The B Team, founded by Sir Richard Branson and Jochen Zeitz, yesterday revealed its starting line-up of business leaders and the first three Challenges they will address to deliver a new way of doing business that prioritizes people and planet alongside profit – a "Plan B" for business all over the world. Thousands of people tuned in to a live broadcast of the announcement; Ashoka participated on-line from its global office in the US and with representatives at the event in London.

Ashoka will join a global community of partners, advisors and supporters that the B Team is assembling to deliver ideas and action for businesses the world over.

A full list of the initial B Leaders and details on the first three Challenges can be found at www.bteam.org.

During the live online broadcast to similar gatherings in more than sixty cities around the world, the newly announced B Leaders also issued a joint Declaration (bteam.org/about/declaration), acknowledging key global problems such as growing inequality, unemployment and the unsustainable use of natural resources. The group committed to accelerating a movement of leaders around the world driven by a better way of doing business.

Bill Drayton, CEO of Ashoka, said “Ashoka is delighted to support the B team. Richard Branson and his partners recognize that the game is no longer efficiency in repetition. Now value comes from contributing to change – and success depends on what percentage of your organization or society are changemakers, at what level of changemaking skill, and how fluidly and openly they work together as a team of teams. That’s exactly what Ashoka’s goal, an ‘everyone a changemaker’ world, requires.”

Details on the Charter can also be found at www.bteam.org, where the global public is invited to add their own statement to the Charter.

The B Team will be holding a series of community events over the coming months. Input from stakeholders participating in today’s global digital gathering will contribute to The B Team’s plans for their first three Challenges and the formation of a comprehensive “Plan B” for business. The B Team is also encouraging the general public to submit their views on a new charter for better business at www.bteam.org.

About ASHOKA
Ashoka is the largest network of social entrepreneurs worldwide, with nearly 3,000 Ashoka Fellows in 70 countries putting their system changing ideas into practice on a global scale. Founded by Bill Drayton in 1980, Ashoka has provided start-up financing, professional support services, and connections to a global network across the business and social sectors, and a platform for people dedicated to changing the world. Ashoka launched the field of social entrepreneurship and has activated multi-sector partners across the world who increasingly look to entrepreneurial talent and new ideas to solve social problems.

Ashoka Fellows remain the core of our community, and their insights show us how the world is moving and what is needed next. Ashoka's mission has evolved beyond catalyzing individual entrepreneurs to enabling an "everyone a changemaker" world. This means equipping more people – including young people – with the skillset and a connection to purpose so that they can contribute ideas and effectively solve problems at whatever scale is needed in their family, community, city, workplace, field, industry, country. This evolution comes from the urgent realization that the pace of change is accelerating in an increasingly complex and interconnected world. Our strategic initiatives focus on setting in motion the people, resources and ecosystems that will bring about a social revolution where everyone contributes to change for the good of all. Working in partnership with private, philanthropic and citizen sector players we are achieving large-scale social innovation that is grounded in decades of entrepreneurial experience.

Ashoka: Innovators for the Public

Ashoka: Innovators for the Public

Ashoka is the global association of the world's leading social entrepreneurs - men and women with system changing solutions for the world's most urgent social problems. Since 1981, Ashoka has elected over 3000 leading social entrepreneurs as Ashoka Fellows, providing them with living stipends, professional support, and access to a global network of peers in more than 70 countries. Working with these social entrepreneurs, Ashoka builds communities of innovators who work collectively to transform society and design new ways for the citizen sector to become more productive, entrepreneurial and globally integrated. For more information, please visit www.ashoka.org.

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