A facilitated journey of un-learning and re-learning, to overcome our unconscious biases and make changemaking open and inclusive for everybody.
The 2024 edition of this course has now ended. Stay updated on the next edition of this course by signing up to our Newsletter.
About the learning journey
This is an invitation to join us in a safe and brave space where we can all learn from each other as well as Ashoka Fellows and other community members who work in the field of DEI. Alongside DEI experts and practitioners from across the world, we offer space for self-reflection on unconscious bias, power dynamics, leadership and strategies for inclusion with a special focus on intersectionality. This learning journey will comprise facilitated sessions and community of practice meetings.
Valuing diversity and creating a space where all are seen, respected, and included is central to building a world of changemakers or else we risk contributing to a deeper divide, between those who have time, space and support to be changemakers and those who do not.
This learning journey is co-created by the One Community and the Ashoka global DEI teams. Join us in unpacking the complexity of cultivating a DEI-informed practice in the context of social change.
Learning objectives:
Unlearn the unconscious biases, perspectives and narratives that impact the way we perceive the world and act for social impact.
Gain knowledge from global DEI experts sharing their experience and best practices to achieve DEI in our work.
Engage in peer reflection with like-minded changemakers.
Learn and reflect on how you can make your work truly accessible, allowing everyone to feel invited and able to contribute towards social change.
Who this is for
This experience is open to:
Ashoka Fellows and members of their team
Ashoka Young Changemakers
Ashoka Support Network members (ASN)
Ashoka staff
Ashoka corporate partners and their employees
Ashoka School Change leaders and educators
Other Ashoka allies and collaborators
If you are not yet part of the Ashoka network, you are also welcome to apply. We might ask you to share more context about your work or to join a quick selection interview. In the next edition, the dates and times of the sessions will be most suited to participants from Europe, Africa, Arab World and Asia.
Registrations are now closed. Stay updated on the next edition of this course by signing up to our Newsletter.
Practical information
Format:
Introduction to DEI: 2 bi-weekly online intro sessions of 2h30min
DEI Deep Dives: 4 bi-weekly online sessions of 1h30 min
Community of practice meetings: 2 quarterly meetings of 1h30 min
*The live session will be held on Zoom, we will use a learning platform to structure the learning journey.
*The sessions will be held in English.
Dates:
February to May (see the Modules section below for the specific dates).
Application closed on the 26th of January 2024.
Commitment:
We encourage participants to take part in the whole experience. The intro sessions are compulsory as they will set the base for further discussions. Certificate of participation will be offered to those who will be participating in five or more sessions (including Community of Practice meetings).
Ryan is designing a cost-effective and transferable social technology that allows socially excluded populations to access work in the global digital economy.
The Kenyan society needs to unlearn the negative connotations of the term ‘disabilities.’ For this to happen, Lizzie understands that media plays a crucial role in creating public awareness and ultimately re-educating the masses. She amplifies voices, builds capacity, and creates visibility for women and girls with disabilities across Kenya and beyond.
David Tišer (Czech Republic) is the director of ARA ART, which focuses on culture with a social overlap, education and advocacy for the Roma LGBTAIQ community. He is also a Romani scholar, educator and theatre director. He is currently one of the members of the Government Council for Roma Minority Affairs and a member of the Committee on Sexual Minority Rights of the Government Council for Human Rights.
In 2009, he wrote the script for the semi-documentary film "Roma Boys - A Love Story" based on a true story. He played one of the main roles in the National Theatre's play "My Neighbour, My Enemy", which dealt with the coexistence of Czechs and Roma. He was subsequently nominated for the Alfred Radok Award in the Talent of the Year 2011 category for his performance. David is the founder of the European Roma LGBTAIQ movement. David studied Romani Studies at Charles University in Prague. David is a laureate of the 2018 Museum of Romani Culture Award. He is also the recipient of the 2019 František Kriegel Award for Bravery, awarded by Charter 77. In 2019, he received the title of Prague Pride Marshal for his significant contribution to the promotion of equal rights for LGBT people and the development of LGBT communities. He is also a new Ashoka Fellow.
Uma Chatterjee is putting survivors of trafficking at the center of India’s anti-trafficking movement. She is catalyzing them to become first-generation leaders, entrepreneurs and policy advocates who change the narratives and practices of their sector. These ‘survivor-changemakers’ are setting up their own organizations, businesses, and advocacy platforms, from where they collaborate directly with governments, markets and society, as powerful representatives of their field. By doing so, they are building new livelihoods and laws that will restore their lost dreams, dignity, and citizenship.
Read more about Uma Chatterjee's changemaker journey.
Modules
Module 1 - Introduction to DEI
Creating a common baseline for further discussions about DEI
Feb 8th: 10:00 – 12:30hs CET/ 10:00 – 12:30hs WAT/ 14:30 – 17:00hs IST
Feb 22nd: 10:00 – 12:30hs CET/ 10:00 – 12:30hs WAT/ 14:30 – 17:00hs IST
Module 2 - DEI Deep Dives
Sessions with members of the Ashoka Community (Fellows, staff, Ashoka Young Changemakers, etc.) to focus on specific aspects of DEI
March 21st: 10:00 – 11:30hs CET/ 10:00 – 11:30hs WAT/ 14:30 – 16:00hs IST
April 4th: 10:00 – 11:30hs CET/ 10:00 – 11:30hs WAT/ 14:30 – 16:00hs IST
April 18th: 10:00 – 11:30hs CET/ 10:00 – 11:30hs WAT/ 14:30 – 16:00hs IST
May 8th: 10:00 – 11:30hs CET/ 10:00 – 11:30hs WAT/ 14:30 – 16:00hs IST
Module 3 - Community of Practice meeting
Sessions without an external guest, focusing on practical aspects of DEI work (building community, aligning, learning, and supporting each other)
March 13th: 10:00 – 11:30hs CET/ 10:00 – 11:30hs WAT/ 14:30 – 16:00hs IST
May 22nd: 10:00 – 11:30hs CET/ 10:00 – 11:30hs WAT/ 14:30 – 16:00hs IST
DEI is at the core of all the work of Ashoka because there is not an Everyone A Changemaker world without diversity, equity, and inclusion as a responsibility".
Well, the systems are not broken, they work perfectly for those for whom they were created. For the people with the characteristics, the qualities of the identity of the ones that created the systems: the reference group. It's called a reference group because the entire systems, the entire ideology, and the beliefs are built to value those qualities of the identity of the reference group. When you do not belong to the reference group you’re put in this situation of marginalization."
Founder of Projeto Meninas Negras, Ashoka Young Changemaker
Isabelle Christina
Founder of Projeto Meninas Negras, Ashoka Young Changemaker
To create the New, we really need to enter the Unknown. And the unknown basically comes from diversity and inclusion. And if we understand ourselves as human beings and agents of change we need to acknowledge there are things that we don’t know."
We have to insert the survivor in all of our struggles. We have to make sure that her voice is central. We have to make the survivors very, very feasible. And that is the only way we're going to show our leadership."
This idea that we assume responsibility for the violence, which is literally built into the system, is so much of what our financial experiences look like. And so, I take a look at changing and shifting the blame back to where it belongs instead of saying the socioeconomic harm that I experience is my fault. It's not."
What people were resisting wasn’t change. People don’t necessarily resist change, I think that’s a myth. People resist negative change. People resist loss."
I can’t represent everyone. But I do have to fight for spaces for everybody to represent themselves. This is how I see it, this is my work and intersectional feminism."
Neurodiversity means that we are all living with diversity and differences in our brains and neurology, it just means we all have brains that think, learn, reason and relate differently. It's part of being human."
Support our work
This learning journey is offered free of cost thanks to the generosity of our community. To help us develop new content and make sure it is accessible to more changemakers please donate to Ashoka today! Any contribution is deeply appreciated.
During DEI Learning Journey I’ve met amazing Ashoka Fellows who shared insights that stayed with me. The bits of expertise they shared resonated with me a long time after the module was finished.
Martyna Rubinowska, Poland
Head of Venture and Fellowship, Member of the Board, Ashoka Poland
It was a privilege to be part of this course! It changed my perspective, and many actions in my work. We will even launch a report in Bogota that highlights the structural injustices that young people face in the city, and we adapted the wheel of privilege that we saw in several sessions too.
Maria Paula Macias Acosta, Colombia
Collective Impact Coordinator for the Global Opportunity Youth Network in Bogotá
My DEI learning program is one of the best I have been part of. I had the privilege to mingle with participants from across the globe and all work of life. Session 8 was one of my best, as it made me learn how to take some time off to reflect on what I have done so far, and what the future holds.
After this course, I am continuing my DEI experience, making it more crucial in my personal and professional life. Meeting and interacting with fellow changemakers, exchanging experiences and receiving guidance on key DEI issues offered me insights into practical tools to enhance inclusivity.
Martyna Markiewicz has been professionally supporting networks, organizations, groups and individual changemakers for almost 20 years.
She mainly focuses on the areas of gender equity and diversity, inclusion and equity (DEI) and wellbeing in social change. Trainer, joker of the Theater of the Oppressed, Design Thinking moderator.
Member of the Board and Head of Partnerships at Ashoka Poland, DEI Lead for One Community Europe, member of Ashoka’s DEI Global Extended Team.
Communication Manager with a focus on Purpose Partnerships at Ashoka in Poland. Alumni of Ashoka's gender initiative WzmocniONE. Co-founder of SZAJN - an equity collective boosting the agency and self-esteem of young women, LGBTQ+ youth, people with disability, and other young, marginalized voices. Anna is based in Warsaw. She is passionate about design, cinema and is a volunteer foster dog carer.
