A Global Organization with Strong Roots in India, Gains Recognition for Leadership

Bill Drayton, CEO and founder of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, a global organization started in India in 1981 that pioneered the field of social entrepreneurship, was named one of "America's Best Leaders" by US News & World Report and Harvard University's Center for Public Leadership. Drayton was selected because of his continual contributions to the success of innovative ideas, particularly in his efforts as CEO and chairman of Ashoka.
From an early age, Drayton witness firsthand the power of the individual and impact of new ideas based on non-violence, innovation and high ethical standards while traveling across India with Vinova Bhave as a young man. Inspired by powerful Indian visionaries such as Bhave and Mahatma Gandhi, Drayton would go on to name his organization after another Indian social innovator-Ashoka, the 3rd century B.C. Emperor of India who was considered one of the world's first social entrepreneurs.