Ashoka Honors the Work of Leading Women Social Entrepreneurs Worldwide

Celebrated globally, International Women's Day (IWD) highlights women's progress worldwide and inspires women to achieve their full potential. For the past 26 years, Ashoka has supported the innovative ideas of the world's leading social entrepreneurs, enabling women to reach their full potential as changemakers. To commemorate IWD, Ashoka honors its female Fellows who have taken leadership roles in the social sector and have improved the lives of women worldwide.

Proving that women’s rights are human rights, Ashoka Fellows are working on critical gender equity issues such as economic advancement, human trafficking, reproductive health, microfinance, gender-based violence and access to education. Below is just a small sample of their impact and accomplishments.


Hafsat Abiola, Nigeria
Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND)

Following the tragic assassination of her mother – a democracy activist in Nigeria – Abiola founded the Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND), which seeks to strengthen civil society and promote democracy in Nigeria. Determined to end gender discrimination in Nigeria and cultivate a new generation of assertive, empowered women, Hafsat is building the capacity of young women to become competitive leaders and respected decision makers. She created the first intensive leadership selection process and program in Nigeria to finds young women leaders–ages 18 to 30–and help them succeed.
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Lely Zailani, Indonesia
HAPSARI

As a young child, Lely Zailani was taught that women were different. Her father, an informal religious leader, was one of the first people to expose her to such societal norms when he wouldn’t let her do the same things as her brothers. Turning adversity into opportunity, she has been working ever since to break down these barriers for all of Indonesia’s rural women. Her solution: use radio to help stimulate the creation of rural womens' organizations that are run by the rural women themselves. Her Independent Women's Union of North Sumatra is now comprised of five hundred village women from several districts.
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Elsa Jimenez, Mexico
Yeuani

Early on in her life, Elsa Jimenez was brought face to face with the hardships of women in her community, cementing a life long dedication to improving gender equality. Today, Elsa is assuring families' legal rights across the US-Mexican border. Her work transforms a legal technicality — the right to alimony — into a concrete set of mechanisms for Mexican women to not only access the US justice system but also the necessary personal, legal, and financial structures and supports. Her work is creating a world where the legal profession and legal systems operate continentally, and is critical in guaranteeing women freedom from the type of economic negligence committed by absentee spouses.
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Kousalya Periasamy, India
Positive Women Network (PWN+)

Kousalya Periasamy married at the age of 21, and within months she was diagnosed HIV-positive. Her husband knew he was carrying the virus prior to their marriage but failed to inform his bride-to-be. Seven months after they were wed, he died of AIDS, and Kousalya became the first woman in India to declare that she was HIV+. She also became the first woman to raise an alarm that average Indian monogamous wives are at risk for HIV. Kousalya has created a nationwide grassroots care and support network for the more than 2.5 million HIV positive women in India called “Positive Women Network.” She works to end discrimination of HIV+ women in all spheres, improve access to HIV/AIDS prevention information, and provide care and support to women and their families suffering from HIV and AIDS.
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Ana Paula Felizardo, Brazil
Resposta

Ana Paula created the Brazilian Tourism Code against Child and Adolescent Sexual Exploitation from her experience in guiding and regulating the ethical conduct of companies, citizens, and services linked to the tourism industry. Two years later, Ana Paula founded the citizen organization Resposta to broaden the Code’s scope and create a system of monitoring and rewarding those companies that adhere to the Code. Resposta targets businesses linked to tourism and their employees, national and international tourists, taxi drivers, tourism students and civil society organizations.
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