Corporate Social Responsibility Press Release
provided by 
8.22.2008 - 02:25pm ET
News from:
Ashoka: Innovators for the Public
Ashoka Expands the Reach of Social Entrepreneurship around the World with Support from Microsoft Software Grant
(CSRwire) ARLINGTON, VA. - August 22, 2008 - Ashoka: Innovators for the Public
today announced a $2.5 million software grant from Microsoft to increase
Ashoka's ability to impact worldwide social change. Ashoka, the world's
largest community of leading social entrepreneurs, will use the grant to
support pattern changing ideas and the Ashoka Fellows who initiate them.
The Microsoft partnership represents a milestone in Ashoka's capacity to
breach the digital divide and catalyze far-reaching impact throughout the
citizen sector.
Microsoft's software investment will help Ashoka execute its "Office in a
Box" infrastructure build-out strategy, which includes the dissemination
of "Entrepreneur's Toolkits" across 30 Ashoka offices around the world. In
partnering with Ashoka, Microsoft is helping realize the goal of an
Everyone a Changemaker(TM) world by allowing Ashoka to leverage its
powerful network of over 2000 Ashoka Fellows who are launching,
replicating and scaling innovative solutions to the world’s critical
social issues. Says Ashoka Chief Information Officer Romanus Berg, "With
an increasing amount of collaborators such as Microsoft helping empower
more and more changemakers, Ashoka sees a tipping point of social
solutions within reach, which will have an enormous positive impact on the
social, economic and political landscape as we know it today."
"Microsoft is dedicated to working with organizations that drive and
support innovative ideas with the potential to make a significant,
positive change in the world," said Akhtar Badshah, Senior Director of
Community Affairs at Microsoft. "We are proud to support Ashoka's mission
of harnessing entrepreneurship to spread social change by providing the
resources that will help extend their infrastructure and support continued
growth worldwide through the benefits of technology."
Ashoka President Diana Wells was equally enthusiastic about the
collaboration. "Our partnership with Microsoft allows us to create a
highly-leveraged investment that can make a huge difference in alleviating
social and economic inequality. Together we can expand the reach of
Microsoft's innovative products to a large and often overlooked
constituency who do not have the access to take advantage of the power of
Microsoft tools."
About Ashoka
Founded in 1980, Ashoka is the world's leading community of more than
2,000 leading social entrepreneurs. It champions the most important new
social change ideas and supports the entrepreneurs behind them by helping
them get started, grow, succeed and collaborate. As Ashoka expands its
capacity to integrate and connect social and business entrepreneurs around
the world, it builds an entrepreneurial infrastructure comprised of a
series of global initiatives that supports the fast-growing needs of the
citizen sector. Ashoka s vision is to create change today, for an Everyone
a Changemaker(TM) society to become the reality of tomorrow. For more
information, visit www.ashoka.org.
For more information please contact:
Alexis Early, Global Marketing
Ashoka
703.600.8302
www.ashoka.org
www.ashoka.org
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Philanthropy/Corporate Contributions and CSR - General
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