Bea Pellizzari was honored as an Ashoka ChangemakeHER, Changemakers's inaugural celebration of the world's most influentual and inspiring women. Find her fellow honorees' voices here.

Bea Pellizzari has dedicated 18 years of her life to transforming the public image of people with disabilities. She founded La Usina in 2002 on the principle that diversity yields collective enrichment.

La Usina integrates people who have physical and mental disabilities into the labor force by using a model based on market principles and professional standards, without resorting to quotas or preferential treatment. Pellizzari recognizes that finding a job is not simply a matter of charity, but is the result of making a strong match between workers’ skills and employers’ needs.

Four years ago, she created a very successful social business called redACTIVOS that promotes and distributes several products and services created by people with disabilities. In addition to generating income for La Usina, this social business has been able to connect a network of very important Argentinean and international companies that buy the products and services made by a network of people with disabilities.

In this short video, Pellizzari briefly describes her journey along the path of social entrepreneurship, and how entrepreneurial activities, joy, and happiness go hand-in-hand.

Mónica González was honored as an Ashoka ChangemakeHER, Changemakers's inaugural celebration of the world's most influentual and inspiring women. Find her fellow honorees' voices here.

Kathrine Switzer was honored as an Ashoka ChangemakeHER, Changemakers's inaugural celebration of the world's most influentual and inspiring women. Find her fellow honorees' voices here.

Pictured above: Kathrine Switzer is accosted by a judge who tried to eject her from the normally all-male Boston Marathon in 1967, when male teammates bounced the official out of the race instead and she went on to finish.  April 19, 1967 in Hopkinton, Mass. (AP PHOTO)

★★★

Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to officially run the Boston Marathon and to win the New York City Marathon. She led the drive to get the women’s marathon into the Olympics, and is a TV commentator and author of Marathon Woman. She will be inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame on Oct.1, 2011.

★★★

It is an interesting fact that you cannot pursue a physical activity for a long time and stay angry. When the adrenaline and aggression burn themselves off, the endorphins and reasonable-- even creative—thoughts take over.

So it was with me 44 years ago, this April 18, when I was attacked in the Boston Marathon by a race official who was so angry that I was a female in his male-only race that he tried physically to eject me. I was rescued by my male teammates who bounced the official out of the race instead, and I went on to finish.

I said that I would finish the race on my hands and knees if I had to, to prove to this official and the world that women were physically capable of running the marathon distance, and I deserved a place in this race. I was angry with the official for 20 miles of hard running, and then a light went on.

Sejal Hathi, age 19, trains and mobilizes girls across the globe to co-create social change through her organization, Girls Helping Girls

★★★

Today, when I talk about Girls Helping Girls (GHG), I always say that part of our mission is to grow the next generation of female leaders: to build a dynamic sisterhood of changemakers that will revolutionize the way social change is achieved.

Yet, when I ponder the skills I used to launch GHG that I could offer to make this possible, I can name only bold idealism, glorious compassion, and a deep eagerness to drive a positive difference. Was I a leader? Perhaps.

Was I capable of cultivating new leaders? Most would say, “probably not.” But I very rapidly learned that inspiring girls’ leadership is less about bequeathing tools and more about nurturing a reciprocal exchange of ideas, strengths, and experiences.