The Challenge is on! Join the Ashoka Visionary Program to Innovate for Development.

Global Development needs more innovation leaders. Join the Visionary Program to unleash your social innovation power – 12 full stipends available!

Ashoka, for the first time together with the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Global Responsibility, invite leaders from Austrian and Swiss Development NGOs and their partners to apply for the Ashoka Visionary Program with transformative and system-changing project and partnership ideas.  

The program will be the place for you to grow personally and professionally, to build a community of peers, and to develop your ideas for cultivating social innovation and entrepreneurship within the NGO you work for.

Apply now until 20th of September and take the challenge to qualify for a full stipend worth € 10,000: Submit your application as an individual or team together with the innovative project or partnership you want to develop during the program.

We aim to give up to 6 stipends to leaders related to ADA/Austria and up to 6 stipends to leaders related to SDC/Switzerland.

Please send inquiries or directly your application, including your CV, motivation letter and innovative project or partnership idea, and an endorsement letter of your organization (ideally signed by the CEO) directly via e-mail to Alexander Kesselring akesselring@ashoka.org.

Join a comprehensive executive leadership program for social change.

Global Development needs more innovation leaders passionate to re-imagine the status-quo. As the funding gap required to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) widens, the call for new approaches to solve the world’s most pressing challenges grows louder. The system of international development cooperation is in transformation. Localization, Decolonization and Innovation for Development: NGOs are getting ready to deliver on this promise. Joining the Ashoka Visionary Program will move you fast-forward on this mission!

Through the program, we are giving our participants exclusive access to Ashoka’s 40 years of know-how founded on our global experience, tool kits and networks of changemakers and partners. You will be able to learn from the world´s leading social innovators and connect with the largest community of system-changing social entrepreneurs and their solutions. Because: Partnerships with social entrepreneurs can advance the international development cooperation towards more inclusive, localized, and co-created action.

Does this sound inspiring? Do you want to boost your changemaking potential?
Join in and start your visionary journey with us!

Are you an aspiring social intrapreneur working with a Development NGO? Then apply now!

If you’re looking for all the tools and peers to help you lead teams to the highest impact possible and create system-changing social innovations, then Ashoka’s part-time, pioneering executive leadership program is for you.

• Acquire new changemaker skills in social innovation, systems change, new forms of leadership and more – all in one course.
• Combine entrepreneurial success with social impact to solve societal problems in ways you hadn’t thought of before.
• Embark on a transformational learning journey and learn how groundbreaking social entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs are creating a better world.
• Co-create together with your peers, experts from all around the world and a network of more than 300 alumni across three continents to advance your changemaking projects.

In addition to joining the Visionary Program, you will be invited to present your innovative project or partnership in public events to rally for support and funding.

The hard facts about the 9-month journey

The Visionary Program starts on 19 October 2023 and takes place in Vienna! Your journey will consist of 7 modules that last two days each (a total of 15 days of in-class sessions between October 2023 and June 2024) and cover the life cycle of a social intra- and entrepreneurial initiative. The modules take place from Friday to Saturday in Vienna and include a diverse set of formats including workshops, team-building exercises, pitches, and evening events with space for networking, reflections and thoughtful exchange. During each module, experts and Ashoka Fellows on the respective topic will pass on cutting-edge know-how and practical experience. As part of the program, you will be supported to design and develop your own innovation initiative!

The program’s 7 modules contain all the necessary ingredients:

➜ social intra-/entrepreneurship & innovation ➜ impact & social business modelling ➜ social finance & scaling ➜ wellbeing & new leadership ➜ systems change ➜ collective impact & co-creation ➜ storytelling

In short:

• the program teaches changemaking skills in an entrepreneurial, immersive way and creates a space for changemakers to co-create. With Ashoka Fellows and academic experts, practical know-how and personal stories.
• Based on Ashoka’s 40+ years of experience in facilitating system-changing impact.
• For only up-to 30 selected participants.

Will you be one of them?

Start your journey – Learn more about the program!

Are you ready to set sail? Apply individually or as a changemaker team!

In partnership with the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and Global Responsibility, we offer up to 12 full stipends for leaders from Austrian and Swiss Development NGOs and their partners to apply for the Ashoka Visionary Program with innovative project and partnership ideas. We aim to give up to 6 stipends to leaders related to ADA/Austria and up to 6 stipends to leaders related to SDC/Switzerland.

We welcome applications from individuals or changemaker teams with 2 leaders in the following composition:

• 1 Development NGO leader based in Austria/Switzerland, 1 NGO leader based in an ADA/SDC partner country or region
• 2 Development NGO leaders based in an ADA/SDC partner country or region, but in different organizational departments
• 2 Development NGO leaders based in Austria/Switzerland, but in different organizational departments
• 1 Development NGO leader based in Austria/Switzerland, 1 leader of a partner organization (e.g., social enterprise or local NGO) based in an ADA/SDC partner country or region

Our ideal candidates have

• the desire to progress as social innovator and thought leader
• a minimum of 5 years of work experience in relevant fields
• a leadership position (e.g., in programs, fundraising, operations) within a Development NGO in Austria or Switzerland or an ADA or SDC partner country
• a leadership position within a partner organisation of an Austrian or Swiss Development NGO
• a track record of innovative solutions and successful implementation
• strong social and emotional intelligence, interpersonal skills, and ability to lead
• a positive attitude and an open mindset
• good English skills
• an endorsement letter from the organization

A stipend of € 10,000 per participant covers the full participation fee. The travel and lodging costs are excluded and need to be covered by the sending organization or the participant.

How does the application process look like?

Please send inquiries or directly your application, including your CV, motivation letter and innovative project or partnership idea, and an endorsement letter of your organization (ideally signed by the CEO) directly via e-mail to Alexander Kesselring akesselring@ashoka.org.

For changemaker teams, please submit your application together in one e-mail.

• Application Deadline is 20th of September 2023.
• Shortlisted candidates will be invited for an interview during the week of the 25th of September 2023.
• Selected candidates will be informed by 2nd of October 2023.
• Start of the Program is 19th October 2023.

To learn more about the program, you’re invited to our upcoming info calls:

• 31th of August, 14:00 – 15:00 (CET) – Zoom link (Meeting ID: 879 0091 5141, password: 268950)
• 7th of September, 14:00 – 15:00 (CET) – Zoom link (Meeting ID: 861 9691 7286, password: 570696)
• 14th of September, 14:00 – 15:00 (CET) – Zoom link (Meeting ID: 829 7535 2912, password: 973114)

Sign up for your preferred date here.

A bit more background: How INGOs advance innovation and collaborate with social entrepreneurs to transform global development

In Ashoka´s newest report, we call attention to the largely untapped potential of collaborations between social entrepreneurs and big International non-governmental organizations (INGOs) to scale impact and drive systemic change. INGOs and social entrepreneurs bring unique and complementary value to their collaborations. Partnerships between them can advance the international development sector toward more inclusive, localized, and co-created action. The report showcases successful collaborations, how partnership challenges can be overcome, and a range of recommendations for key actors in the ecosystem to catalyze more such partnerships.

Based on the insights of leading innovators in global development, the report provides practical pathways for INGOs to build their innovation power, such as hiring innovative talent and building internal capacity in service of innovation; enabling their staff to share and build innovative ideas; supporting and collaborating with social entrepreneurs; strengthening local ecosystems of social innovation through lobbying and creating access to international funding and networks; and starting to redefine their role, shifting from direct service organizations to scaling platforms – great ideas and challenges to bring to the Visionary Program!

Click here to view the report.