Ashoka Change Your City Denver

CHANGE YOUR CITYJOIN ASHOKA’S MOVEMENT OF CHANGEMAKERS IN DENVER

Kristin Hayden, Ashoka Fellow. Generating leaders through international learning experiences.

2 | Change your City

What makes a community successful? What’s the difference between a thriving and a stagnant city? It’s about people — the number of people who actively contribute, organize, and pursue their dreams.

As a leader in the citizen sector, Ashoka’s greatest leverage is giving people the support, self-permission, and resources to become active citizens and create change in their community.

The Opportunity

Change your City | 3

What if a call went out to the general public inviting a wave of innovation to transform Denver for the better? What if this call was made through a public campaign showcasing stories of success that inspire citizens to act? What if it directed people to meet in an online challenge and share creative ideas to solve a city’s most pressing problems? And what if YOU were part of this movement?

THIS IS THE OPPORTUNITY WE PRESENT: TO SOURCE INNOVATIONS AND ENTREPRENEURIAL TALENT THAT WILL ENSURE THE LONG-TERM SUCCESS OF DENVER

Introduction



OUR VISION

Ashoka’s vision is that every member of society will feel empowered to take initiative, develop solutions to the problems they see around them, and drive positive change. Every part of a community – from a school to a business to government – will benefit from the mass engagement and deployment of changemakers, and from the ingenuity and entrepreneurial drive that they generate.

Vision & Strategy

OUR STRATEGY

Provide the innovation:

Locally source or replicate innovations that address a community’s most pressing challenges.

Launch a critical mass of pathbreaking social entrepreneurs.

Produce the talent:

Build a pool of homegrown talented changemakers.

Foster collaboration between government, business and the citizen sector to increase the number of changemakers in a community.

Develop in local colleges and universities the capacity to instill the skills and ethics of social entrepreneurship.

Bring changemaking into the local school systems.

Spread the impact:

Develop new models for financing and ensuring the long-term sustainability of social change.

Work with local media to spread new ideas and build awareness around the value of changemakers.



What we’ll do in your city

THE “CHANGE YOUR CITY” CAMPAIGN will showcase real stories of local innovators creating change in your city and drive citizens to an online competition.

THE ONLINE COMPETITION will identify and convene the best social innovators with ideas to improve Denver to create a transparent and action-oriented community.

ASHOKA FELLOWS, leading social entrepreneurs with exceptional impact, will be elected to drive social change in your city.

CHANGEMAKER CAMPUS will use a tailored strategy to ingrain social entrepreneurship into the learning, research and student life on a local university campus.

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR EVENT: On December 1st, within the Social Entrepreneur Event, winners of the competition will be presented and celebrated.

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How we will do it / The Campaign

LOCAL INSPIRATIONAL STORIES

The stories will showcase real examples of local changemakers that inspire others to take action. Each story is unique, providing an opportunity for people to identify with the individual, think about what they are passionate about, and become inspired to take action in their community.

ADVERTISING STRATEGY

The campaign will use multiple media channels to tell the stories such as traditional outdoor advertising (street banners, subway posters, bus sides), as well as print (local newspapers and magazines), radio, local TV stations, and websites.

Through his organization America’s Family Inc., Steve partners employers, workers, and social service providers to meet hourly-wage employees essential needs of health care, transportation, child care, housing, and education. By offering these services, low-income workers are ensured to have the resources they need to stay on the job and succeed at work. Steve demonstrates that employers can and will mobilize resources to help their workers sustain employment, qualify for better jobs and break the cycle of poverty. America’s Family is currently developing an innovative new banking model for the unbanked and underbanked, building partnerships in the Denver area, as well as recruiting and training volunteer case managers.

“This program represents a win for employers, employees, and the entire community. This is a great example of giving back to the community.”

- Bill Owens, Governor of the State of Colorado

STEVE BIGARI, ASHOKA FELLOW, COLORADO


Aleta Margolis, Ashoka Fellow. Transforming education by making teachers activists. Watch a video of Aleta from the campaign here: http://vimeo.com/4241190


How we will do it / The Campaign

Example of a campaign breakdown: New York City, 8 weeks

Advertising space valued at $1.8 million for a cost of $109,000 thanks to an in kind partnership

20 Street banners

25 Telephone Kiosks

318 Bus sides

100 Bus tails

1500 Bus interior posters

260 one sheet Subway platform posters

450+ websites (3.3 million impressions)

6 million impressions on facebook

Local media partnerships (e.g. Channel 4, New York Magazine, SUNY network of universities, Manhattan Media Companies)


How we will do it / The Online Competition

Approximately 6 months from start to finish.

The multimedia campaign will drive individuals to the online competition.Once on the website, they will be able to learn more about the stories they saw in the ads, engage in dialogue around social change, and enter the competition.

LAUNCH

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We will create and foster an online community of people who care about their city. We will use our experience in building our 60,000+ community and consult with you to help build your unique, inclusive and action-oriented community.

BUILD COMMUNITY

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The public will vote for the 3 winners who will each receive a cash prize. Once the winners are selected, you award prizes, and convene the finalists and winners to recognize their efforts and share knowledge.

SELECT WINNERS

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We will work to form strong partnerships with community organizers, government offices, corporations, community foundations, universities, local citizen sector organizations and local media to ensure the success of the competition.

ENGAGE PARTNERS

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Ashoka’s Changemakers hosts online competitions to open source social solutions

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR EVENT

Winners and the changemakers community levereged by the competition will have the opportunity to showcase their ideas at an event open to the public.

JULY - AUGUST SEPTEMBER 15 OCTOBER NOVEMBER 15 DECEMBER 1

How we will do it / Ashoka FellowsASHOKA


SELECT LEADING SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS

Ashoka helps maximize social impact through a rigorous Fellow selection process that has been refined over 29 years. We elect individuals who demonstrate unrivaled commitment to bold new ideas and prove that compassion, creativity, and collaboration are tremendous forces for change. Through the campaign and the online competition we will share the stories at the Leading Social Entreprenuers from Colorado to inspire others. The whole process will also help us identify the best leading social entrepreneurs in your community.

ACCELERATE THE IMPACT OF ASHOKA FELLOWS

We measure the impact of the work of our Fellows through the following indicators: independent replication, dedication to original vision, policy influence, and leadership in the field. An active city of changemakers will provide an enabling environment for Ashoka Fellows to further increase their impact in each of these areas.

RECOGNIZE THE WORK OF ASHOKA FELLOWS

The Change your City campaign suppports Ashoka Fellows by bringing recognition and awareness to their work and the work of social entrepreneurs across the country.

GROW THE NETWORK

STRENGTHEN THE NETWORK

, ASHOKA FELLOW, COLORADO

Ashoka Fellow Lynn Price founded Camp To Belong (CTB) to reunite siblings separated by the foster care system. The camps, initially established to help separated siblings reunite and sustain a relationship, have become the cornerstone of a year-round program to change the way the child welfare system preserve and support sibling relationships. Their success has helped Camp To Belong become the backbone of Lynns effective lobbying force for the rights of siblings as well as a national benchmark for nurturing siblings through the foster care system. In Colorado, Lynn served as the spokesperson for a coalition that introduced House Bill 1108, requiring court documentation of efforts made to avoid separating siblings placed in foster care.

“Because you have dedicated yourself to reconnecting families who have been forced apart, and because you have taken your own life to a higher level in the process, we honor you today as a recipient of our Use Your Life Award.”

- Oprah Winfrey


How we will do it / Changemaker Campuses

ASHOKA’S UNIVERSITY NETWORK: CHANGEMAKER CAMPUSES

Launched in September 2008, the Ashoka Changemaker Campus Initiative brings together entrepreneurial faculty, staff, and students from across select campuses in an effort to create a vision and plan of action to improve teaching, research, and engagement opportunities in social entrepreneurship–both on campus and in the local and global communities in which they work.

Following a careful selection process, Ashoka partners with key universities in a one-year incubator that involves a combination of workshops, coaching, on-going partnership opportunities, and evaluation exercises. These efforts culminate in the dissemination of best practices to demonstrate what a “Changemaker Campus” looks like and to outline the principles and strategies for getting there.

Gerald Chertavian, Ashoka Fellow. Connecting urban youth to corporate opportunities.


What we’ve done

THE “CHANGE YOUR CITY” CAMPAIGN

THE ONLINE COMPETITION

CHANGEMAKER CAMPUS

ASHOKA FELLOWS

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR EVENT

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Our campaign in Dublin, Ireland reached 2.3 million people through editorial, outdoor, and TV advertising.

Ashoka’s Changemakers program has hosted 24 competitions since 2004 sourcing over 4,500 social innovations and attracting approximately USD $30 million in post-competition investment for innovators around the globe.

Ashoka’s University Network has catalyzed transformative change on 4 inaugural campuses, thanks to a combination of tailored training and access to a global network.

Ashoka has vetted and supported more than 2,000 outstanding social entrepreneurs around the globe through the Ashoka Fellowship.

We’ convened numerous events worldwide around social entrepreneurship. From issue specific roundtables to large public events to problem solving sessions, Ashoka can bring together the leaders in the field.

Some of the partners we’ve worked with include McKinsey & Company, Google, the Gates Foundation, Knight Foundation, National Geographic, Hill & Knowlton, Latham & Watkins, Nike, Citi, Staples, MTV, CNN, Starbucks, Best Buy, and the Rockefeller Foundation.


The campaign in Dublin, Ireland

See the campaign live on the streets of Dublin here: http://vimeo.com/3974873

Launched in March 2009: 160 Billboards, 12 press advertisements, TV documentary, radio features, and a city of changemaking.

THE “CHANGE YOUR CITY CAMPAIGN”

THE ONLINE COMPETITION

CHANGEMAKER CAMPUS

ASHOKA FELLOWS

ADDITIONAL GATHERINGS

ASHOKA

Your logo featured on multiple platforms across the campaign. Citywide recognition as a leader in social innovation.

A vetted list of promising and effective local solutions ready to go to scale. An online platform that archives, cultivates, and disseminates the best ideas entered in the competition

Local universities positioned as leaders in social innovation, and a community of changemakers that extends beyond the walls of the university.

Proven innovative solutions working successfully on the ground in your community.

An opportunity to connect withthe movers and shakers of social entrepreneurship in Colorado


What you’ll get


What will successlook like?

A vibrant community of changemakers ensuring the success of your city.

Raising the profile of social entrepreneurship and innovation as an effective tool to create change in a city.

Sparking 50+ innovations in two months and recognizing the best of these through financial and other support.

Approximately 500 young people engaged in their own youth-led solutions to social issues.

Local media spreading new ideas and reporting about social innovation.

An online, ongoing community of changemakers that continues to grow.


Who we are

WHAT IS ASHOKA’S CHANGEMAKERS?Ashoka’s Changemakers (www.changemakers.net) is an online community that connects people with a passion for a better world with those who are making a lasting difference in their communities.

Our 24 successful competitions have attracted groundbreaking organizations, social entrepreneurs, media, corporate leaders, community organizers and fans who want to be part of our collaborative process of finding solutions to address community concerns.

WHAT IS ASHOKA?Ashoka is the global association of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs—men and women with system-changing solutions for the world’s most urgent social problems.

Since 1981, Ashoka has elected 2,000 social entrepreneurs as Fellows, providing them with living stipends, professional support, and access to a global network of peers in more than 70 countries.

WHAT IS ASHOKA’S CHANGEMAKER CAMPUS?Through the Changemaker Campus Initiative, Ashoka’s University Program works to build up a unique set of best practices to demonstrate effective approaches to social entrepreneurship education. We then spread those models globally through the University Network for Social Entrepreneurship (www.universitynetwork.org), an active association of more than 350 professors engaged in social entrepreneurship teaching and research worldwide. Over the next 5 years, we aim to partner with a wide range of 40 exemplary universities, in order to reach a tipping point in which universities everywhere work to prepare their students to create social value in society, regardless of their career path.

Everyone A Changemaker.

Ashoka1700 North Moore Street, Suite 2000 | Arlington, VA 22209 | USAT: 703.527.8300 F: 703.527.8383

www.ashoka.org

Thank YouWe welcome an opportunity to explore the innovative ways we can work together to bring lasting change to your city.

Charlie BrownExecutive Director, Ashoka’ Changemakers

[email protected]

Paula RecartDirector, Communications

[email protected]

Christopher PelleyAshoka Support Network Member

[email protected]

Marina KimDirector, Ashoka’s University Program

[email protected]

Lucy PerkinsDirector, North America Diamond

[email protected]

For more information on changing your city, please contact:

Sarah Brooks at [email protected] or 1-703-600-8338

Documents

Ashoka Change Your City Denver