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Bill Drayton | |
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.jpg) Bill Drayton (2012) | |
| Born | William Drayton 1943 (age 81–82) New York City, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Harvard University (BA) Balliol College, Oxford (MA) Yale University (JD) |
| Organization | Ashoka: Innovators for the Public |
| Title | Chair |
William Drayton (born 1943) is an Americansocial entrepreneur. Drayton was named byU.S. News & World Report as one of America's 25 Best Leaders in 2005.[1] He is responsible for the rise of the phrase "social entrepreneur",[2] a concept first found in print in 1972.[3]
Drayton is the founder and current chair ofAshoka: Innovators for the Public, a501(c)(3)organization dedicated to finding and fostering social entrepreneurs worldwide. Drayton also chairs two other 501(c)(3) organizations, namely Youth Venture and Get America Working!
According to Drayton's philosophy, social entrepreneurs are individuals with innovative solutions to society's most pressing social problems. To quote Drayton, "Social entrepreneurs are not content just to give a fish or teach how to fish. They will not rest until they have revolutionized the fishing industry."
He was elected a Member of theAmerican Philosophical Society in 2019.
Drayton's mother emigrated to theUnited States fromAustralia. His father was an American who became an explorer. His ancestors were some of the earliest anti-slavery abolitionist and women's leaders in the U.S.[4] Drayton was born in 1943 inNew York City.
Drayton attended high school atPhillips Academy, where he established the Asia Society, which soon became the school's most popular student organization. He attendedHarvard where he received hisBachelor of Arts degree in 1965, where he created the Ashoka Table, bringing in prominent government, union, and church leaders foroff-the-record dinners at which students could ask "how things really worked". Drayton enteredBalliol College,Oxford and received aMaster of Arts degree in 1967. He attendedYale Law School where he received hisJuris Doctor in 1970. At Yale Law School, Drayton founded Yale Legislative Services, which, at its peak, involved a third of the law school's student body.[5]
Drayton became a manager andmanagement consultant, working forMcKinsey & Company as a consultant for almost ten years.[6]
During the administration ofPresidentJimmy Carter (1977–1981), Drayton was an AssistantAdministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency where he launchedemissions trading, among other reforms.[citation needed] He founded the groupSave EPA after he left.[7]
Drayton has served as a visiting professor atHarvard University andStanford University.[8]
Drayton has received many awards and acknowledgments for his achievements. He was elected one of the earlyMacArthur Fellows for his work, including the founding ofAshoka: Innovators for the Public.[9]
TheAmerican Society of Public Administration and theNational Academy of Public Administration jointly awarded him their National Public Service Award[10] and he has also been named a Preiskel–Silverman Fellow for Yale Law School[11] and is a member of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences.[12]
On May 25, 2009, Drayton was awarded anhonorary degree,Doctorate of Humane Letters, byYale University atcommencement.[13]
David Gergen has called Drayton the "godfather of social entrepreneurship."[14] And in 2008, Drayton was named a "visionary" as one ofUtne Reader magazine's "50 Visionaries Who Are Changing the World".[15]
In 2011, Drayton won Spain's prestigiousPrince of Asturias Awards for international cooperation for his work promoting entrepreneurs. The prize foundation described him as a "driving force behind the figure of social entrepreneurs, men and women who undertake innovative initiatives for the common good".[16]
Within the next two weeks, Drayton also accepted the John W. Gardner Leadership award, "established in 1985 to honor outstanding Americans who exemplify the leadership and the ideals of John W. Gardner", and the World Entrepreneurship Forum's Social Entrepreneur Award.[17]
In 2012, Drayton was named an inaugural recipient ofMiddlebury College's Center for Social Entrepreneurship Vision Award, in recognition of the impact of his contributions to the field of social entrepreneurship.[18]
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