May 27, 2010

Skoll Foundation Commits $10 million to Support Social Innovation Fund

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.

The Skoll Foundation is one of five private foundations committing a total of $45 million to the SIF.  The funding is meant to encourage social innovation and enable demonstrated solutions, with evidence of impact, to scale. The resources will be distributed by intermediaries and may be used as matching funds for organizations receiving SIF grants or by other innovative organizations that address three areas of priority: economic opportunity, healthy futures, and youth development and school support.

“We thank President and Mrs. Obama for recognizing the impact social innovators can have on our society and for taking such a unique approach to identifying and supporting the most innovative among them,” said Sally Osberg, President and CEO of the Skoll Foundation. “The Skoll Foundation was founded on the belief that strategic investments in the right people – in social entrepreneurs and other innovators -- can lead to lasting social change, so we couldn’t agree more with the intent behind the Social Innovation Fund, and are honored to be among the private foundations to support this initial phase.”
 
Ben Binswanger, Skoll Foundation Vice President for Programs & Impact, represented the foundation at the White House ceremony and said, “The creation of the Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation and the deployment of the Social Innovation Fund mark a watershed moment for social entrepreneurs everywhere. We’ve long understood that social entrepreneurs can catalyze impact on critical issues.  Now that notion is being embraced by nonprofits, business and government.”

In addition to the First Lady, comments were made at the ceremony by Melody Barnes, Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, and Patrick Corvington, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. Over 100 philanthropists and innovators attended the event.

 About The Skoll Foundation

The Skoll Foundation was created in 1999 by eBay's first president, Jeff Skoll, to promote his vision of a more peaceful and prosperous world. Today the Skoll Foundation drives large-scale change by investing in, connecting and celebrating social entrepreneurs and other innovators dedicated to solving the world’s most pressing problems. Social entrepreneurs are individuals dedicated to innovative, bottom-up solutions that transform unequal and unjust social, environmental and economic systems.

The Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship is the foundation's flagship program. There are currently 66 organizations represented by 81 remarkable social entrepreneurs in the program, working individually and together across regions, countries and continents to deliver solutions to the world’s most challenging economic and social problems. The Skoll Foundation connects social entrepreneurs and other partners in the field via an online community at www.socialedge.org and through the annual Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship. The foundation also celebrates social entrepreneurs through partnerships with leading film and broadcast organizations such as the PBS NewsHour and the Sundance Institute, which help drive large-scale public awareness of social entrepreneurship and its potential to address the critical issues of our time.

For more information, visit www.skollfoundation.org.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Julie Jacobs
(917) 608-5813
jacobspr@nyc.rr.com