- Past recipients of this award include Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, activist Malala Yousafzai, The Elders, musician and activist Bono and humanitarian and women’s and children’s rights activist Grace Machel.
New Delhi, 4th April 2025 — The Skoll Foundation has awarded Bill Drayton, Founder and CEO of Ashoka Innovators for the Public, the prestigious Global Treasure Award. The award is described as recognizing “someone in our midst who is doing extraordinary things to address the world’s most pressing problems.”
Bill Drayton is widely regarded as the pioneer of social entrepreneurship founding Ashoka in 1981. After launching the first Fellow in India the organization continued to expand, identifying and cultivating social entrepreneurs in more than 90 countries whose systems changing innovations solve deep rooted social problems. Together with Fellows, young people and other partners Ashoka is catalyzing an “everyone a changemaker” movement where everyone has the power to create positive change in the world.
In accepting the award, Drayton emphasizes that “the ultimate human right is the right to give. Giving is what brings health, longevity, and happiness.” He continued, “Givers want to give. And the greatest gift is helping others grow their giving – changemaking power.
The award was presented during Skoll’s annual flagship event, the Skoll World Forum.
“It is a hugely proud moment for the entire social entrepreneurship community in India and the world. Bill Drayton is a role model for so many of us and his commitment to the vision of a world where everyone is a changemaker has inspired across generations” said Dr. Shruti Nair, Leader, Ashoka Innovators for the Public, India.
Bill Drayton, founder and CEO of Ashoka, pioneered the field of social entrepreneurship. Ashoka’s over 4,000 leading social entrepreneurs, “Ashoka Fellows,” operate in over 90 countries to create an “everyone a changemaker” world. Working in fields like health and human rights, three-quarters of these Fellows make national and/or international policy and system changes within a decade of election. Bill also taught in Harvard and Stanford, served as Assistant Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and in the White House, and led transformative projects at McKinsey & Company. He authored many key innovations, ranging from emissions trading to Get America Working! A graduate of Harvard College, Oxford’s Balliol College (M.A.), and Yale Law School (J.D.), Bill has received several awards including The MacArthur Fellowship, honorary degrees from Yale and others, and memberships including in The American Philosophical Society for his contributions to social change.
Ashoka identifies and supports the world’s leading social entrepreneurs, learns from patterns in their innovations, and mobilizes a global community to build an “everyone a changemaker” world. Since 1981 Ashoka has launched over 4000 fellows in 90 countries around the world. To learn more please visit www.ashoka.org
The Skoll Foundation catalyzes transformational social change by investing in, connecting and championing social entrepreneurs and other social innovators who together advance bold and equitable solutions to the world’s most pressing problems. The Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, based at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School, aims to accelerate the impact of social entrepreneurship by uniting academia, business, and social innovation. The Global Treasure Award presented at the annual Skoll World Forum in Oxford, England, honors individuals whose work has had a transformative impact on society.
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