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Nearly 200 alumni, guests, and friends of New York University gathered for the annual Ashok C. Sani Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence Lecture featuring Bill Drayton, Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Ashoka: Innovators for the Public, who delivered a presentation entitled “Making Change in a Rapidly Changing World.” Mr. Drayton spoke to social entrepreneurship and the skills required to effectively create change – namely empathy. He opined that social entrepreneurship is not defined by function alone, but by a deep commitment to the good of all. Mr. Drayton encouraged the audience to give themselves permission to make change and to practice being a change maker in our society. He also underscored the importance of teaching children the skill of empathy, and training them to be change makers themselves. In closing, Mr. Drayton challenged the audience to tip the process of change making in our own lives, societies, and institutions, to create a better world for all.

The Sani lecture is named in honor of Ashok C. Sani (BS ’74), a distinguished Stern graduate, successful entrepreneur, President of C.G.S. Industries Inc., loyal supporter of NYU, and the founding member of the NYU Stern Alumni Council. The Sani lecture shares Mr. Sani's interest in ethics, truth, love, peace, non-violence, compassion, and the moral and social responsibilities of members of society with the NYU community.