Spark's Chris Balme Wins Prestigious Ashoka Fellowship!
Posted on Wednesday, 20 January, 2010
Chris Balme, Spark's Executive Director, recently won the prestigious Ashoka Fellowship, among the highest honors for social entrepreneurs in the world. In recognition of Spark's innovative approach to combating the dropout crisis, this award puts Spark among the leading nonprofits worldwide recognized for having innovative solutions to social problems, and the potential to change patterns across society.
We are thrilled and humbled by this honor, and see it as true testament to the importance of our mission to provide life-changing apprenticeships to underserved youth across the United States.
Ashoka: Innovators for the Public is a global association of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs—individuals with innovative, large scale ideas for addressing social problems. They address every area of human need – from human rights to the environment, from full economic citizenship to empowering young people. Since its founding in 1980, Ashoka has enabled more than 2,500 leading social entrepreneurs in over 60 countries. Ashoka's modest investments in early-stage entrepreneurs consistently yield extraordinary returns. Its inclusion and recognition of later-stage social entrepreneurs are catalytic to the community. Working in partnership with Ashoka Fellows, Ashoka builds communities of innovators who work collectively to transform society and design new ways for citizen-led solutions to become more productive, entrepreneurial and globally integrated. Ashoka does not accept government funding; business entrepreneurs, corporations, individuals, foundations and volunteer chapters finance Ashoka’s work. Visit www.askoka.org to learn more Ashoka.