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

One and a half years ago, it was suddenly there, the Corona virus. From one day to the next, the pandemic disrupted nearly all aspects of our personal, social, and economic lives. We suddenly faced entirely new challenges and uncertainties. However, as the world‘s largest network of social entrepreneurs with 40 years of experience, Ashoka knew solutions were out there in their hands.

Mobilizing the network to accelerate them

It only took several days for the Changemakers United initiative to form. In April last year, Ashoka began to search its network for outstanding solutions and ideas that could provide answers to the pandemic. Leading social entrepreneurs from across the world were selected to take their solutions and ideas forward. Their needs ranged from marketing to business planning, fundraising, digital and legal expertise. Dozens of partner companies such as Zalando, Beiersdorf and Target Foundation to name a few, helped to scale their impact. 67 mentors and 231 pro-bono experts stepped up to support their work.

Fostering collaboration globally

The pandemic was unfolding in various geographies and quickly became a worldwide crisis, challenging all societies. Ashoka and its partners responded and what started in the spring of 2020 as a European initiative went global. Now, a year and a half later, Changemakers United provides a place to share about shortcomings and work on how to possibly overcome them. »The pandemic exposed the weaknesses of many systems,« says Marie Ringler, Director Ashoka Europe. »Weaknesses whose causes lie deep. Quick fixes can alleviate but not eliminate the problems. What we need are solutions that get to the root of a problem in order to eradicate it in the long run. At Ashoka, we talk about systemic change in this context and foster collaboration to achieve it.« The initiative has until today supported 105 social entrepreneurs from 34 countries, reaching around 450 million people directly and indirectly with their solutions.

Building forward for the good of all

Just as the pandemic evolves and keeps posing new challenges, Changemakers United continues to learn and respond with agility to the needs of social entrepreneurs – so that their solutions and ideas can grow and shape society for the better. Whether health, education, business or politics: no area stands alone. Support the collective effort and its innovative solutions, and follow their stories that are equally impressive such as these three social entrepreneurs.

Learn more about the initiative since April 2020 until June 2021. Join our effort to build back better!

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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, MasQueMakers

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. 

Emer Beamer, Design-a-thon Works

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.

Jimmy Westerheim, The Human Aspect

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.