Ashif Shaikh

Courage sparker

Ashif Shaikh is the cofounder of Jan Sahas, a nonprofit working to facilitate the safe migration of informal workers in Asia through the Migrants Resilience Collaborative.

Why you should listen

Born in India, Ashif Shaikh experienced profound discrimination from an early age. As a result of this, he cofounded the nonprofit Jan Sahas ("People's Courage") with the dream of promoting the rights of those within socially excluded communities.

Shaikh has grown the organization from five volunteers to a network of thousands that in turn serves millions of vulnerable groups, including migrant workers and survivors of sexual violence, sex trafficking and manual scavenging work. In 2020, Shaikh launched the Migrants Resilience Collaborative, a grassroots-led effort that helps vulnerable migrant families access social benefits and support to become economically resilient. He was named a Schwab Foundation Social Innovator of the Year in 2020 and an Ashoka Fellow in 2016.

Ashif Shaikh’s TED talk

7:57

Ashif Shaikh

A path to social safety for migrant workers

Posted Mar 2024

More news and ideas from Ashif Shaikh

Live from TED2023

Leaping boldly into new global realities: Notes on Session 3 of TED2023

April 18, 2023

From climate change to aging to geopolitics, Session 3 of TED2023 surveyed big issues with worldwide implications. The event: Talks from Session 3 of TED2023: Possibility, hosted by TED current affairs curator Whitney Pennington-Rodgers When and where: Tuesday, April 18, 2023, at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, BC, Canada Speakers: Jennifer D. Sciubba, Piyachart Phiromswad, […]