This is a moment to celebrate and to honour my good friend and colleague Gabriela Ender.

In this blog, I have talked about the important work of the Ashoka Foundation and I have mentioned OpenSpace Online®, a tool to create high-value dialogue in diverse groups. Now, both have come together: Gabriela Ender has been awarded the highly prestigious fellowship of the Ashoka Foundation on November 19, 2008 during a ceremony in Munich, Germany.

One year ago, I wrote about the book How to Change the World of David Bornstein, who describes the work of the Ashoka Foundation which supports social entrepreneuship around the world. Created by Bill Drayton in the eighties, it has become the leading organization for supporting social activists who create new concepts to help marginalized groups in all parts of the world. People who are able to find innovative solutions for the pressing problems of our times.

OpenSpace Online®, developed about 8 years ago has proven to be a very effective tool for initiating and sustaining change. In their justification of the award, they write:

With the help of a virtual companion, up tp 125 people can work together in real-time, they can co-create results and go into implementation
right away... Gabriela Ender enables organizations around the globe-which would not have thebudget otherwise-to work contructively... on topics like climatic change, urban planning, health care, etc.

Once again: cheers to Gabriela!

[ Modified: Wednesday, 3 December 2008, 09:35 AM ]

For the last 6 months or so, I regular visit the Self-HUB in Berlin. Self is a part of a global network of HUBs, which provide flexible solutions for temporary and permanent working and meeting space and serve as points where social and other entrepreneurs can connect. HUBs meanwhile exist in 16 places around the world (Berlin, Bristol, London, Rotterdam, Brussels, Milan Stockholm, Madrid, Cairo, Johannesburg, Tel Aviv, Mumbai, Toronto, Halifax, Sao Paolo) and more are in the making. Already, the connect more than 3000 people.

For me, as an entrepreneur, it is the ideal place to work - I just open my laptop and connect to the WLan, I can find people there who can provide services that I need (admin, marketing, etc.) and I can create more connections. And the HUB is really a fun place to work.