The Elders Council for Social Entrepreneurs “is a rich space for reflection and exchange of experiences, in which we are all students.”
Vera Cordeiro
Founder and President of the Board of Dara Institute
Social entrepreneurs and Ashoka staff at the first gathering in Aix-en-Provence, France
Webinars.
Our next webinar will be in October. Information will be provided here and directly to our members.
Become a member (it’s free) to get our news, updates and links to Insight resources.
Friendship Bench.
We were proud to partner with Friendship Bench Zimbabwe to provide a Friendship Bench for Social Innovators at the Skoll World Forum for the second year in a row in April 2026. In fact, this year we hosted two benches, one English-speaking and one Spanish-speaking, which created an even more welcoming atmosphere.
It was an opportunity for social innovators to talk to an elder of their community (experienced social innovators of any age). They could bring any issue or opportunity they wanted to discuss - succession planning, money worries, leadership opportunities, excitement about a new project, wellbeing concerns or even just ‘thinking out loud’. Anything that was on their mind.
The benches were situated in the Saïd Business School reception area so that they could be accessed by anyone, whether they were attending the Skoll World Forum, Marmalade or The Sidebar. Read our 2026 report to see what our volunteers and visitors thought.
Our Friendship Bench for Social Innovators has previously been part of the Ashoka Changemakers Summit 2024 and Skoll World Forum 2025.
Mentoring.
We intend to offer a special mentoring service for social entrepreneurs, launching in 2026.
In the meantime, if you would like to speak to someone please send us an email and we will get back in touch as soon as possible.
Events.
We hold in-persons sessions at some of the best conferences in the social innovation calendar (past events include Ashoka ChangeMaker Summit 2024 and Skoll World Forum Convenings). They are an exciting opportunity for members and fellow social innovators to explore questions like “what’s next once you leave an organisation you founded?”
Join as a member (it’s free) to keep up-to-date with upcoming events, news and more!
