October 2026

#GIFDescription: Ashoka Fellows Andras Vamos-Goldman, Raúl Robert, Stacey Epperson, Fernando Assad, and Melanie Redman.

This month's Nobel Prizes highlight efforts to build a more just and resilient world, from Navi Pillay's Peace Prize to economic models that help governments navigate booms and recessions. Ashoka Fellow Andras Vamos-Goldman's Justice Rapid Response is a longstanding partner of the UN Human Rights Office that Pillay formerly led. This year, Andras' team helped secure a historic first: the referral of enforced disappearances in Mexico to the UN General Assembly. But justice also begins with basic rights, like housing. With up to 3.4 billion people lacking access to adequate housing, the global housing crisis pushes three in four people to cut back on essentials like food and healthcare to afford a home. In Spain, the death of 87-year-old Maricarmen following her eviction has become a symbol of what's at stake. Yet, Ashoka Fellows show that alternatives exist. Raúl Robert's Sostre Cívic has opened new cooperative housing, and Stacey Epperson's Next Step has co-authored a policy playbook to expand affordable manufactured homes; Fernando Assad's Programa Vivenda shares 13 years of learnings on low-income housing, and Melanie Redman's A Way Home has published a new toolkit to prevent youth homelessness. 

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