Dr. Diana Wells is President Emerita and member of Ashoka’s Global Leadership Team.

Diana first joined Ashoka after graduating from Brown University in 1988 when social entrepreneurship was still a new word. Diana took a leave from Ashoka to earn a Ph.D. in anthropology at New York University. Her ethnographic research focused on understanding how social change happens as a local articulation of a global social movement and resulted in her dissertation: Between the Difference: The Emergence of a Cross Ethnic Women’s Movement in Trinidad and Tobago. She returned to her work at Ashoka building tools to measure systems change social impact, directed Ashoka’s global selection of social entrepreneurs, and was named President of Ashoka in 2005.

Diana has been named both a Fulbright and a Woodrow Wilson Scholar, is a Trustee Emerita of Brown University, previously served on the Advisory Board for the Center of Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship (CASE) at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and GuideStar International’s Board. Diana taught anthropology at Georgetown University and has authored and edited numerous journal and book publications including two compilations on social movements in the United States.

Diana has received several awards for her work. In 2012, the Brown Alumni Association presented her with the William Rogers Award, its highest honor, George Mason University awarded her their inaugural Social Innovation Champion in 2011, and, in 2007, Diana was celebrated as one of the 10 winners of the first annual Women to Watch award by Running Start, a DC-based organization that empowers young women to be political leaders.

Eidi Cruz-Valdivieso has over 20 years of experience in the social innovation field. Her early work focused on community-driven change and transformation across marginalized urban and rural communities in Mexico, where she co-created programs that supported communities in identifying their priorities, developing innovative solutions to their most pressing challenges, expanding access to education and promoting intergenerational leadership. 

Eidi has also led global initiatives that amplify the work of changemakers worldwide. As director of an international social innovation prize, she significantly expanded its reach to 70 countries, strengthening its impact and visibility. Prior to that, she worked at the London School of Economics, consulting on intellectual capital and co-creation processes to enhance innovation within small and medium enterprises. 

Eidi is a licensed psychologist from Universidad Iberoamericana and practiced as both a clinical and community psychologist in Mexico. She holds a master’s degree with distinction in Organizational and Social Psychology from the London School of Economics and a master’s degree in Social Innovation from the University of Cambridge, where she was the inaugural recipient of the Cambridge Judge Business School and St Edmund’s College Social Innovation Scholarship. Eidi loves storytelling and the performing arts, and during her time in London she also studied acting. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in the UK and lives in Washington, DC.

Brenda leads the Children and Youth initiative for Ashoka Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, she is Co-founder and Director of Conciencias Unidas A.C. and is part of the global youth network “Global Changemakers”. She has a degree in Marketing and is a Master in Educational Innovation for Sustainability. Brenda has represented the voice of youth in different organizations, movements in national and international events, she is a facilitator of learning experiences to promote changemaking and her dream is a world where we have more spaces of hope that allow us to recognize ourselves and act as changemakers.