Can Ashoka Invent a New Vision of Globalization?

by Kerri Fernsworth Feazell · 2010-02-20 12:31:00 UTC
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I have been trained to distrust the word globalization. And if you're reading this, I bet you might have been too. Outsourced low-wage jobs, pollution of other people's backyards, the creation of dependence on expensive foreign food -- irresponsible stuff. But the brand-new Ashoka Globalizer program gives new meaning to the term globalization, and gives social entrepreneurs an opportunity to globalize their good ideas. It might even have the chance to undo some of the consequences of irresponsible globalization. I like it.

Last week, I had a chance to chat with some of the entrepreneurs in the Globalizer Program and I have to say, if anyone can change my idea of globalization, these brilliant folks can. Ashoka chose the first group of 25 fellows from their network of 2,500 social entrepreneurs who are ready to to scale their good ideas and replicate their success all around the world. It's an amazing group -- I can't pick favorites among them. How can you choose among people who are 1). changing the perception of disability to make it seen as a competitive business advantage, 2). making food distribution more effective and 3). creating "Self-Financing Communities" to reduce poverty?

Still, though, one fellow particularly struck a chord with me -- Gary Slutkin of CeaseFire.

Gary's background with infectious diseases led him to view violence as an epidemic that can be treated in the same way a public health outbreak would be. By adapting strategies from the medical field, CeaseFire has been proven effective -- for example, it's even been recognized by the U.S. Department of Justice for its direct success in reducing shootings and killings in CeaseFire zones by 16%-35%. While Gary is focused on reducing violence, he also believes such strategies could be applied to a number of social problems, including obesity, homelessness, drug use, school dropout rates and poverty. As he sums it up, "The history of change occurs when a problem is fundamentally re-understood."

Thanks to Gary, the 24 other Globalizers and Ashoka, I'm beginning to re-understand globalization as a positive thing.

Photo Credit: Mr. T in DC

Kerri Fernsworth Feazell is co-founder of Project LACE and has extensive experience in grant writing, online fundraising, and corporate-nonprofit partnerships.
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