Transformative Social Innovations Symposium

A new paradigm for Social Innovation

Our world faces increasingly complex challenges and an accelerated pace of change. Problems such as social inequalities, climate change and political instability have deepened around the world. In this context, what approach should we take to generate transformative changes? And what forms of collaboration do we need to move towards a more sustainable future?

In this launch event of the new edition of the  Social Innovations Journal,  transformative social innovations: interdependence, co-creation and democratization of the change agenda, we will discuss   the strategies that are needed to address the most pressing socio-environmental problems.    

You will have the opportunity to interact with authors and some of the social innovators highlighted in the articles to engage in dialogue about the future of social innovation.  

Meet the speakers

Sebastian Gatica is Director of the CoLab UC, the social innovation laboratory of the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. Among other initiatives, he co-founded the international foundation TECHO and Travolution.org, a B-corp. He is a commercial engineer, social entrepreneur and academic expert in Social Economics, with a master’s degree and a doctorate from University College London. Sebastian is an Ashoka Fellow.

Francisca Petrasic is an industrial designer with a masters in urban development and a researcher in user experiences at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. He has worked with the public and private sector on the design and implementation of local development projects. Her work focuses on the development of sustainable and resilient cities, accessibility, longevity, efficiency and renewable energy, collaborative design, participatory methodologies and citizen science.  

Catalina Ramírez is a PhD candidate in Sociology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona. With previous experience in social innovation and participatory metorologies, her research focuses on Feminist urban studies, digitalization processes in developing countries and migratory flows and intercultural entrepreneurship processes.   

Juan Martín Pérez  is coordinator of #TejiendoRedesInfancia in Latin America and the Caribbean and a member of the National System for Integral Protection of Children and Adolescents (SIPINNA). He previously served as Executive Director of the Network for Children’s Rights in Mexico (REDIM). Juan Martin is an Ashoka Fellow.  

Joaquin Leguía is an active Peruvian environmentalist, founder and executive director of the Association for Children and their Environment (ANIA). He is the creator of the TiNi methodology (Children’s Land), as part of ANIA, which has benefited more than 20,000 children who have contributed to the creation and care of more than 2,000,000m2 of natural areas in urban and rural areas in 10 countries. The Children’s Land methodology has been recognized by UNESCO as a good practice in education for sustainable development at a global level. Joaquín is an Ashoka Fellow.

Oscar Romo is the Founder and Director of the non-profit Alter Terra, an organization that promotes and implements sustainable projects around the world. He is also a professor at the University of California, San Diego, where he has worked on several research projects on sustainable urban solutions and experimental architecture. His work has been recognized by a number of national and international organizations, including being selected as an Ashoka Fellow. 

Maria Luisa Luque is co-founder and Director of Nuup, a social enterprise that creates market-based solutions for smallholder farmers by facilitating information flows, and promoting transparency in agricultural value chains while enabling sector-wide collaboration. She is a Management Engineer from the Solvay Business School and holds a master’s in Public Administration from Columbia University.

Konstanze Frischen Konstanze is the Executive Director of Ashoka in North America.  She also leads Ashoka’s new global initiative on Tech & Humanity. A social anthropologist and journalist by background, she founded Ashoka in her native Germany in 2003 and co-led Ashoka’s emergence and growth in Western Europe. She worked for CNN and FAZ and was a board member for GLS Bank. She is on the advisory board of CASE at Duke University.

Vanessa Vargas leads the Youth Years program at Ashoka Region Andina. A Sociologist by training, Vanessa is co-founder and Executive Director of Women Empowerment Laboratory (WELab) and trainer at Ubuntu Leaders Academy.  

Linda Peia is Senior Director at Ashoka, where she drives global strategic integration. She holds a master’s in Public Administration for International Development from the Harvard Kennedy School.  

Maria Cerdio is the Coordinator of Venture & Fellowship in Ashoka Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, where she supports innovative leaders to promote systems change in the region. She is also a Young Associate of the Mexican Council of International Affairs (COMEXI) and a Consultant for Latin America with the Global Fund for Women. Maria holds a BSc in Social Anthropology from the London School of Economics.

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About this edition

Around the world, many social innovators are developing solutions that are paving the way forward. Although these innovations arise from different concerns and perspectives, they share a focus on collaborative and multi-sectoral solutions, more systemic approaches, and a deeper and more diverse citizen participation.  

This edition of the Social Innovations Journal, curated by Ashoka, describes the architecture of transformative social innovations, with a focus on Latin America. It provides an in depth analysis of outstanding social innovations that have emerged in response to the challenges facing the region. From these examples, the articles extract key principles that contribute to creating positive social transformation and resilient societies so that other social innovators and leaders from different sectors can apply them in their own context.