The Ashoka Journal - Summer 2016

The AshokA JournAlsummer 2016

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The AshokA JournAl TeAm:

ediTor: Meera Patel | Communications Ashoka UK & Ashoka EuropeillusTrATion & design: Thomas Prestidge ConTribuTors: Ross Hall | Director of Education, Ashoka EuropeAdam Lent | Director of Research and Innovation, Ashoka EuropeRob Wilson | Director, Ashoka UKWiTh speCiAl ThAnks To: Caroline Anstey, Amy Clark, Elena Gibson, Ellen Goodman, Anthony C. Grayling, Andrew McGuinness, Mohsin Mohi-Ud-Din, Laxmi Parthasarathy, Sara Saeed, Dan Schiff.

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In late June the UN reported that 65 million people across the world are refugees, asylum seekers or internally displaced. This statistic summarises estimates for 2015, reflecting a rise of 5 million people over the last year. When examining this in the context of global populations this means that 1 in every 113 people falls into this category.1 The scale of this problem is deeply unsettling, but perhaps more so is the statistic that has emerged: half of all refugees are children under the age of 18. Millions of childhoods are unfolding in the context of fear, instability and poverty. Beyond the obvious questions of human tragedy, the sheer size of these statistics aggressively pose questions about the sort of global future that these children will build.

To introduce some context, the current number of refugee children in the world is roughly equivalent to the entire population of Canada. By the time these children reach adulthood the globe will look radically different from its current guise and much like our current world, it will demand action of these children to build sustainably for a collective future. The plight of refugee children is an acute expression of a global inadequacy in the provision of education, support and care to children everywhere.

To build the future we are looking for there is an immediate, pressing moral imperative to invest in education. Across the globe there are increasing cries from parents, schools, employers and governments for an education system fit for purpose that not only supports these young people in their own lives but empowers them to build lives with the common good and the interests of society at the heart of everything.

In this issue of The Ashoka Journal we examine what experiences and conditions are required to equip these children and children everywhere to live as changemakers. In conversation with senior staff from 3M and freuds we discuss the new demands for the commercial world. We consider the possibilities of education with renowned philosopher A.C. Grayling, and we hear from the youth of Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan. Join us in building a new response to contemporary global issues.

Meera PatelEditor

1 www.bbc.co.cuk/new/world-36573082 accessed on 4/07/16.

ConTenTs

3m: A CAse sTudy in driving innovATion Through empAThy And CollAborATionDan Schiff

bAnking on soCiAl innovATioncaroline anStey in converSation with aDam lent

in ConversATion WiTh A.C. grAylingroSS hall

defying grAviTy: supporTing syriA’s youTh mohSin mohi-UD-Din

seizing The fuTure: Why empoWering young people Will build A beTTer Worldrob wilSon anD ellen GooDman

An eConomiC ArgumenT for CompAssionroSS hall anD meera Patel

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survivAl in business And enlighTened self inTeresT anDrew mcGUinneSS

meeT The Women bridging The heAlThCAre gAp in pAkisTAnSara SaeeD

The ‘bArefooT lAWyers’ TrAnsforming The JusTiCe sysTemmeera vijayann

refugees in Turkey musT be AlloWed To find Their oWn soluTionsaDam lent

A sChool WiTh no punishmenT And no reWArdsellen GooDman

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An eConomiC ArgumenT for CompAssion

A Widening ChAsm beTWeen business And eduCATion

In the summer of 2015, the multinational professional services firm, EY, announced that it would no longer be using degree classifications as the principle criterion for assessing applications for employment. In making their decision, EY joined a group of multinational corporations, including KPMG, Deloitte and PwC, who are taking action to close the gap between what employers want to see in their colleagues and what schools and universities are paying attention to. This gap has been talked about extensively for many years, but it’s only recently that such assertive action has been taken by so many influential businesses.

So why are firms acting now?

The answer to this question rests in the idea that the gap between what employers need and what is prioritised in education has become a chasm. This distance is widening at such a rate that competitiveness, growth and even survival are at threat. The education/employment gap has become business-critical.

01 | the aShoka joUrnal, SUmmer 2016

ross hAll And meerA pATel

“CompAssion rooTs us in our relATionships WiTh oThers And in our environmenTs, And is Therefore CenTrAl To CreATing flexible WorkforCes ThAT Are Able To respond noT only To The ChAllenges posed by mArkeTs buT Also To The broAder soCiAl And environmenTAl ChAllenges businesses fACe.”


the aShoka joUrnal, SUmmer 2016 | 04

The forces that are opening this distance are, on one side, a powerful inertia in the education system, and on the other side, fundamental shifts in the way business is being done.

A shifT in The nATure of business

In the past, repetitive cycles, hierarchical structures and centralised decision-making characterised much of business and employment. But ask employers to describe business and work today, and they are more likely to use words like volatile, complex, hyper-connected, decentralised, distributed, mass-participation, self-service, do-it-yourself and sharing.

From the user-generated content that powers Facebook, to the 1.5 million craftspeople who host their sales on Etsy, in our new world, businesses need staff, customers and suppliers who take the lead, make their own decisions, and solve their own problems. Companies need people who are self-empowered.

And as the economic value of empowerment becomes more apparent, businesses are becoming increasingly empowering. Robin Chase, Founder and CEO of ZipCar refers to this shift in business as the Peers Inc. model, arguing that empowering companies “grow faster, learn faster, and adapt faster […] giving rise to a business environment that works very differently — almost the opposite — to fifteen, or even ten, years ago. Where once, companies succeeded by inducing scarcity and raising barriers through patents, trademarks, copyrights, and certifications, today, the most value is created by opening assets up and maximizing the participation of individuals — to experiment, to localise, to adapt, to innovate.”

WhAT CompAnies And eConomies need

Businesses and universities have extensively studied the knowledge, skills and qualities that define self-empowered employees (the Partnership for 21st Century Skills took an early leading role). However, for the large majority of young people, this research has not yet translated into changes in their experience of education. As a result, education systems have become increasingly ineffective at serving economies and by extension they have become increasingly ineffective at serving the societies and natural environments within which economies exist.

With companies now taking bold steps to align hiring criteria with learning objectives, it seems likely that the usual favourites of STEM, digital literacy, creativity, critical thinking, communication, collaboration, leadership, and problem-solving will feature prominently. But while these skills are certainly necessary, they might not be entirely sufficient, and employers would be wise to consider putting compassion high on their list of hiring criteria.

employers need empAThy

Businesses already implicitly value compassion because they value teamwork, collaboration and networks; because they know that relationships between colleagues, customers and suppliers are crucial. In short, companies understand the power of understanding people (at its crudest, understanding your customer is at the heart of good negotiation and selling). The financial consequences of this knowledge are significant: a study conducted by Rutgers University showed that compassionate companies outperformed their competitors by at least 20%.

businesses AlreAdy impliCiTly vAlue CompAssion beCAuse They vAlue TeAmWork, CollAborATion And neTWorks; beCAuse They knoW ThAT relATionships beTWeen ColleAgues, CusTomers And suppliers Are CruCiAl.

This article was produced through a collaboration between Skoll World Forum and Ashoka to conclude a series of articles running around the Skoll World Forum 2016.It was first published on Virgin.com on 25th April 2016. Photo credit: Ashoka Spain, Institut de Sils.

In this context “compassion” encompasses emotional and cognitive forms of empathy, understanding other people, and acting thoughtfully on that understanding. In other words, the word describes a complex state of being that includes - but goes beyond - the narrower meaning of acting to alleviate another person’s suffering.

With this wider definition, compassion is central to self-empowerment, to effectiveness in the workplace, and to economic success. Victor Chan, whose books on compassion are co-authored with His Holiness, The Dalai Lama, observes that “collaboration, teamwork and the ability to relate to others advance the course of a company” and that “compassion is a central determinant of a company’s success.”

eduCATors should pAy ATTenTion To CompAssion

Chan argues that even when looking at the objectives of education in purely economic terms, compassion should be prioritised. “Academic study is important”, he says, “but equally important is character. And we particularly need to develop compassion as the basis of collaborating and working with others… Compassion is a trait that one can cultivate and learn through practice and education systems can play an important role in developing it in young people… This is an idea that is quite recent, at least in the west. We must think of the importance of developing one’s whole person in the learning environment in order to prepare young people to be effective in the workplace and to lead fulfilled and successful lives.”

In saying this, Chan takes the economic argument further, by explaining that “compassion roots us in our relationships with others and in our environments, and is therefore central to creating flexible workforces that are able to respond not only to the challenges posed by markets but also to the broader social and environmental challenges businesses face.” Compassion is at the heart of any business that cares about its social and environmental impact.

EY’s decision to look beyond academic attainment in its hiring processes might finally give educators, the impetus they need to shift their focus of attention on a large scale. If so, we should make sure we use this opportunity to focus on nurturing the skills that are most deeply fundamental to empowering young people to build good businesses, healthier economies, and a better world.


defying grAviTy: supporTing syriA’s youTh

We sat on a bench under the sun, conversing amidst sounds of young boys playing soccer and children running to their next classes.

This seemingly normal interaction could have happened anywhere, perhaps in Central Park in New York for instance. But this was not a normal setting by any means. The bench we were chatting on was in a refugee camp. This was not a park with trees and grass and birds. This was Zaatari camp, where we are surrounded by tents and trailers enclosed by concrete walls and barbed wire. For 5 years now Syrian families have taken refuge here, from a civil war that has metastasised across the region and claimed more than 200,000 lives.

The children we heard were playing on a makeshift patch of turf, where there used be only rocks and dust. The NGO, Questscope and UNFPA have managed to bring in a small patch of colour to this otherwise binary landscape of grey and brown.

The person I sat with was one of the young trainees who I had engaged whilst running Ashoka Youth Venture’s #MeWeSyria programme. But he is no ordinary teenager: He is


mohsin mohi-ud-din

a young Syrian who is raising his brother on his own, his parents and siblings are separated in numerous countries as a result of war. As a teenager, in one short lifetime he has to play father, mother, and sibling for his younger brother.

We were taking a break from our #MeWeSyria session, in which we had been carving out youth-led spaces for self-expression, critical thinking, changemaking and creative enterprise for Syrian youths inside Jordan and Turkey.

My young friend informed me that he was also training in clowning and circus skills- it is something that he has grown quite passionate about. I was a bit perplexed by this. Clown trainings? The circus? Here, in this awful place? I grew to see that non-traditional programs like the independent circus workshops I discovered, and

youTh, And in pArTiCulAr

mArginAlized youTh suCh As syriA’s

young refugees, should be equipped

To sTep inTo Their sTory insTeAd of

observing iT from The sidelines Where

isis And fAiled poliTiCs dominATe

The nArrATive.


Youth Venture’s experiential engagements as ways to unlock youth-led spaces of social innovation and empathy. They served to contribute much needed emotional development and wellbeing support to otherwise technical programmes focussed on reading, memorisation, and repetition. The conventional approaches of teach, memorise, and repeat fail to advance people and planet as we continue to live in a world where change is the only constant.

With #MeWeSyria for instance, youth are engaged in the process of storytelling as a way to discover their inner changemakers and strengthen their capacities for building teams, fluid leadership, empathy, and creative problem solving. The experiential process develops open peer to peer communication and gives life and action to crucial social ingredients for well-being and sustainable peace.

Youth, and in particular marginalized youth such as Syria’s young refugees, should be equipped to step into their story instead of observing it from the sidelines where ISIS and failed politics dominate the narrative.

All around him, my young friend sees misery and reminders of loss. But with unconventional programs such as the circus workshops and clowning, he steps into a character with a clear aim and purpose of making someone smile, and consequently he himself is transported to a space where he must block out all the negative noise. He shares that by making someone crack a smile, he unlocks strength in others while also discovering it.

His younger brother had participated in one of the youth-produced #MeWeSyria projects last year. They had chosen to produce and direct a film about child labour and its impact on social development and education. I asked him what his brother is up to these days and he cracked a smile and said, “Gymnastics in the circus workshops. Want to see?”

As we approached the massive tent, a confetti of torn shoes and sandals littered the entrance.

I saw more than a hundred Syrian kids doing a myriad of activities. Several were riding unicycles. Most were doing flips and tumbling. All were part of the ocean of loss and injustice and anger spawned by the Syrian war which the world continues to enable.Every youth I see in this circus is fighting every day to find something to do, to hold on to for hope and wellbeing. I was literally standing in a circus of hope in the darkest of places. I can’t think of anything more fitting to describe the tragicomedy of our world today.



i sAW more ThAn A hundred syriAn kids doing A myriAd of ACTiviTies. severAl Were riding uniCyCles. mosT Were doing flips And Tumbling. All Were pArT of The oCeAn of loss And inJusTiCe And Anger spAWned by The syriAn WAr WhiCh The World ConTinues To enAble.

My student’s younger brother saw us and immediately cut through the line of boys to show us his talents. He ran towards nothing and suddenly stopped and leaps into the air twisting his body as if he were shot out of a canon. For a brief moment, the laws of nature and the failures of our world did not tether him to the desert floor. Just for a second, the laws of nature did not apply to this sweet, innocent child.

We clapped and hollered and cheered. The other Syrian kids saw this and like a volcano there erupted an exhibition of talent. All the kids began pulling me aside to show me how they could defy nature and cut the air with their bodies.

I cannot stop playing these images in my head; not because of the talent in the room. It was the famine I saw in their eyes. Here I do not speak of famine in the sense of lack of nutrition. I speak of a hunger for stimulation, encouragement and hope. This was a tent filled with anonymous potential where each young person is a carrier of hope, innovation, love and resilience. Nothing is more sacred.

What haunts me is the uncertainty of whether our international community will nurture, or abuse or disregard all this anonymous potential. What will become of this beautiful potential?

AT This Time, syriA’s refugees ConTinue To defy nATure And grAviTy As every dAy They seArCh for And CulTivATe hope, purpose And resilienCe. iT hAs been A 5-yeAr endeAvour.


For five years now the international community is still shaking its head, arguing what needs to be done. For five years politics, power, extremism continue to enable the failure of opening Syria back to its people. Syrians want to go home.

At this time, Syria’s refugees — its young changemakers — continue to defy nature and gravity as every day they search for and cultivate hope, purpose and resilience. It has been a 5-year endeavour. This is fragile.

Now is an overdue moment where we must be the choir for Syria’s lost generation. No one government — not Russia, Saudi, Iran or the US — can do this. It is everyday people working as a team of teams across sectors that can do this…from employers who can adapt hiring criteria to aid young skilled workers to universities who can adapt more responsive recruitment strategies for young Syrians who were in the middle of pursuing their degrees when the war started.

For how much longer can my student’s younger brother– and millions like him — continue to defy gravity on his own? If we lose this, we lose everything.

A resilient peace and the future development of Syria depends on all of us collaborating as a team of teams towards valuing and supporting Syria’s young change makers today by flipping status quo approaches to youth refugee engagement. Status quo systems enabled the persistence of the war in Syria as we know it today. Let’s together flip systems to raise up, not contain, Syria’s young changemakers. This will require us to apply the following approaches in our youth engagements:

• Experiential programs that disrupt internal barriers to self-expression, critical thinking, creativity, and pluralism

• Peer-to-peer learning that self-replicates culture tipping towards: team of teams, fluid leadership, empathy and creative problem-solving

• Opportunities for young people to step into their own story and tackle the ‘whys’ instead of the ‘what’ and ‘hows’

• Replication templates that allow for co-creation with community leaders, youth mentors and teachers for localization and relevancy

This article was first published on innovation.unhcr.org on 4th April 2016, and is part of a series of stories on #MeWeSyria. The ideas expressed in guest blogposts are not endorsed by UNHCR/UNHCR Innovation. Photo credit: DfID via Flikr, used under Creative Commons License.

seizing The fuTure: Why empoWering young people Will build A beTTer World

The world is changing, and it’s changing fast — much faster than our education system has so far been able to keep up.

In his TED talk titled “Do schools kill creativity?” Sir Ken Robinson says that the purpose of education is to “take us into a future that we can’t grasp.” In a world that is increasingly defined by complexity, hyper-connectivity, and rapid technological advancements, it seems ever more necessary to equip young people with skills that enable them to adapt and thrive.


ellen goodmAn And rob Wilson

Whether one calls these “essential skills,” “character traits,” “grit education,” or “a growth mind set,” there is a consensus on the necessity for collaboration, creativity, and the ability to act constructively in an ambiguous and changing environment. In the context of an uncertain world, educationalist Carol Dweck advises: “The best thing parents can do is to teach their children to love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort, and keep on learning.”

Education systems worldwide are facing criticism for failing to prepare children to face the challenges of the modern world, through an over-emphasis on repetitive learning and exam preparation. In this context we call for new learning ecosystems that empower young people to shape the future that they want, rather than only reacting to it.

But what do these new learning eco-systems look like?

empoWering WiThin The eduCATion sysTem

One example is School21 in East London. The school’s unique approach to education is rooted in their six attributes for success in the 21st century — expertise (mastering the basics of learning), professionalism (being ready to learn), eloquence (finding your voice), grit (overcoming set-backs), spark (creating new things) and craftsmanship (making beautiful work). They provide one-to-one coaching and personal support for every student. Their curriculum places a strong emphasis on spoken communication, and learning is rooted in real-world, hands-on projects that are displayed at regular community events.

Education is an important factor in a young person’s development, but it is not the only one. To genuinely support young people to become leaders we need to work across sectors.

empoWering Children Through enTrepreneurship

Jeroo Billimoria is a serial social entrepreneur who has launched a number of initiatives that empower young people. She founded the Childline India Foundation, a 24-hour emergency telephone service for street children in distress. Volunteer street children are trained to man the telephones and direct callers to relevant services. Childline works with official services — which often have conflicted relationships with street children — to promote children’s rights, challenge perceptions of street children, and create interventions that support them.

“Children need systems that are inclusive and driven by them, systems that will enable them to respond to their feelings and needs at any time,” says Jeroo. As of March 2015, Childline had responded to 36 million calls, operates in 366 cities, and works with a network of over 700 partner organizations.

In the UK, the social enterprise Bite the Ballot is kick-starting a movement to engage young people in democracy by identifying and removing barriers that prevent them from taking an active role in politics. It helps young people realise their political power through grassroots campaigning, connecting with other young people online, and influencing policy.

“We have far too many young people not understanding the link between the issues they feel passionate about, and being political,” says Michael Sani, Bite the Ballot’s co-founder. “We are on a mission to create spaces to enable, engage, and empower young people to be change-makers.”

building A beTTer World

These social entrepreneurs and educational innovators are demonstrating the importance of placing young people at the center of creating social change. By supporting young people to actively shape the world they want to live in, they are preparing a generation to thrive in a world of change and tackle the biggest social issues that are facing our world today.

This article is part of a series produced in collaboration by the Skoll Foundationand Ashoka, to coincide with the 2016 Skoll World Forum in Oxford, England. It was first published on www.medium.com/@Ashoka on 13th April 2016. Photo credit: School 21.


the aShoka joUrnal, SPrinG 2016 | 04

in A World ThAT is inCreAsingly defined by ComplexiTy, hyper-ConneCTiviTy, And rApid TeChnologiCAl AdvAnCemenTs, iT seems ever more neCessAry To equip young people WiTh skills ThAT enAble Them To AdApT And Thrive.

3m: A CAse sTudy in driving innovATion Through empAThy And CollAborATion

Michele Whyle is Director of Global Sustainability at 3M, widely considered one of the world’s most innovative companies. Its portfolio of 55,000 products includes the Post-It Notes on your desk, the ACE bandages in your medicine cabinet, and many less-visible industrial applications to improve lighting, transportation and power transmission.

Fresh off 3M’s “The Big Picture” exhibition at South by Southwest (SXSW), Michele spoke with Ashoka’s Dan Schiff to talk about the company’s role in innovating through empathy, partnerships for a better world and encouraging more young women to pursue scientific careers. (This interview has been edited and condensed.)


dAn sChiff

Ashoka: What does sustainability mean to you?

Michele Whyle: I’ve been with 3M for 22 years. In some manner, I have touched sustainability my entire career. When I think of sustainability today, I think of it as a continuum starting with supply-side sustainability like energy reduction and waste reduction and emissions management. In the last 12 years, I have been focused more on the demand side of sustainability and forward-thinking sustainability. Those are things that materially impact corporate performance: customer interaction, strategy, brand, new innovation.

At SXSW, our theme was what will the world look like in 2050 with 9 billion people: what could it look like if we don’t change anything, and then what could it look like if we do change things. It was not just around promoting 3M; it was really that we need to think differently, we need to collaborate. And it was to inspire people that the individual can make a difference.

Ashoka: Can you drill down into how 3M is addressing a specific challenge through collaboration and technological innovation?

Whyle: The biggest challenge I’m thinking about is energy. How do we provide energy to help people improve their lives in a way that is sustainable from a macro-environmental perspective? It comes from innovation and collaboration.

As an example, there’s a 3M product that we’ve developed for high-voltage cable lines to transport significantly more voltage across a much lighter-weight, energy-efficient cable material. If you think about the impact of having that in an overcrowded city like Mumbai, they can take this new cabling material and replace old and worn-out materials, and it doubles the capacity. That’s a solution that will take existing infrastructure and allow people to have the energy they need to read and cook.

Ashoka: “Collaboration” is a term that gets used a lot. What’s your thought about avoiding the fatigue that can develop around collaboration, to make sure it’s actually effective?

Whyle: I hear you, it can be a buzzword. But there is something really special about 3M when I think of collaboration, that I don’t think happens as robustly in other companies. It’s our culture. We’re a heavily matrixed organization, we don’t have layers. And we have to function that way in order to do anything.


Our collaborative culture emerged almost at conception because we were a technology-based company. And as we’ve grown, we may have a polymer scientist working here in St. Paul, Minnesota, and a polymer scientist working in China, and these people have to talk to each other. We can’t have them doing the same thing and replicating it. So we created within the company the Technical Forum, the technical communications vehicle of the organization. All technical employees belong, and they’re divided into chapters depending upon scientific expertise and what they are working on at the moment. And there’s both in-person and virtual ways to connect. So when I think of collaboration, that’s a vehicle that has worked well for the technical side. And it’s been expanded into a Marketing Forum, so our business folks now have the same mechanism.

Ashoka: Do you see a limit to what companies can do in terms of environmental sustainability, where the government has to step in? Or do companies really hold the key to saving the world?

Whyle: Now you’re getting into one of my favorite topics. There’s a great debate to be had there, isn’t there? I don’t think we can do it alone. I mean, I know we can’t. But I do think that generally companies have more ability to innovate.

3M is also part of an interesting initiative right now that we just started about a year ago, The Closed Loop Fund. Competitive companies are partnering with customers and financial institutions. It started out with the situation in the U.S. around recycling, that rates haven’t improved much in the past 35 years. And the analysis showed the answer was that only about half of the municipalities in the U.S. actually have recycling infrastructure. So discussions started with companies, with Walmart as the leader. The concept was that if we provided low- or no-interest loans to municipalities to build recycling infrastructure—whether that be curbside bins or trucks or maybe a municipal recycling facility—would that be enough to move the needle on recycling in the United States?

Think of it from a company perspective, too. We want to do good, we want to help the environment, but we also want to use recycled materials in our products and our packaging. And one of the challenges to using recycled materials is their availability is very limited and the quality is sporadic, and there’s extreme price volatility due to the instability of the supply chain. So if we can stabilize the recycling infrastructure, this helps our business while doing good for the world. We can create jobs, reduce impact on the environment, and we’ve got a new material stream that we can use in products and packaging.

It’s a very interesting initiative in that it’s a private enterprise solution to a policy issue. Who would’ve ever thought that Coca-Cola and Pepsi would be in a partnership together?


empAThy is pArT of hoW We develop our produCTs beCAuse We hAve To plACe ourselves in The posiTion of The user. WiTh The lifeCyCle mAnAgemenT proCess, We’re Also Thinking AbouT All The oTher sTAkeholders ThAT Could be impACTed.

But they came together in a common cause. I think that’s going to be the solution, finding more things like that.

Ashoka: What role does empathy play in 3M’s product development process?

Whyle: Empathy is part of how we develop our products because we have to place ourselves in the position of the user. With the lifecycle management process, we’re also thinking about all the other stakeholders that could be impacted. So I think in that regard, our ability to empathize with those impacted is pretty extraordinary.

We have a lot of products at 3M that aren’t that glamorous, but that really impact people’s lives. We sell cleaning products into hospitals and buildings, used by environmental service employees. Hospitals are very concerned about infection prevention, so as they clean their floors with the mop and the bucket, they have to change the water in the bucket every three rooms. And hospitals have a lot of rooms. So as the worker wheels that bucket over to empty it, they have to lift it up over the edge of the floor sink. And the no. 1 injury for environmental service workers is a shoulder injury due to that constant lifting of the bucket. So we invented a mop with an industrial cleaning liquid in the stick to make a self-cleansing floor mop. We’ve done studies, and it reduces the chemical and water use by up to 80%, it’s more effective at cleaning, and it eliminates the shoulder issue.Like I said, this isn’t a glamorous product, but think about the impact on that person’s life from something that everybody can relate to. Sometimes I think some of the not-so-exciting products, just the day-to-day ones in the lives of people, have a really big impact. I was part of that design team that designed that, too. Talk about empathy. We did a lot of late nights in the hospital cleaning and learning how [the cleaning crews] work and what their challenges are.

Ashoka: Given your background in chemical engineering, what do you see as the best ways to get more girls and women into technology and science?

Whyle: We need to make sure they have exposure to science and technology, and that they’re encouraged to look at science and technology as possible career paths.

Science and technology are so broad—it’s computers, it’s architecture, it’s design. When I was a girl, you could take chemistry and you could take math. Today, you can take computer-aided design classes, you can join the robotics club. I think there needs to be exposure to all the varieties. You don’t know what you don’t know.

I think about how I was inspired to become a chemical engineer. I had a chemistry teacher that was a woman, so she was pretty interesting to me. Then I had a couple of older friends


This article was first published on Forbes.com on 31st March 2016. Photo credit: Pixabay and Claire Greenaway Photography.

that went to school for physics and chemistry. As I looked across the disciplines, I liked math and science, so I picked chemical engineering.

Ashoka: And once they join the workforce, how do we keep women in scientific fields?

Whyle: We have to make the work environment a place where women can be their authentic selves. All people, really. We have to have flexible work arrangements as people go through different life stages. They also need mentors. One of the most important factors for women to stay in the workforce and accelerate their career is having a high-level sponsor within the company that is helping them and bringing them along, coaching and teaching. I think we need all those things for women to stay in these fields.


in ConversATion WiTh A.C. grAyling

Ross Hall: There is a very strong sense now that life is changing at an unprecedented pace. We’re witnessing geopolitical upheavals; great migrations of people between countries and into cities; and an explosion in the human population. We’re living in a time of accelerating volatility and hyperconnectivity.

As a result of these changes, there’s a growing belief that traditional, hierarchical and centralised models of decision-making are no longer fit for purpose and that everybody needs to be equipped and inclined to make decisions - and act - for the collective good. We can’t simply follow the rules if we want to do well in the modern world or create positive change or be a good person.

A.C. Grayling: Yes, I agree. There is a pressure in the direction of greater democratisation of society in the sense that everybody can have their say almost any time they want to, everybody has instant access to news and can give instant responses through social media. And our politicians, our social leaders, our thought leaders, can be made aware immediately of what opinion is in society about given matters.

ross hAll


This has an upside and a downside. On the one hand, having a more participatory society is, in itself, a good thing. The downside is that it doesn’t end in democracy. It ends in ochlocracy, which means rule by the crowd, by the mob. And that can lead to bad decisions in many cases, and anarchy in some cases.

Although that is our direction of travel, what we still have in the UK is a mediated democracy – which is not immediate as in ochlochracy. We elect people as representatives to do some thinking about an issue and then to discuss it with their peers so that they come to a decision on our behalf. If we don’t like their decisions, we can get rid of them and put some more representatives in their place. But this process is a filtering process. So it filters immediate responses, attitudes, and desires, and tries to express them in more rational and considered ways.

Ross Hall: So are you suggesting we now have an opportunity to build a more participatory form of democracy that sits somewhere between an ochlochracy and our current mediated model?

A.C. Grayling: Yes, we do have an opportunity, but the big question is will we take the opportunity? Democracy works best with an informed, intelligent, thoughtful, considerate constinuency of people who look to the overall benefit and to the long term as well as to their own interests.

Right now, we’ve got masses of people having their say on electronic media, and that’s brilliant. But we still need some expert selection from that. Not filtering of it or gatekeeping, but selection. We need to be able to trust the judgment of those who have experience. And through a process of trying to educate and encourage people to think for themselves and to become informed, we can hope that the ochlocracy will transmute into a genuine democracy, and that would be wonderful.

Ross Hall: That would require a much greater focus on the development of thoughtfulness in the general population, which involves critical thinking and imagination and empathy I think. Things which tend not to be the focus of attention when we educate young people.

A.C. Grayling: The great challenge of education is to approximate to the ideal as closely as one can. And the ideal is a person who has equipped himself or herself with real insight and understanding. And remember, understanding is a step beyond knowledge.

Data is not knowledge until it’s organised. Knowledge is not the final step. The final step is understanding what you know and how to use it, and having insight into how it is for


people who are not oneself, not in one’s culture or time. To have the generosity to try to get a real grasp of the lives of others, to look for the commonalities - because, after all, we human beings are quite literally all related to one another – theswe are the desiderata of understanding. It also means looking for those points of contact where agreements and compromises and coexistence can be made possible.

I think looking for that actually requires being educated. I mean, not in the sense of having passed exams and having doctorates and so on, but educated in the sense of having one’s sensibilities and responses coached and fostered by the kind of acquaintance with

And Through A proCess of Trying To eduCATe And enCourAge people To Think for Themselves And To beCome informed, We CAn hope ThAT The oChloCrACy Will TrAnsmuTe inTo A genuine demoCrACy, And ThAT Would be Wonderful.


A.C. Grayling is Master of New College of the Humanities. He is an internationally renowned philosopher and has written and edited over 20 books, the most recent of which is ‘The Challenge of Things’, Bloomsbury, 2015.

the experiences of others, with the cultures of others, with the literatures, the history, the understanding of the world of others. That would really give one that thing that you describe and which is so key: empathy. It’s really important.

Ross Hall: What are the challenges, then, of enabling young people to become educated in this way?

A.C. Grayling: Unfortunately, at the moment in England, teachers are constrained by the need to download from the curriculum to the minds of their students some basic skills, and facts, and to cover the whole range of subjects: physics, chemistry, biology, history, geography, English literature, English language, a little bit of a French or Spanish or German. It’s a very full day, a very full week, a very full school year.

A university, again, in the ideal, should be a place where students really get an opportunity to explore the dimensionalities of things that they have already learned, and to add to that knowledge with a deal more insight. Supposing you’re studying history. Well, what is historical truth? And how can we ever test it? What is the nature of the evidence that we’re applying? These are the sorts of questions, the historiographical questions and philosophical questions, you might ask at university, which you don’t have time to consider when you’re doing GCSE history and learning about the Tudors - the ‘who did what, when, what date, who had his head chopped off,’ and the like.

So the idea of enhancing, enriching and providing dimensions to education is the ideal at the university level. But once again, that’s possible only in certain kinds of institutions where there is enough time to do it in certain subjects, particularly in the humanities. Because if you go to university to study scientific or vocational subjects, there’s an enormous amount of extra technicality and specialism to be mastered there. And, again, time for reflection and putting things to context is limited.

We school. We train. I don’t know that we ever educate enough. So my great desire for the ideal would be to educate. And what that would take in the way of time, facilities and expense, I think, is something which even the richest country in the world at the moment finds it hard to afford.


bAnking on soCiAl innovATion

Caroline Anstey, Global Head of UBS and Society at UBS and former Managing Director of the World Bank spoke to Adam Lent, European Director of Research and Innovation at Ashoka, about the revolution in finance driving social change.

When someone who has worked for the World Bank for eighteen years tells you that the problems the world faces are too big to be solved by international organisations it is probably worth listening.

In her time at the Bank, Caroline Anstey used the formidable resources of that organisation to solve some pretty big problems herself. These included helping support Haiti after the collapse of the government in 2004 and creating an insurance scheme for Caribbean nations hit by natural disasters.

AdAm lenT


But now she is happy to admit that bodies like her former employer can’t drive the real change that is needed if we are to meet the challenges laid out in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. In fact, she is more than happy – she is decidedly chipper. The reason being that other forces are rushing in to find solutions: private investment and social innovators.

It used to be the case, says Anstey, that public money flowing into the very low income countries dwarfed private funds. But no more. There is a historical shift underway. Now Global Head of UBS and Society at the Swiss Bank UBS, Anstey is enthused by the way her clients increasingly seek out a social as well as a financial return on their investments.

noT by imposing Their AuThoriTy And resourCes on The people Trying To solve problems buT by giving Those people The resourCes And The freedom They need To find And sCAle soluTions ThAT Could never be dreAmed up in A CorporATe hierArChy.

It’s a transformation in mind-set. The old myth that by doing good you could not do well financially has been junked. Investors now recognise, as she puts it pithily, that they need a “social licence to succeed as well as a financial licence”.

The money from those investors is also flowing to the second new force: innovators. In her early days at the World Bank the focus was on the big infrastructure projects for which the Bank became famous and often controversial. Today development is being democratised. Big challenges like improving girls’ education or creating effective healthcare systems are being addressed and solved by imaginative and tireless entrepreneurs looking at new models such as “pay for success”.

The daughter of Oscar-winning documentary film-maker, Edgar Anstey, Caroline grew up in London, gained a PhD in history before deciding against an academic career. Instead she was thrust into the more dynamic world of politics and journalism working first as an assistant to the former Prime Minister James Callaghan and then on BBC Radio’s flagship current affairs show Analysis.

She had a hugely influential career at the World Bank starting out on external affairs but then taking up the role of Chief of Staff to the President before becoming Managing Director. Anstey was a major force in the modernisation of the Bank driving through a change agenda designed to make an organisation often seen as closed and monolithic more open and accountable.

It’s an ethos she carries with her to the work she does at UBS. The innovators that are so crucial to the new way of addressing social challenges need help to scale. That is where she feels the financial sector can really drive change by directing investors and expertise to the great ideas ready to go from local to global impact.

But the sort of openness she drove at the World Bank plays a big role too. Anstey recounts with enthusiasm how a programme by the Kenyan Government to allow open access to its data accelerated a huge range of innovative initiatives designed to drive financial inclusion, transform healthcare and improve education.

And this is where governments, big public organisations and banks can really make a difference, Anstey contends. Not by imposing their authority and resources on the people trying to solve problems but by giving those people the resources and the freedom they need to find and scale solutions that could never be dreamed up in a corporate hierarchy.

This article was first published on UBS.com on 7th July 2016. Photo credit: Getty Images


survivAl in business And enlighTened self inTeresT

A good friend of mine strongly believes that ‘The Big Short’ should be made compulsory viewing for all adults. The film, that dramatises the events leading up to the 2008 global financial crash, is as bemusing as it is amusing. How did we collectively allow this to happen and, more importantly, why have we done so little to ensure it never happens again? The script is peppered with great lines but one of the most sobering comes from Mark Baum: “I have a feeling in a few years people are going to be doing what they always do when the economy tanks. They will be blaming immigrants and poor people”. Quite.

Whilst arguably little if nothing has changed in the fundamental way markets are regulated there has been a quiet revolution taking place which promises to reshape the relationship between business and society.

AndreW mCguinness


WhilsT ArguAbly liTTle if noThing

hAs ChAnged in The fundAmenTAl

WAy mArkeTs Are regulATed

There hAs been A quieT revoluTion

TAking plACe WhiCh promises To reshApe The

relATionship beTWeen business

And soCieTy.

Led by brave and vocal evangelists like Indra Nooyi and Paul Polman, a growing group of influential business people have been making the case both for responsible capitalism and for pure-play social enterprises. But you know that or you wouldn’t have picked up this journal. What is less discussed is how we ensure that this becomes an enduring change and not just an aberration. To do that we need to place the initiatives of today in the context of similar developments of the past.

The industrial revolution saw 11 decades of economic growth but, with obvious parallels with today’s climate, enlightened capitalists such as Richard & George Cadbury, William Hesketh Lever and Joseph Rowntree identified that this growth would not be sustainable unless the gap between the wealth created and worker welfare was closed. So, Bourneville, Port Sunlight and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation were born, an antidote to the rawness of an overheated capitalism. Whilst there are undoubtedly enduring legacies from these pioneering leaders the fact that two of these three organisations are now owned by international conglomerates (Mondelez and Nestle respectively) symbolises how these progressive views unfortunately became temporary blips rather than something more enduring. The radical social upheaval that followed WW1 reframed the initiatives: through the lens of inter-war Britain the progressive acts of industrialists were grouped with the increasingly archaic looking paternalism of the outgoing aristocracy.

Fast forward to the Noughties, capitalism once again overheated culminating in the 2008 global financial crisis. Once again there were interventions to force a course correction, most notably by the ‘Occupy’ movement which for several weeks threatened to challenge the establishment. But the movement disappeared as quickly as it formed, largely due to a lack of clarity about its purpose and its inability to articulate how a wider group could be mobilised. Ultimately, it was a highly visible protest, rather than an alternative plan for the future.

So it falls to the quieter, more constructive voices representing socially responsible capitalism to deliver lasting change. But how do we ensure that this time the change is enduring, that it’s sustainable?

At the heart of the challenge is ensuring that being social responsible isn’t seen as ‘do gooding’; corporate social responsibility buckles when confronted with trading realities. One has to accept the reality that in all but the pure-play social enterprises, economic interests trump social conscience. So, to be enduring, socially responsible capitalism needs to be understood as an engine of economic growth, something that will help drive sustainable economic success. This cannot be ‘spin’ or hyperbole; there needs to be a



The demAnd for TrAnspArenCy, delivered volunTArily or noT, Will shine A lighT on business like never before. AT The momenT This foCus is on issues like TAx And dATA proTeCTion buT iT Will quiCkly evolve To be A sCruTiny of orgAnisATions fundAmenTAl business models: ‘hoW do They mAke Their money?’

genuine and demonstrable interplay between what’s good for shareholders and what’s good for society. Organisations should be explicit about explaining that interrelationship: that in being socially responsible they are acting in Enlightened Self Interest. This would lead to a subtle but crucial shift in the way organisations communicate: the narrative from even the most progressive leaders is that they are delivering growth and socially responsible policies. Through the lens of a strategy developed from Enlightened Self Interest this becomes growth because of socially responsible policies.

That’s all well, good and worthy but it’s going to be tough for most organisations to evolve their business strategy to reflect Enlightened Self Interest. Why are they going to bother? The answer to that lies in the transparency the digital age has brought to organisations. From off shore banks to governments many organisations are already struggling to cope with the level of scrutiny they are subjected to. But as Al Jolnson said, ‘we ain’t seen nothing yet!’ The demand for transparency, delivered voluntarily or not, will shine a light on business like never before. At the moment this focus is on issues like tax and data protection but it will quickly evolve to be a scrutiny of organisations fundamental business models: ‘how do they make their money?’ Those willing to re-structure their business model: to genuinely deliver on Enlightened Self Interest will achieve the dual prize of short term competitive advantage and long term sustainability.

Andrew McGuinness is the CEO of freuds, (the largest independent PR business in the UK) and Chairman of Seven Dials. Prior to joining freuds Andrew founded Beattie McGuinness Bungay (BMB) a top 10 independent advertising agency which he successfully sold in 2014. Previously Andrew has worked for a variety of international agencies here and in Australia including M&C Saatchi, TBWA and J Walter Thompson and has run several political campaigns


meeT The Women bridging The heAlThCAre gAp in pAkisTAn


sArA sAeed

“i WAnT my dAughTer To see A World Where equiTy, JusTiCe And oTherness is The righT of

every living being.”

Dr Sara Saeed (29) Co-Founder, doctHERs 2016 Unilever Sustainable Living Young Entrepreneur Awards, the Prince

of Wales Prize Winner

“I was a graduate from one of the finest medical universities in Pakistan. I was bright, talented and had the passion to give back to my community. After 14 years of training and building my hopes and dreams to be a Doctor, I was forced to quit - forced to make a choice between my career and my baby. This story rings true for over 14,000 female doctors graduating from Pakistani medical colleges every year - out of 70,000 licensed physicians in Pakistan - only 9,000 are female. Why? These highly intelligent women are falling into the doctor-bride phenomenon - where graduating with a medical degree will reward a better reputation in the family, a higher dowry, or a better marriage proposal but will at the same time never offer the opportunity to work, build a career or save the lives of millions.”

Sajida is a mother of 5 children. She lives in an urban slum in Karachi, she is a widow and she also suffers from vaginal fistula - a condition that occurs after repeatedly giving birth at home. Her condition requires her to see a medical doctor every month - an activity near impossible since her nearest female doctor is one hours’ drive away, and where she must wait 4-5 hours to be seen by a busy doctor. As it happens her health is deteriorating. This is the problem of 120 million Pakistanis that live below the poverty line, earning less than $2 per day and where 37% of women still deliver at home, where IMR, MMR and children under 5 death rate are increasing day by day.”

So, what can we do to bridge this health gap?

Dr Sara Saeed (29) created doctHERs - a digital platform which connects impoverished communities in Pakistan to high-quality healthcare, while reintegrating qualified female doctors into the workforce - a life saving initiative which was awarded first prize at the Unilever Sustainable Living Young Entrepreneurs Awards earlier this month. From prototyping with 100 patients in 2014, Dr Saeed and her team have now opened 5 clinics, directly impacting the lives of 15,000, employing ten doctors, five nurses and three specialists. By 2020, they aim to reach 1.2 million patients and be making huge progress towards shattering the socio-cultural barriers that prevent around 87% of Pakistan’s female doctors from working.

“We create bricks and mortar clinics in rural communities through a co-ownership scheme. By engaging community elders, men, women, schools and colleges and by connecting door-to-door with over 1000 households, we have built a one stop shop for primary healthcare - physical clinics which contain virtual doctors, pharmacies, collection points, ultrasounds, physiotherapists and health awareness programmes which enable patients like Sajida to live a healthier, happier life.”

To reach scale, Dr Sara Saeed and her team have built cross-sector alliances with community partners, development organisations, and upgrading existing clinics to bring in doctHERs telemedicine health services to clinics currently run by midwives. By connecting with companies like Unilever in Pakistan, Dr Saeed is bringing telemedical kiosks into factories, improving health and hygiene, wellness training and mental health awareness and support to an industry which employs 50% women.

“When a patient gets treated in my clinic, when a doctor gets a job, and when a nurse is empowered in a community – my passion increases every day. “

With financial and strategic support, Dr Saeed can look forward to working with more community partners and organisations such as Unilever to impact even more lives.

These Awards are part of Unilever’s efforts, to support the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and celebrate inspirational entrepreneurs aged 35 and under who have developed a product, service or application that tackles some of the world’s biggest sustainability challenges.

Unilever CEO Paul Polman said: “I am incredibly impressed by Dr Saeed’s passion and determination to increase access to healthcare and empower women in the medical profession in Pakistan. Her work and that of the other finalists show that momentum is building behind the Sustainable Development Goals, but we all still need to increase our efforts.


This article was first published on Virgin.com on 23rd May 2016. Photo credit: DoctHERs.


We need new ideas, new energy, new business models – particularly from the young and the entrepreneurial. They need our help and support to realise their initiatives and change the world to create a bright future.”

927 young entrepreneurs, from 99 countries on 6 continents entered via the Ashoka Changemakers platform - an online community that connects social entrepreneurs around the globe to share ideas.

As part of the prize Dr Sara Saeed has been awarded €50,000 and she will be supported with a tailored mentoring programme delivered by the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL) and Unilever over the course of the year. The six runners-up each receive a cash prize of €10,000 in addition to mentoring and support.

“I urge you to join me creating a Pakistan where every human has the chance to get primary quality health care”

The ‘bArefooT lAWyers’ TrAnsforming The JusTiCe sysTem

For the average person, a lawyer may conjure up the image of a professional in a buttoned-down jacket straight out of the legal drama, Suits. But not to Nadim Hossain, a local pharmacist in the city of Khulna, Bangladesh. One of 300,000 Urdu-speaking Bangladeshis settled in a refugee camp set up by the Red Cross in 1971, Hossain’s attempts to apply for a bank loan to lift his family out of poverty details a long struggle for justice. It was an unlikely aide—a ‘barefoot lawyer’ that helped him successfully obtain a trade license for a loan.

Community paralegals or ‘barefoot lawyers’ trained by Namati, a social enterprise that works on legal empowerment, are changing how the world’s poorest people access the law. Early efforts to make the law accessible has primarily focused on investing in state institutions—training judges, building courthouses, buying police cars—or addressing the financial costs for services through waivers, pro-bono legal consultants or civic education programs. Namati, in contrast, works directly with citizens to pursue justice.


meerA viJAyAnn

And this approach is paying off. Now, a network of community paralegals work on the ground in 10 countries to help refugees, farmers, women and countless minorities secure their rights. Vivek Maru, a graduate of Yale Law School who founded Namati in 2011, stresses the need to move from looking at law as an ‘expensive service’ to an accessible right. “Law, historically, has been very closed, very elite. We wanted to open that up. It is fundamental to our democracy, so it shouldn’t be locked away.” he says in an interview with Tom Paulson. He argues that the law should be something that all of us can understand, use and shape.

“lAW, hisToriCAlly, hAs been very

Closed, very eliTe. We WAnTed To

open ThAT up. iT is fundAmenTAl To our

demoCrACy, so iT shouldn’T be loCked

AWAy.”

Maru’s concern is justified. The gap in justice has been growing steadily. A United Nations commission estimated that 4 billion people across the world were living outside the protection of the law in 2008, and these numbers have barely improved. Nearly 1 million low-income Americans who sought legal aid from the LSC (Legal Services Corporation) were turned away in 2009 because of a lack of resources. In nearly 80% of cases in civil courts, one or both parties appeared without a lawyer in 2015. In developing countries like India, Sierra Leone, Kenya, and Jordan the numbers are even worse. Over 31 million cases filed in court were classified pending in India in 2014, a majority of which were stuck in lower courts. In Sierra Leone, the poor face somany structural challenges in navigating the law that many simply believe that the justice system is different for the rich and the poor.

To fix this problem, Namati aims to achieve ‘law of all’ by focusing on legal empowerment. Every ‘barefoot lawyer’ that Namati trains comes from within the communities that need legal assistance the most. As community paralegals, they are trained in basic law, negotiation, organizing, and advocacy. Paralegals and clients solve many problems on their own—fisher people persuade a private port to stop blocking their access to the sea, farmers negotiate for a fair deal with an agricultural investor.


This article was first published on Forbes.com on 15th June 2016. Photo credit: Namati.


If those methods don’t work, they can request help from a senior lawyer who can engage in litigation or higher level advocacy. The four major areas that Namati works on—protecting community lands, enforcing environmental law, and securing basic rights to healthcare and citizenship—are some of the core issues that most often affect low-income citizens.

By no means is the idea of community paralegals a new one, explains Maru. Community paralegals have played a unique role in liaising and navigating legal matters since the ‘50s. The manner in which paralegals helped communities resist apartheid in South Africa was exemplary. The Black Sash in Johannesburg is a great example of how Community Advice Officers (CAOs) helped non-white citizens defy arrest, detention, and death.Namati’s endeavors—on similar lines—have exposed gross injustice and corruption while empowering the poor to fight for their rights. These ground level efforts have directly changed the lives of over 40,000 people across the world, many of whom might have never been able to challenge authority. When fisherfolk in Vapi, a small industrial town in Gujarat, India, wanted to take action against industries that dumped waste illegally into their river, they sought the help of Manisha Goswami. A paralegal trained by Namati, Goswami helped the community gather the evidence they needed to file a complaint with the Gujarat Pollution Board (GPB). As a result, the GPB issued a notice to 53 factories, asking them to abide by the law or shut down.

Vapi’s story is more than a small success for Namati, it is a validation of the future of justice. In Sierra Leone, 70 families were able to recover 1486 acres of land that was illegally grabbed from them with the support of local paralegals. Liberia even adopted a community land protection model piloted by Namati and its partner, Sustainable Development Institute, in its national land policy.The genius of the paralegal system, Maru argues, is that it offers an opportunity to develop universal access to justice. Namati now convenes the Global Legal Empowerment Network, over 600 groups from 150 countries collaborating and learning from one another. That community successfully advocated for a commitment to “access to justice for all” in the new Sustainable Development Goals, ushering in a new era of global justice reform.

“Transformation in the relationship between the law and people is possible,” says Maru, while accepting the prestigious Skoll award for his work at Namati earlier this year. “I have seen it happening in the most unlikely places.”

refugees in Turkey musT be AlloWed To find Their oWn soluTions

Fadwa, Mahmoud, and Yasser have three things in common.

They all live in Istanbul, but not by choice. They are there because their lives in Syria became too dangerous or unbearable. Fadwa escaped with her three children from the brutal nightmare of Aleppo. Yasser gave up his university studies in Damascus when his family and friends started being arrested. And Mahmoud took the tough decision to ditch a successful carpentry business to escape the violence destroying his community.

The second thing they have in common is less obvious, but just as important as their shared story of forced exile. Despite living in a strange country with an unfamiliar language, they have all rebuilt their lives through a combination of entrepreneurialism and courage.


AdAm lenT

Fadwa has turned her love of cake-making into a successful business. Yasser enrolled at university in Istanbul and is now one of the top performers in his year. Mahmoud is building a new carpentry business.

The third element they all share is Dubarah. Dubarah is a network of hundreds of volunteers, themselves refugees or migrants from Syria, who are dedicated to helping new arrivals find a stable and constructive place for themselves in Turkey.

Fadwa, Mahmoud, and Yasser all benefitted from advice and support from students, entrepreneurs, investors, and others in Dubarah’s extensive network. Traumatized by their experiences in Syria, disoriented by the unfamiliar environment of Istanbul and struggling with their limited Turkish, it is extremely unlikely that they could have made so much progress, so quickly, without Dubarah.

With its strict “pay it forward” policy, Dubarah now expects the three to help others. Yasser, who at first had to be supported every step of the way with his university enrolment, has now helped 12 other refugees to enrol. He is one of 150 Syrian students who support and advise each other in Istanbul.


empoWering refugees

As Turkey becomes an ever more central part of Europe’s plan for managing the flow of refugees, Dubarah offers a valuable model for how to respond to the many challenges faced by the arrivals.

The principle at the heart of this model is summarized by the inspiring Afghan socialentrepreneur Sakena Yakoobi, who was herself once a refugee. Yakoobi describes her work as “empowering communities to help themselves.”

Dubarah lives up to this principle by giving refugees the initial help they need to be the entrepreneurial and resourceful individuals they truly are. Further, the organization treats the wider community of refugees in Turkey as a potent, self-generating source of positive change.

yAsser, Who AT firsT hAd To be

supporTed every sTep of The WAy

WiTh his universiTy enrolmenT, hAs noW

helped 12 oTher refugees To enrol.

he is one of 150 syriAn sTudenTs

Who supporT And Advise eACh oTher

in isTAnbul.



As founder Ahmad Edilbi says, Dubarah can always find solutions to any problem a refugee faces because it has a wide network of such resourceful and experienced people to draw upon, people who have themselves faced exactly the same problems.

Dubarah sees refugees as change-makers, not as victims or as threats. This stands in contrast to the dominant approach across Europe, in which new arrivals are widely portrayed in the media and viewed by governments as nothing more than a giant problem. This has the potential to become a self-fulfilling prophecy, as refugees find themselves shunned and isolated on the fringes of mainstream society, dependent on government support—rather than being constructive, entrepreneurial members of their new communities.

According to Ahmad Edilbi, this mistaken approach is being replicated in Turkey. The government in Ankara funnels money primarily towards aid that addresses the refugees most immediate problems, like food and shelter, rather than finding ways to support initiatives that originate from within refugee communities themselves and that aim to address longer-term challenges.

At its worst, the mind-set which sees new arrivals only as a threat and a burden can lead to human rights abuses and a complete collapse of compassion. Amnesty International claims that this is already the case and that Turkey is using force to return Syrians to their dangerous homeland.

Unless Turkey starts adopting an approach like Dubarah’s, the EU refugee deal will be at risk of collapse. Mike Mikonchuk, a social entrepreneur who has worked extensively with young displaced Syrians, points out that closing down the route into Europe through Greece will prove ineffective if refugees feel unable to flourish in Turkey. Refugees will simply find other ways to make it to Germany and other prosperous EU countries.

In short, Turkey and Europe urgently need to learn from Dubarah and other refugee organizations with the same changemaking mind-set. Theirs is the only response that is both humane and sustainable.

This article is part of a series produced in collaboration by the Skoll Foundationand Ashoka, to coincide with the 2016 Skoll World Forum in Oxford, England. It was first published on huffingtonpost.com on 13th April 2016. Photo credit: European Commission and DfID via Flikr, used under Creative Commons License.

Can you imagine a primary school where no child is punished, and teachers do not raise their voices in anger? Can you imagine a step further – a primary school where children are not rewarded for good behaviour or good marks?

This is the ethos of Barrowford Primary School, an Ashoka Changemaker School, which is located in Lancanshire, UK. Barrowford’s school policy states that no child is to be defined as naughty. Instead of punishing a child for bad behaviour, the school uses a restorative approach to encourage everyone to take responsibility for their own behaviour.

The restorative approach is based on four key features: Respect (listening to other opinions and learning to value them), Responsibility (taking responsibility for your own actions), Repair (developing the skills to repair harm and ensure inappropriate behaviours are not repeated) and Re-integration (working through a structured, supportive process that aims to solve the problem and allows young people to remain in mainstream education).


ellen goodmAn

A sChool WiTh no punishmenTs And no reWArds

How children are able to respond to failure, and how they approach learning, is the key to being successful in the 21st century. In her Ted talk, educationalist Carol Dweck challenges the constant pressure on children to focus on “getting the next A or the next test score”. She argues that this fixed mindset – as opposed to a growth mindset – is creating a generation of children who are carrying a “need for constant validation with them into their future lives.” Carol calls for a change in how we praise children, and for a celebration of the “yet” – what we are yet to achieve.

Allowing children the freedom to make – and subsequently learn from – mistakes is one of the key messages of Barrowford’s restorative approach. The school’s sanction – and reward – free policy is designed to encourage a growth mindset, and a love of learning.

CAn you imAgine A primAry sChool

Where no Child is punished, And TeAChers do noT

rAise Their voiCes in Anger? CAn you

imAgine A sTep furTher – A primAry

sChool Where Children Are noT

reWArded for good behAviour or good

mArks?

‘Love to learn’ forms the second half of the school’s motto – the first part is ‘Learn to love’, which headteacher Rachel Tomlinson admits is often misunderstood.

“Learning to love is about teaching children emotional literacy, to have control of their emotions, to be aware of who they are as individuals, and how they can improve. We all should be improving all the time in order to be better learners and better people,” explains Rachel.

The school is committed to providing a nurturing environment, and no children have been excluded from the school since Rachel has been in charge. When a Year 4 pupil started having trouble focusing in class and presented as anxious, Barrowford’s Nurture Team worked with the pupil, her teacher and her family to tackle these issues. The pupil had in the past witnessed her mother suffer domestic abuse, and was also taking on caring responsibilities for a younger sibling at home. The pupil’s teacher and family were able to better understand how to interact with the pupil and how to give her the support she needed. Through school-based play therapy and this support, the pupil was able to overcome her anxiety and become a happy and enthusiastic learner.

Barrowford believes that central to ‘learning to love’ is learning to respect an individual’s differences.

“Treating people equally doesn’t mean treating them the same – one person’s needs are very different to another’s. In a punishment-free and reward-free environment, we can sit down and challenge each other when we feel someone’s behaved inappropriately. Even as adults people find that very difficult,” says Rachel. “If we can give children the ability to celebrate and to understand differences, that could change how situations like war and refugee crises in the future are handled.”

Barrowford’s no punishment, no reward approach allows pupils the freedom to make and learn from mistakes, which teaches resilience and encourages a growth mindset. By emphasizing the importance of respect and empathy for one another, pupils develop the skills for conflict resolution. Barrowford’s restorative approach is empowering its pupils to become the next generation of changemakers.

Barrowford Primary School was elected an Ashoka Changemaker School in 2015. This article was first published on Virgin.com on 25th April 2016. Photo credit: Barrowford Primary School.



AlloWing Children The freedom To mAke – And subsequenTly leArn from – misTAkes is one of The key messAges of bArroWford’s resTorATive ApproACh. The sChool’s sAnCTion – And reWArd – free poliCy is designed To enCourAge A groWTh mindseT, And A love of leArning.


Documents

The Ashoka Journal - Summer 2016