While in graduate school, I founded and subsequently built an apparel company, manufacturing much of its hand-finished product in the Philippines, a country with a rich tradition in craft. Setting up cottage industry in small, rural villages gave me the opportunity to work closely with the women of these communities. On one memorable occasion, I was encouraged to return to a particular village after a year’s absence. The women of the village had staged the reception so that I would arrive just in time to observe the village’s children hard at work at their studies during the daily broadcast school lessons from Manila. They had pooled their income from the employment my company had provided to construct a community center, bring in the first electrical line and buy and install a wide screen television. This was the first education the village’s children had ever received. The women warmly thanked me for empowering them to change their community for the better.. At that pivotal moment, I realized the life changing gift I’d been given and both the opportunity and responsibility I had going forward; to make conscious decisions that would benefit both the business and the community. I was part of this larger global community.
virgin forests, pristine lakes, rugged trails and mountain top views of natural beauty-the Adirondacks
I want to see a Sport for Social Change global and sustainable community start to take root-the place to gather for innovators, fans and enthusiasts to share best practices and connect to the investment community. Beyond this, as other vertical communities start to take hold, connecting innovators and their ideas across communities with common ground.
Cynthia Drayton divides her time between the Projects Management Team and her passion of building the sport for social change global community at Ashoka’s Changemakers. A lifelong involvement in both grassroots and elite sports, she has witnessed time and again the transformative power of sport as a tool for social change. She is a US Figure Skating National Judge and recently judged the 2008 US National Figure Skating Championships. An avid hiker, she’s climbed all 46 peaks over 4000 feet in the Adirondacks (ADK46R). Cynthia received a BA in Political Science and French from Mount Holyoke College and a MA in Communications from New York University.
