Shawn Askinosie is a chocolate maker and founder of Askinosie Chocolate. His much-lauded social business model has earned him many accolades, including being named 2008 Entrepreneur of The Year by the Springfield Business Journal , "One of 14 Guys Who Are Saving the World" in O, The Oprah Magazine, and features in numerous other publications. He sells his chocolate throughout the US, and exports to stores around the world. He has been nominated Missouri Exporter of the Year.
Askinosie Chocolate is a small-batch, award-winning chocolate manufacturer located in Springfield, Missouri, buying 100% of their beans directly from the source. Shawn travels to regions of Ecuador, Honduras, the Philippines, and Tanzania to work directly with the farmers. This allows the chocolate to be traced to the source and labeled Authentic Single-Origin Chocolate. It also enables Askinosie Chocolate to profit-share with the farmers, giving them a Stake In the Outcome™. The Askinosie Chocolate mission is to serve their farmers, their neighborhood, their customers and each other; sharing the "Askinosie chocolate experience" by leaving the world a better place than they found it.
Askinosie is the Mel Carnahan Fellow at Missouri State University’s Public Affairs Academy and is an Adjunct Professor of Field Studies in Social Entrepreneurship at Drury University. He was the Fall 2011 and Spring 2012 Commencement Speaker at Missouri State University graduation ceremonies and received an Honorary Doctorate of Public Affairs degree in May 2012.
Before founding Askinosie Chocolate, Askinosie had a successful career in criminal law for nearly 20 years. Over the years he had a number of high profile cases that garnered national media attention; he never lost a criminal jury trial.
