Pitt’s 2012 Johnson Institute Exemplary Leader Award to Be Presented to Ashoka Founder and CEO Bill Drayton

PITTSBURGH—Bill Drayton, founder and CEO of Ashoka—which describes itself as the global association of the world’s leading social entrepreneurs—has been selected to receive the University of Pittsburgh’s 2012 Johnson Institute Exemplary Leader Award. Upon receiving the award on April 12, Drayton will deliver a lecture titled “How to Lead in a Rapidly Changing World” at 3:30 p.m. in Levy Hall of Rodef Shalom Temple, 4905 Fifth Ave., Oakland. 

The event is free and open to the public, but prior registration is requested. A reception beginning at 4:15 p.m. will follow the lecture. For more information or to register, e-mail gspiaji@pitt.edu.

Founded in 1980, Ashoka champions citizen-led social change and social entrepreneurship. To that end, it elects fellows around the world to work with policy makers, entrepreneurs, academics, and investors to create collaborative solutions and infrastructure that support citizen involvement. Ashoka Fellows are leading social entrepreneurs who are recognized for their innovative solutions to the world’s most urgent social problems with the potential to change patterns across societies. Drayton also chairs the Community Greens, an Ashoka initiative, and Get America Working! a nonprofit organization. 

Drayton received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, where he founded the Ashoka Table; attained his master’s degree from Oxford University; and earned his JD from Yale Law School, where he launched the Yale Legislative Services. He has served as a consultant for McKinsey and Company and an assistant administrator at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). He also founded and led Save EPA, an association of professional environmental managers that helped to block environmental policies proposed by the Reagan administration. Additionally, he was awarded a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellow in 1984. Drayton was recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of America’s 25 Best Leaders in 2005.

The Johnson Institute for Responsible Leadership, part of Pitt’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, presents the Exemplary Leader Award in recognition of the accomplishments of highly effective leaders who demonstrate the values of accountability, ethics, and responsibility. In addition to the annual lecture, the Johnson Institute is building a library of leadership case studies that can be used as teaching and research tools based on featured speakers from the annual lectures. 

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