Guide to Happiness

What does it take to be a change-maker? Here are pieces of advice from eight of the women I've spoken with who are changing the status quo themselves.

Changemakers are people who can see the patterns around them, identify the problems in any situation, figure out ways to solve the problem, organize fluid teams, lead collective action and then continually adapt as situations change.

Ashoka invented the word "changemaker" (the name of its first newsletter) in 1981 and has used it ever since. In the last three years, this word has suddenly entered common usage. That's strong evidence that Ashoka's ten years of work to help everyone see and say out loud that they live in a profoundly different, better "everyone a changemaker" world has reached the tipping point. People need the word because they are changing.