Ashoka (US)

Champion No. 2

Ashoka | Finder

Ashoka’s global fellowship is famous, but its U.S. roster—about 300 living Fellows—has quietly reshaped whole sectors at home. Geoffrey Canada built Harlem Children’s Zone into the model for cradle-to-career investment; Wendy Kopp launched Teach For America and sparked today’s teacher-leadership pipeline; Jacqueline Novogratz pioneered patient-capital investing through Acumen; Jimmy Wales opened the world’s knowledge with Wikipedia; and Gary Slutkin reframed urban violence as a public-health epidemic. Ashoka backs entrepreneurs like these when the idea is still a sketch, offering a modest stipend and an instant peer network instead of big checks or control. Within five years, two-thirds of U.S. Fellows spawn spin-offs in other cities, many secure state or federal policy shifts, and together they reach tens of millions of Americans—redefining fields from education and public health to finance, climate action, civic tech, food systems, and criminal justice. Add up that reach and influence, and Ashoka’s early bets stand among the most underrated system-level transformations in the country.

Explore more at ashoka-usa.org

— Higher Track
Tracking and Elevating the Social-Impact Breakthroughs Quietly Reshaping America