Skoll Foundation

As several of our staffers are preparing for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) later this month, we wanted to share the details of an event we’re cosponsoring held at the same time. Learn more below, and watch our blog in later weeks for live posts from Skoll Foundation principals.

“The Forum on Social Entrepreneurship in the New Economy will be during Rio+20, and will generate ideas and practical next steps for sustainability and the emerging new economy. The Forum is organized by Ashoka, Fundación Avina, the Skoll Foundation and the Roberto Marinho Foundation and will be held at Humanidade2012 (Fort of Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro).

The event is open to the public. The Forum is based on the importance of social entrepreneurship in connecting society and nature, ethics and the economy as a foundation for sustainable development. The Forum invites entrepreneurs and citizens confronting today’s socio-environmental challenges to contribute to and expand upon this conversation.

Based on the experiences of social entrepreneurs, the Forum will show that current challenges can be seen not simply as limitations, but also as an opportunity for new solutions that can be broadly applied and refined in a society in which access to information and communication has been growing exponentially.

In bringing together diverse real-life experiences, the Forum can stimulate realistic changes in consumer, business, organizational and government practices.”
Agenda and registration are at http://www.socialentrepreneurship.org.br/index.php?lang=en

“There’s really only so much that you need, or your family needs,” Jeff Skoll says during an wide-ranging, hour-long conversation this week. “All else is to be turned, hopefully smartly, into a benefit for the world.”

That beautiful quote is part of a very long feature about Jeff Skoll’s life in Canada’s Globe and Mail. We learn more about his childhood, the books he grew up with, his first job, starting the Skoll Foundation, his films, his role in the Giving Pledge, and of course, his latest honor. An excerpt:

“He was at the Bacara not to discuss traditional philanthropy (billionaires know how to write cheques), but to outline something much more challenging: ‘impact investing’ – channelling funds into projects that yield a tangible social benefit as well as financial returns.

It is also why he was in Ottawa on Friday, when he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada for his ‘commitment to social causes and innovative practice of philanthropy.’ Mr. Skoll is the only Canadian among the 81 billionaires to sign The Giving Pledge in the two years since Bill Gates and Mr. Buffett called on the superrich to stop hoarding their wealth. He has already parted with half of his net worth, and expects 95 per cent to be gone when he is done.”

As I type this, Jeff Skoll is receiving the Order of Canada. Arianna Huffington wrote about it, saying “it’s a richly deserved honor. Through his network of organizations designed to have a powerful impact on our world, he’s working to create the critical mass necessary to bring about the changes our world so desperately needs. His résumé is at once remarkably varied and obsessively single-minded. His vision is simple and vast at the same time: to use all the tools at his disposal to change the world.”

We will post photos soon. Meanwhile, here’s all the info on today’s ceremony.

OTTAWA, ONTARIO, May 23, 2012 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, will preside over an Order of Canada investiture ceremony at Rideau Hall, on Friday, May 25, 2012, at 10:30 a.m. The Governor General, who is chancellor and Principal Companion of the Order, will bestow the honour on 22 Members, 21 Officers and one Companion.

The Order of Canada was created in 1967, during Canada’s centennial year, to recognize a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation. Since its creation, more than 5 000 people from all sectors of society have been invested into the Order.

Watch it live at http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=14299&lan=eng

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/jeff-skoll-order-of-canada_b_1544322.html?ref=impact&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000008

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/media-advisory-governor-general-to-invest-44-recipients-into-the-order-of-canada-2012-05-23

Congratulations to Jeff Skoll on his latest award. Here’s the press release:

(WASHINGTON- May 23, 2012)—Innovative, driven, results-oriented. These are just a few words that describe Jeff Skoll, recipient of Independent Sector’s 2012 John W. Gardner Leadership Award. IS will honor Jeff for his outstanding and innovative leadership in promoting a sustainable world of peace and prosperity at the 2012 Independent Sector Annual Conference on November 12 in San Francisco.

The first full-time employee and first president of eBay, Jeff Skoll was connecting individuals and creating social networks long before Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter became household names. Jeff’s first independent philanthropic venture was the Skoll Foundation. read more

Two Skoll awardees wrote a piece about Jeff Skoll in The Edmonton Journal, calling him “the greatest Canadian you’ve never heard of.” An excerpt:

“You wouldn’t likely notice Skoll, let alone recognize him, if he passed you on the street. Yet this soft-spoken, unassuming man helped pioneer e-commerce, launched social entrepreneurship and transformed the film industry to make it a force for social good. This Friday, Skoll will be presented with the Order of Canada for his philanthropic work.”

The idea was appealing from the start:  convene a group of older but far from doddering global leaders, women and men justly renowned for their integrity and achievement, and ask them to serve as tribal elders for a world in need of their moral clarity and sensible savvy.  In 2007, Nelson Mandela took up the charge. With the help of musician Peter Gabriel and entrepreneur Richard Branson, he persuaded 10 exemplary human beings to join the founding body that has become The Elders.

Grand visions like this get the blood flowing. They stoke our belief that peace is possible and a more equitable, sustainable world within reach. But for such visions to take root, they must be grounded in strategy and nourished by action. In 2008, The Elders found the partner they needed to do just that in CEO Mabel van Oranje.

Over the past four years, Jeff and I have seen, first-hand as members of The Elders’ Advisory Council, this bold and beautiful vision brought to life.  Elders’ missions to some of the most bitterly contested places on earth—Sudan, the DPRK and South Korea, Israel and the West Bank, Zimbabwe, Cyprus and others—have shown how to navigate mine-fields; by spurring dialogue, comforting the afflicted and speaking truth to power, Elders have proven again and again that peace has a fighting chance.  But missions like these don’t just happen; thanks to Mabel and her team, they were impeccably planned and superbly executed.  And even more critical, follow-up continues.

Elders have also taken positions and made statements on climate change and injustice, but on no issue have they been more outspoken and committed than that of women’s rights.  In December, 2008, at the organization’s meeting in Paris, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter inspired his fellow Elders to challenge head-on the role of religious and traditional practice in oppressing women.

The following year, when The Elders met in Johannesburg, Mabel and her team  invited tribal chiefs,  religious leaders, women’s rights champions, and experts in the field to join them.  During a special session, deftly chaired by Elders Graca Machel and Gro Brundtland, an opportunity emerged:  to use The Elders’ convening power to  form an alliance focused on child marriage,  all too commonly sanctioned by religion, reinforced by poverty, and sustained by tradition.  Today, thanks to Mabel’s and the Elders’  steadfast leadership, the  Girls Not Brides alliance has more than 120 members from 30 countries, and is on its way to ridding the world of a devastating wrong.

Heading to the spring 2012 meeting of The Elders in Oslo, I knew the organization would be hard-pressed to get through its heavy agenda. But next steps on Sudan and South Sudan, Israel and Palestine, the Korean peninsula, women’s rights, child marriage and the budget weren’t the only things on my mind. I also knew how tough this meeting would be for Mabel.

In February, Mabel’s husband, Prince Friso van Oranje,  was caught in an avalanche; he remains hospitalized, and  the timeframe and chances for his recovery are uncertain.  How on earth would she manage the meeting? How would the Elders? The rest of us. read more

May 15, 2012 – Palo Alto – The Skoll Foundation today announced the merging of Social Edge and Skoll World Forum into a new year-round platform, Skoll World Forum Online:

In the last decade the Social Edge Community and its social entrepreneurs have together built a rich and trusted online community dedicated to changing business as usual. Their discussions around promising solutions, barriers to change, scale, metrics, and more, have contributed indelible value to the evolving social sector.

The Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship, a program of the Skoll Foundation, has evolved too. It is now the premiere international platform for social entrepreneurship; we just convened our 9th annual event. And we couldn’t be prouder that both Social Edge and the Forum continue to attract the best and the brightest thinkers and doers committed to global social change.
read more

What Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said about our new partnership yesterday:

“So today, I’m proud to announce two exciting new partnerships. USAID – I don’t know if Raj Shah – is Raj here? Ah, oh good, you’re here. USAID’s Development Innovation Ventures, or DIV, invests in breakthrough development solutions that truly have the potential to change millions of lives at a fraction of the usual cost. And now, through a new Global Development Alliance between USAID and the Skoll Foundation – I don’t know if Jeffrey Skoll is here as well – we are dedicating more than $40 million to focus on scaling up game-changing innovations that are cost-effective and sustainable. read more

April 26, 2012 – At the Global Impact Economy Summit in Washington, DC, Secretary Clinton announced a new $44.5 million partnership – a Global Development Alliance (GDA) - between USAID and the Skoll Foundation.

Inspired by venture capital models, Development Innovation Ventures’ (DIV) at USAID invests in game-changing innovations in development with the power to change millions of lives at a fraction of the usual cost. DIV has made 20 investments to date, to world class innovators in health, energy, governance and food security.

The Skoll Foundation, founded in 1999 by Jeff Skoll, eBay’s founding President, drives large scale change by investing in, connecting and celebrating social entrepreneurs and the innovators who help them solve the world’s most pressing problems. Skoll has identified and cultivated the world’s most effective social entrepreneurs in areas from education and employment to food security and healthcare.

In this alliance, Skoll and USAID will identify and fund high-impact social entrepreneurs who have demonstrated innovations and sustainable business models ripe for scale – and maximum impact. The alliance will deliver evidence of impact, thereby encouraging increased public and private investment in scaling the most promising innovations

“Investors serious about scaling up development innovations need to scale up their own capabilities, and that’s what we’ve set out to do with this partnership,” said Sally Osberg, CEO and President of the Skoll Foundation. “Together, the Skoll Foundation and USAID are prepared to back and grow entrepreneurial solutions to many of the world’s most pressing problems. Along the way, we expect to deliver value well beyond what either of us can accomplish individually.”

For more information about DIV: http://idea.usaid.gov/organization/div

For more information about the Skoll Foundation: www.skollfoundation.org

A press release from our friend Archbishop Desmond Tutu: ‘We pray that Aung San Suu Kyi and her country are now on a path to freedom’ – Desmond Tutu

The Elders congratulate Aung San Suu Kyi ahead of her first appearance in parliament in Burma/Myanmar, following her election in the 1 April by-elections. They hope her access to political office will further boost political, economic and social reform, promote reconciliation, and help address the serious human rights issues which persist throughout the country. They also hope that the minority share of parliamentary seats obtained by opposition parties in these by-elections constitute a positive first step towards a robust democratic system.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Chair of The Elders, said: “I am absolutely delighted for my sister Aung San Suu Kyi. Her election to parliament could be that moment the world never forgets as: ‘That is when Burma/Myanmar embraced democracy’. “But for this to be true, Daw Suu Kyi, the National League for Democracy (NLD) and all other political parties need to be given the space to play a meaningful role in the parliament. If not, it will be such a disappointment for citizens across the country, and indeed for us all.” read more

Arianna Huffington was recently asked, “Who’s the most important woman in the world? Who is someone to watch?” She named four women, including our very own CEO Sally Osberg. Read what else she said about Osberg here.

Erik Hersman of the famed Ushahidi blog, talks about his time at the Skoll World Forum and says, “one of the most interesting discussions I had was with Sally Osberg, the CEO of the Skoll Foundation, where we talked about scale, sustainability and the accelerating speed of change globally…she said, especially in the social entrepreneur space, “sustainability is a shibboleth.”

Read more about Osberg’s thoughts here.

In other Skoll World Forum news, if you missed our last post on top media hits, make sure to read it….and, here is another from the Skoll World Forum:  The Guardian wrote about changes in innovation and activism.

Enjoy.

Photo: 2012 Awardees from Proximity Designs Enjoying This Morning’s Convening Session.

It’s Wednesday here in Oxford, and the city is abuzz with delegates ready for the 2012 Skoll World Forum. Our Twitter, @skollworldforum, is being updated constantly to keep you abreast of what’s happening.

Some highlights: New awardee Nidan was featured in The Times of India, which focused on the award he’ll receive here Thursday night.

Past awardee Ned Breslin blogged that he is “anxious to reconnect with my friends who I learned so much about last year as we moved through the Skoll community for the first time – Rebecca Onie of Health Leads, Ellen Moir of New Teacher Center and Madhav Chavan of Pratham.  The new Skoll awardees are spectacular but I must admit I selfishly have a real desire to connect with Proximity Designs as I think they are unusually remarkable.  And I look forward to being challenged, hearing what others are up to and perhaps even offering some new ideas yet again.  You can do that at Skoll, and I value that immensely.”

Past awardee mothers2mothers wrote on Huffington Post that “our annual pilgrimage to Skoll has become the ideal reunion; one that nourishes, sustains and encourages all of us to be the best we can be. In this world, Jeff Skoll, Sally Osberg and their team foster collaboration, partnership, and risk-taking for global good. For this week, Oxford is a world dedicated to possibilities, where everyone unites to brainstorm ways we can make our planet a little bit better.”

And Twitter’s social good expert Claire Diaz-Ortiz reflected back on her first Forum today: “When it came time for my first Skoll World Forum, I had high expectations. They were all exceeded. At that forum, I watched John Wood and Paul Farmer speak of their life’s work, and what drives them to build and innovate. These were the humanitarian heroes of my Africa days, and their words made flesh were inspiration beyond inspiration. For every one John Wood who stood on stage, ten more sat in the audience, sharing and extending their knowledge to those who would listen.”

If you’re at the Forum, catch Diaz-Ortiz Thursday at 4 p.m. in the Social Media Hub for a Tweetup on using social media to accelerate organisations and causes.  Join virtally at #skollwf.

On Wednesday, 900 people from around the world will be here in Oxford, England for the 2012 Skoll World Forum. As you can see from this photo taken yesterday, the weather is glorious. Our founder, Jeff Skoll, arrived safely after an airplane malfunction, which you can read all about on Twitter. (He and our CEO Sally Osberg will both Tweet from here — for the first time, ever!)  Those of us already here can feel the magic in the air — all the Skoll Awardees arrived Sunday, and everyone is excited about what’s to come. Follow their thoughts on Twitter via #skollwf.

For those of you not attending the entire Forum, tickets are still available to Wednesday night’s opening plenary at 5 p.m. GMT, which will be streamed live on our Skoll World Forum Web site. Folks are already buzzing about the upcoming live performance by Peruvian songstress Eva Ayllón.

If you are attending the forum, you’ll receive a beautiful 78-page program. Meanwhile, visit http://skollworldforum.org/flux-seizing-momentum-driving-change/overview/#sessions to begin planning your time here in the sunny city of Oxford, England.

Don’t miss our bloggers page, where dozens of writers will cover the entire inspiring event.