Skoll Foundation

As part of the CERES 2011 Conference today, global organizations including CALPERS, CalSTERS, Levi Strauss & Co., SAP, PG&E, the AFL-CIO, the Skoll Foundation and others announced specific commitments to catalyze the U.S. global economy by combating climate change.  In addition to organization commitments, two dozen investors are sending letters to all of the Russell 1000 companies requesting that their management teams and boards address sustainability issues across their organizations “from the boardroom, to operations and across their supply chains.”

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Watch live coverage from day two of the 2011 Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship.

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The theme this year is “Large Scale Change – ecosystems, networks and collaborative action.”

PALO ALTO, Calif.—May 27, 2010—The Skoll Foundation announced today it is committing $10 million over two years to support  the Social Innovation Fund (SIF), a new competitive grant program housed at the Corporation for National and Community Service. The announcement was made at a White House ceremony with First Lady Michelle Obama to mark the initial phase of philanthropic commitments in support of the SIF and other investments in innovative community solutions. read more

PALO ALTO, Calif.—March 31, 2010—The Skoll Foundation announced today its most recent investments in social entrepreneurs driving large scale change on critical issues around the globe. Recipients of the 2010 Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship include three organizations – Forest Trends, Imazon and Telapak – working to tackle climate change through innovative efforts to preserve tropical forests in the Amazon, Indonesia and beyond.  Also receiving the Skoll Award are One Acre Fund, which provides an integrated approach to empowering rural farmers in Africa, and Tostan, which has developed an innovative method to leverage human rights as a framework for community development. read more

PALO ALTO, Calif. – December 15, 2009 – The Skoll Foundation announced today new investments in social entrepreneurs and other innovators driving large scale change on critical issues around the globe. Peace Dividend Trust, which makes peace and humanitarian operations more effective and equitable to promote durable peace, received the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, which includes a $765,000 grant. The Foundation also invested $500,000 to support the work of The Elders, a group of eminent global leaders brought together by Nelson Mandela to support peace building, address major causes of human suffering and promote the shared interests of humanity. The Foundation also approved a $2.5 million investment in the Middle East Venture Capital Fund, which will fund information and communications technology companies originating in the Palestinian Territories. Finally, the Foundation renewed its commitment to the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford University with a $3.6 million grant, with a focus on developing talent and scholarship in social entrepreneurship, as well as building the Centre’s role as a global hub for social entrepreneurship. read more

PALO ALTO, Calif.—November 2, 2009—The Skoll Foundation today announced that Ben Binswanger will join the Foundation as Vice President, Program and Impact. A long time senior executive with experience in philanthropy, business and government, Binswanger will lead the Foundation’s strategic grantmaking program, identifying and supporting the work of the top social entrepreneurs worldwide who are driving large-scale change on pressing social and environmental issues. As part of the executive team, he will help shape the Foundation’s overall strategy to maximize the leverage of its philanthropic capital. read more

PALO ALTO, Calif. – Sept. 1, 2009 – The Skoll Foundation announced today second round investments in fifteen social entrepreneurs in its portfolio driving large-scale impact worldwide. In addition, the Foundation announced the first Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship in its 2010 round, a $765,000 grant to Civic Ventures, plus investments in two key partners who promote social entrepreneurship and social innovation, Ashoka and ShoreCap II. In aggregate, the new grants and program-related investments total $14,165,000. read more

PALO ALTO, Calif.—April 14, 2009—Jeff Skoll, founder and chairman of the Skoll Foundation and Participant Media, announced today that he has hired Dr. Larry Brilliant as president of a new organization Skoll is launching to address urgent threats confronting humanity and the planet.  Brilliant will focus the new organization, the Skoll Urgent Threats Fund, on identifying and supporting innovative high-impact initiatives to combat climate change, water scarcity, pandemics, nuclear proliferation and Middle East conflict. Brilliant will also serve as senior adviser to Skoll to ensure alignment of work on these urgent threats across Skoll’s business and philanthropic activities. read more

PALO ALTO, Calif.—March 12, 2009—The Skoll Foundation today announced Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship for seven organizations working around the world in the areas of tolerance and human rights, health, environmental sustainability, peace and security, and economic and social equity. The recipients, who will each receive three-year grants of $765,000, join the growing global network of Skoll social entrepreneurs, now numbering 72, who are tackling the world’s most critical social and economic challenges.

The Skoll Awards program provides social entrepreneurs who have already achieved significant impact with unrestricted funding to further extend their reach. These new Skoll entrepreneurs have proven their innovations and are delivering results across issues and geographies, including:

• Promoting peace in the Middle East by turning a potential source of conflict – water – into a platform for cooperation;
• Creating powerful examples of how we can build viable contemporary communities that are environmentally sustainable today;
• Connecting microfinance to the issue of water access to drive innovative solutions to the challenge of fresh water scarcity.

The seven organizations receiving Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship are: BioRegional Development Group, EcoPeace – Friends of the Earth Middle East, Fundacion Gaia Amazonas, INJAZ Al-Arab, International Center for Transitional Justice, VisionSpring, and WaterPartners International. read more

PALO ALTO, Calif.—Aug. 26, 2008—The Skoll Foundation today announced additional investments in the inaugural 2005 recipients of the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, named two new recipients of the Award, and deepened its commitment to building out a global ecosystem to support social entrepreneurs. These new grants total $19.18 million. The follow-on investment in the 2005 Skoll social entrepreneur class is designed to help these organizations further drive systemic change in the regions in and issues on which they work and achieve sustainability. The new award winners, Teach For All (Teach For America) and Apopo, will each receive three-year grants of $1,015,000 and join the growing global network of Skoll social entrepreneurs, now numbering 61, who have created innovative, effective solutions for combating social and economic challenges worldwide. The Foundation has also deepened its relationship with the Santa Clara University’s Global Social Benefit Incubator and with Duke University’s Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship, reflecting the Foundation’s commitment to supporting the global ecosystem for social entrepreneurs. read more