What is a Mosaic?

Changemakers begins each collaborative competition by creating a Mosaic of Solutions™, a map of the most promising and innovative principles transposed against the underlying factors which drive a particular social problem. The mosaic highlights current efforts – the work of Ashoka’s more than 1,700 Fellows – to implement these emerging principles. The mosaic is not a fixed or exhaustive documentation of the components that describe a certain social ill, as those can vary widely by country and society. Nor is it intended to be a nuanced, multifaceted description of each Fellow’s work. Instead, it represents a distillation of the most common core causes and categorization of projects based on approach. The mosaic helps social innovators see how their work fits into a larger picture and allows them to draw on the knowledge already accumulated by Ashoka’s network of social entrepreneurs, which has been innovating for social change for 26 years, and offers insight and experience based on previous work. Ultimately, the mosaic is a starting point for conversation. It is also at the heart of Ashoka’s goal for its network of Fellows: to amplify their work through the connections made and knowledge gained from each other. Through this collaboration, the power of the network to change the world becomes more than the sum of the individual parts.

How to Use the Mosaic

Across the horizontal “X” axis of the chart are some of the primary components of the social problem the mosaic addresses. We aspire to dig deeper, beyond obvious root causes, to highlight the underlying “levers” our Fellows have identified as areas with great potential for triggering social change. Down the vertical “Y” axis are the proven principles Ashoka Fellows’ efforts have revealed – the very seeds of entrepreneurial thinking. The body of the mosaic is then formed by examples of Fellows’ endeavors that are tackling a precise component of the problem using a particular principle. Therefore, a mosaic offers an at-a-glance look at some of the most effective approaches developed thus far for addressing a particular social problem, acts as a resource for determining how those approaches may overlap, and reveals areas where beneficial strategies have yet to be found. For potential investors, this analysis provides a framework for thinking about where resources might best be placed, as well as a guide for identifying work aligned with their own criteria or areas of interest. For Fellows, it provides a link to peers using like-minded strategies who might serve as future collaboration partners.