Pros
I got to travel the world and work with amazing colleagues and Ashoka Fellows. Nothing better than discovering a new place through the lens of a social entrepreneur. I benefitted from smart and hardworking interns and junior staff that were hungry to make a change in the world. Learnt a LOT about new fields of social innovation like education and health thanks to working on multiple grants.
Cons
The level of pay for junior and mid level staff is disrespectful. Even worse is the fact that interns are not paid at all. Valuing their contributions to this organization could go far in nurturing and keeping experienced staff. Failure to hold senior directors and top-level management accountable for repeated lackluster performance. This comes with a general lack of transparency on decisions taken at the top, despite Ashoka supporting entrepreneurs who tackle this very same issue in their own contexts. Ashoka is recognized for its ability to identify and select young leaders and entrepreneurs. However, the final decision is often in the hands of a senior director that is many decades older than the applicant and is not up to date on the reality of industries that have shifted since they last worked in them. The role of technology and software in social movements are one such example.