterate and develop new strategies, Ashoka strengthened our fundraising position and their mentors provided strategic guidance.
Social entrepreneur Emer Beamer at Design-a-thon Works is giving children between the age of 6 to 12 a voice during the global school closures and lockdowns. The reaction has been great with people signing up from India, Australia, The Netherlands or Peru: teaching more children how to design a better world is their ultimate goal, and they have just passed the 100,000 mark. Running programs in different contexts through their network active in over 40 countries, they gained valuable insights on reaching children, especially the disadvantaged ones, and decided to shift their scaling strategy towards a network partnership model. Equipping their communities with new digital tools they build new alliances and strive to ensure that all children have the opportunity to learn and improve their own reality.
The initiative has first and foremost given me support to utilize my engagement and passion to be part of the solution. Together we can push positive changes that should help European countries face the post-COVID challenges related to mental health.
As mental health has been a rising issue throughout the pandemic, Jimmy Westerheim from Norway is trying to break the stigma around mental health burdens with his innovative The Human Aspect approach. For his platform, he interviews people from all over the world to capture their real-life experience, each detailing their own struggles, how they overcame them, and the tools they learned along the way. His library contains over 600 in-depth video interviews reaching audiences in 180 countries on multiple online platforms. He partners with schools but also healthcare professionals and employers to teach the value of mental health and personal development to thousands of people globally.