Everyone says you've got to do a foundation and legal structure

In an age when bureaucracy has become the false priest of progress, Bill Drayton, the founder of Ashoka and father of the modern social entrepreneurship movement, struck like lightning with his words: “Everyone says you've got to do a foundation and legal structure to finance social change. What nonsense!” This is not the cry of rebellion against order, but a call to awaken the sleeping spirit of initiative, to remember that the true power of change has never been written on parchment or sealed with wax. Drayton speaks as one who has walked among dreamers and doers, and has seen that the engine of transformation is not law, but love; not structure, but soul. His words are a sword against complacency and a reminder that systems should serve vision, not smother it.

The origin of this quote lies in Drayton’s lifelong work to empower changemakers—individuals who, without waiting for permission, reshape the world through compassion, creativity, and courage. He saw how so many noble spirits, burning with ideas to heal society’s wounds, were paralyzed by paperwork and procedure. The world told them: “First, form a foundation. Draft a charter. Establish a legal framework.” But Drayton knew that great revolutions do not begin in boardrooms—they begin in hearts on fire. His “nonsense” is a rejection of the illusion that transformation must be institutionalized before it is real. He reminds us that social change is born not from legality, but from moral urgency.

History itself agrees with him. When Mahatma Gandhi began his movement of nonviolent resistance, he did not wait to establish a committee or to seek formal approval. He began with salt and silence, walking barefoot to the sea in an act that defied empires. When Mother Teresa stepped into the slums of Calcutta, she carried no charter but the voice of conscience. When Nelson Mandela dreamed of a free South Africa, his revolution began in the heart, not in the courts. The greatest forces for good have always been guided by conviction before convention, by the unshakable belief that compassion cannot wait for paperwork. Drayton’s words are a hymn to that same fire — to the unstoppable nature of human will when it rises in the service of justice.

He does not mean to condemn organization altogether, but to place it in its rightful order. Legal structure is a tool, not a temple. It must follow vision, not precede it. Too often, those who long to serve the world become trapped in the machinery meant to protect it. They drown in forms and permits, mistaking compliance for creation. Drayton calls this out for what it is: a spiritual distraction, a subtle form of fear disguised as responsibility. For when humanity hides behind structure, it forgets that the power to do good has always belonged to the individual — the one who dares to begin, who acts before the world says it is safe to do so.

This truth echoes the wisdom of the ancients. The philosopher Lao Tzu wrote, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” He did not say it begins with a council or decree. The step itself, taken in courage, creates its own path. Likewise, Drayton’s vision of social change begins with action, however small, however imperfect. Laws can be shaped later; the spark must come first. The river of transformation is not born in the courts of kings, but in the springs of conscience that flow unseen beneath the surface of society.

To live by Drayton’s insight is to reclaim the divine freedom of initiative. It is to refuse to wait for permission when justice is needed now. It is to remember that the authority to act resides in every human soul. The person who feeds the hungry, shelters the lost, teaches the forgotten — that person is already a revolutionary, regardless of structure. The lesson here is clear: do not let fear of imperfection delay the beginning of good. The world does not change through flawless systems; it changes through courageous starts.

And so, let this teaching be passed to all who seek to serve: Begin first — organize later. Act upon the call that burns within you, for that flame is the truest law. Foundations and forms may come in time, but they are the servants, not the masters, of change. The spirit of humanity does not wait for signatures; it moves as the wind moves, fierce and free. Let Drayton’s words remind you that every great movement began with one person who decided that “nonsense” was just another name for hesitation. Do not wait for permission to do what is right. For the moment you act, the world begins to change.