The Ashoka Systems Change Podcast

In this episode, we speak with Princess, former journalist turned social entrepreneur, on her groundbreaking work in Nigeria and Africa to prevent and reduce vulnerability and exposure to sexual violence, especially among women and children.  Princess shares with us how she strategically set out to raise awareness around this issue, which, until recently, had been frequently swept under the rug.  She explains the critical role of journalists and the tactics she used to engage them consistently and effectively to set off a major shift in thinking about how to manage cases of sexual violence. She also highlights the role of children themselves as compelling ambassadors whose voice helped educate other children as well as pressure policymakers.   

Read more about Media Concern here: https://mediaconcern.net/

We encourage you to have a look at our free online course on this topic at https://academy.vc4a.com/courses/como-influenciar-impacto/  (Spanish version) and https://www.ashoka.org/en-gb/mindset-shift-course  (English version).

The third season of the Ashoka Systems Change podcast explores how to influence the way people think, to change the way society works.

In Episode 1 Olga Shirobokova, co-lead of the Systems Unit at Ashoka Globalizer and lead developer of the on-line course on this topic, speaks with Nadine Freeman, co-director of Ashoka Globalizer, to introduce listeners to the course, why it was important to develop and key issues around the topic of influencing mindsets to achieve important changes in social systems.

If you are interested in learning more about how changemakers can analyze their narrative environment and begin to build a strategy around shifting mental models to create the conditions necessary for systemic change, we encourage you to have a look at our free online course on this topic at https://academy.vc4a.com/courses/como-influenciar-impacto/  (Spanish version) and https://www.ashoka.org/en-gb/mindset-shift-course  (English version). The online course and the third season of the Ashoka Systems Change podcast were developed thanks to the support and in partnership with PES Latam.

This episode invites you to a conversation among the representatives of three fields – a social entrepreneur, a former government official and a funder interested in supporting cooperation between social entrepreneurs and governments.

Listen to the experiences and recommendations of Denisa Livingston, an Ashoka Fellow empowering Navajo communities to take control of food policy through Diné Community Advocacy Alliance (US), Maria Vassilaku, former deputy mayor of Vienna (Austria) and Jim Anderson, Director of Government Innovation at Bloomberg Philanthropies (US).

If you are interested to learn more about how social entrepreneurs can effectively work with government and what are the examples, we encourage you to have a look at our new free online course on this topic at https://academy.vc4a.com/courses/trabajo-con-el-gobierno/ (Spanish version) and www.ashoka.org/working-with-government (English version).

The online course and the second season of the Ashoka Systems Change podcast were developed thanks to the support and in partnership with PES Latam.

The third episode of season two examines how cooperation among social entrepreneurs can help governments design effective support measures for the whole field of social entrepreneurship.

We spoke to Markus Sauerhammer, Chair of the German Association of Social Entrepreneurs, and learned what helped them get to the point when every political party in Germany references social entrepreneurship in their program.

If you are interested to learn more about how social entrepreneurs can effectively work with government and what are the examples, we encourage you to have a look at our new free online course on this topic at https://academy.vc4a.com/courses/trabajo-con-el-gobierno/ (Spanish version) and www.ashoka.org/working-with-government (English version).

The online course and the second season of the Ashoka Systems Change podcast were developed thanks to the support and in partnership with PES Latam.

In the second episode of Season 2, Sascha Haselmayer and Olga Shirobokova explore the role communities play in keeping governments accountable. You will hear examples of how social entrepreneurs from Peru, the UK, Romania, India and the US empower people affected by a social problem to take charge and effectively engage with governments in order to improve public services.

If you are interested to learn more about how social entrepreneurs can effectively work with government and what are the examples, we encourage you to have a look at our new free online course on this topic at https://academy.vc4a.com/courses/trabajo-con-el-gobierno/ (Spanish version) and www.ashoka.org/working-with-government (English version).

The online course and the second season of the Ashoka Systems Change podcast were developed thanks to the support and in partnership with PES Latam.

The second season of the Ashoka Systems Change podcast explores how social entrepreneurs can effectively work with governments to improve systems together.

In Episode 1 you will hear a conversation between Sascha Haselmayer, a seasoned social entrepreneur and an Ashoka Fellow who has worked with 135 municipal governments across the world to improve the provision of public services, and Olga Shirobokova, co-lead of the Systems Unit at Ashoka Globalizer.

Sascha shares how his approach to addressing a social problem has evolved over time - from being fixated on his own solution to seeing his solution as a seed or a stepping stone in a bigger story, where there is more space for co-creation and mutual support between multiple stakeholders, including government.

If you are interested to learn more about how social entrepreneurs can effectively work with government and what are the examples, we encourage you to have a lookt at our new free online course on this topic at https://academy.vc4a.com/courses/trabajo-con-el-gobierno/ (Spanish version) and www.ashoka.org/working-with-government (English version).

The online course and the second season of the Ashoka Systems Change podcast were developed thanks to the support and in partnership with PES Latam.

Silvia Bastante de Unverhau is a leading expert in philanthropy, with over 20 years of experience working across the international development, non-profit, business, and government sectors. She is currently the Chief Philanthropy Officer at Co-Impact, a collaboration between donors that pledged 500 million dollars for systems changing initiatives. 

In the interview, Silvia talks about the principles of funding systems change work, how it differs from traditional funding practices, and how foundations can adopt this new mindset. She also has tips for social entrepreneurs who are looking for funding for systems change work from a donor's perspective.

Key questions: How is funding systems change different? How should foundations support systems change?

Kendis Paris founded Truckers Against Trafficking (TAT), an organization that mobilizes the US trucking industry to fight human trafficking. TAT has registered and trained more than 850,000 professional drivers. TAT also played a key role in getting new policies approved that in many US states make spotting and reporting human trafficking activities a component of the mandatory professional driver's license trainings.

In the interview, Kendis explains how she found allies early on by making herself available to policy makers and administrators, traveling to spread her ideas, and being a bridge between administrators and the transportation industry. She also talks about the power of turning people into changemakers -- a core feature of many successful social entrepreneurs.

Jeroo Billimoria is the founder of many successful social ventures, including Childline India, a network of over 1000 organizations that provide support to millions of children each year, especially in crisis situations, as well as Aflatoun, an network of 275 partners that offers social and financial education to millions of children and young people worldwide. In this episode, we mostly talk about Child & Youth Finance International (CYFI), a network that promoted systemic changes in the education and banking systems in dozens of countries to improve children's financial education. "Promoted", because CYFI announced that it had achieved its mission and shut down on 31 December 2019. An almost unheard-of accomplishment.

In the interview, Jeroo walks us through five tactics and five leadership principles that she used to build the network that was ultimately so successful on a systems level. Key questions that we address include: How do you create coalitions for systems change? What leadership principles should we adopt -- and which ones do we have to unlearn?