(New Delhi – March 24, 2011)  Ashoka’s Changemakers celebrates the International Women’s Day Centennial by saluting women architects of social change around the world on its ChangemakeHERS campaign. The campaign reaches across the globe and into Ashoka’s 30-year history as the pioneering leader of global social change.

Each day, the Changemakers Idea ExChange blog features the thoughts and profiles of experienced, successful women leaders who have catalyzed positive social change. They share their advice about what works and what to avoid advancing the process of change-making.

Gloria D’Souza, founder of Parisar Asha, India, brings her invaluable insights to the process of creating change, noting that “a fruitful changemaker must bear three qualities – clarity, tenacity and open-mindedness.” She has made significant contributions to reforming India’s education system as a veteran social entrepreneur, the first female that Ashoka elected a Fellow, and now a member Ashoka’s board of directors.

The women featured on the Idea ExChange blog are breaking down barriers to women’s empowerment and through innovation; they are tackling the roots of global problems. Some of them are doing it in their own communities, while others work on a global scale. While they all work in different fields, in different countries, and in different conditions, they share a deep belief that EVERYONE IS A CHANGEMAKER.

These women are inspiring, but ChangemakeHERS will take their expertise well beyond inspiration. It will be captured in a way that accelerates change. At the end of the month, Changemakers experts, with a decade of experience in analyzing and distilling trends, barriers, and opportunities in the field of social change, will convert the teachings into a tool for success for women around the world and for anyone working to make a difference.

Do spot women Ashoka Fellows from India on Idea ExChange blog and Ashoka India blog.

About Ashoka’s Changemakers

Ashoka’s Changemakers is an online community of action connecting social entrepreneurs around the globe to share ideas, inspire, and mentor each other. Through its online collaborative competitions and open-source process, Changemakers.com builds on Ashoka’s three-decade history and vision for an “Everyone a Changemaker” world.

Media Contact :

Asia

Indrani Sharma

isharma@ashoka.org

India

Manoj Chandran

mchandran@ashoka.org

Melvin Mathew

melvin@the-practice.net