Page 149 - Social Enterprise A New Business Paradigm for Thailand

identifying and supporting social entrepreneurs and their networks by offering resources, funding,
support systems, and opportunities to individuals with innovative solutions to social challenges.

Ashoka operates several programs aimed at empowering individuals and expanding opportunities

within communities. These include: (1) Ashoka Fellows, a fellowship program that identifies and
supports exceptional social entrepreneurs who demonstrate creativity in developing systemic
solutions to social problems. The program provides a stipend that allows recipients to fully
commit to implementing and scaling their innovations, along with professional development
opportunities such as study visits, training, or internships with established nonprofit
organizations. Fellows are selected based on the originality and social impact of their approaches;
(2) Youth Venture, a program that encourages young people to launch their own social enterprises

by offering mentorship, seed funding, and access to a supportive network that helps them
cultivate their ideas and leadership abilities; and (3) Changemaker Schools, a collaborative
initiative with schools that fosters environments in which children are empowered to become
agents of change. The program emphasizes the development of key skills such as empathy,
teamwork, leadership, and creative problem-solving (Prithasen, 2007). Importantly, Ashoka does
not require that social entrepreneurs be traditional businesspeople. What matters most is their
commitment to solving social issues, regardless of whether they operate within or outside the
business sector. Today, Ashoka operates in 95 countries, including Thailand, and has supported
more than 4,000 Ashoka Fellows worldwide (Ashoka, 2024).

In addition to Ashoka, other incubator organizations include universities that offer training
programs, and international cultural organizations such as the British Council. These groups not
only provide funding but also offer skill-building and management training services to strengthen
social enterprises.

4.4 The Role of the State

Governments around the world have adopted different approaches to supporting social
entrepreneurs. However, most models share two common elements: (1) incubation and
developmental support, and (2) legal or regulatory oversight. A European research study on the
role of government applied evolutionary theory to examine the social evolution of the ecosystem.
The study identified three core variables: the influence of history, representing genetic variation;
institutions and environmental factors, representing epigenetic conditions; and changes driven
by experience-sharing between society and its environment, also interpreted as epigenetic

adaptation.

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