SKOLL FOUNDATION AWARDS $3 MILLION TO SILICON VALLEY ORGANIZATIONS

PALO ALTO, Calif.—December 9, 2004—The Skoll Foundation announced today the recipients of Skoll Awards for Innovation in Silicon Valley (SAISV). A total of 13 Silicon-Valley based nonprofit organizations will receive $3.17 million over the next two years to advance systemic change in the region through social innovation.

The awards are made annually to organizations demonstrating exceptional creativity, sustained commitment and a clear record of accomplishment in addressing Silicon Valley’s most significant challenges. In addition, each award recipient is eligible for up to $40,000 per year in capacity-building support from the Skoll Foundation.

Six of the organizations are receiving SAISV awards for the first time, totaling $1.21 million: Greenbelt Alliance, Santa Clara ($200,000); John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities at Stanford University, Palo Alto ($300,000); Joint Venture Silicon Valley, San Jose ($200,000); Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits, San Jose ($60,000); Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, San Jose ($200,000); and Teach for America – Bay Area, San Jose ($250,000).

These six newly funded organizations join seven current awardees in the SAISV program, extending coverage to key needs not previously addressed and contributing to a collective focus on systemic change. The current SAISV award winners, who will receive renewed funding amounting to $1.96 million over the next two years, are American Leadership Forum of Silicon Valley, Santa Clara ($300,000); Businesses United in Investing, Lending and Development, Menlo Park ($250,000); Community School of Music and Arts, Mountain View ($300,000); Lenders for Community Development, San Jose ($340,000); People Acting in Community Together, San Jose ($270,000); Project Cornerstone (Young Men’s Christian Association of Santa Clara Valley), San Jose ($196,000); and San Jose Conservation Corps, San Jose ($300,000).

“Together, these 13 organizations comprise a portfolio that is more powerful than the sum of its parts,” said Sally Osberg, President and CEO of the Skoll Foundation. “We are proud to support their good work, as well as help them work together toward systemic changes that benefit communities throughout Silicon Valley.”

The Skoll Foundation’s commitment to award recipients extends beyond the cash awards. Additional leverage is provided through the foundation’s network of partner organizations as resources to assist the awardees in achieving their goals and advancing systemic change. As part of the SAISV program, award recipients participate in a “learning community” professionally facilitated by La Piana Associates (www.lapiana.org) which is designed to foster collaboration and help leaders of the funded organizations develop key skills. La Piana Associates designs and implements leadership development programs, using a peer learning model in which small groups of executives work and learn together over an extended period.

This year’s award winners also will take part in a scenario-planning process facilitated by the Global Business Network (www.gbn.org), which assists organizations in anticipating and shaping their futures in order to make better decisions and develop effective long-term strategies. The scenario-planning work is designed to help Skoll’s Silicon Valley awardees anticipate challenges the Valley will face over the next decade and develop strategies to maximize their positive impact in coming years.

The Skoll Foundation tries to be responsive to grantee needs in a variety of ways, such as making awards over multiyear periods, thus allowing award winners to spend less time filling out grant applications and more time in the field. It offers core operating support rather than project-specific funding and encourages all award winners to apply for additional “capacity-building” grants of up to $40,000 per year during the course of their funding period. This extra funding enables them to engage consultants to facilitate projects such as organizational assessment, board and staff development, planning and other work designed to enhance the organization's strategies, systems, structures and skills.

A total of 56 Silicon Valley organizations submitted applications for this year’s round of SAISV awards. From these, 13 organizations were selected to submit full proposals. The Skoll Foundation’s Board of Directors approved the final selection of six organizations for new awards, as well as award renewals for all seven nonprofits in the current SAISV portfolio.

If these organizations meet their goals, they will be eligible to apply for continued support from the Skoll Foundation in the future. Will Morgan, SAISV Program Officer, said, “We hope the Skoll Silicon Valley awardees will grow in their appetite and ability to think systemically and act collectively to address the greatest current and emerging needs of the community.”

For more information about the Skoll Awards for Innovation in Silicon Valley, see www.skollfoundation.org/siliconvalleyawards/index.asp.

About the Skoll Foundation

Headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., the Skoll Foundation was created in 1999 by Jeff Skoll, the first employee and first president of eBay. Its mission is to advance systemic change by investing in, connecting and celebrating social entrepreneurs, who are individuals dedicated to creating new solutions that result in lasting improvements to communities around the world.

The Skoll Foundation invests in social entrepreneurs through three award programs and the new Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at the Said Business School at Oxford University. The foundation connects social entrepreneurs through its online community, Social Edge, at www.socialedge.org. It celebrates social entrepreneurs through projects such as a four-part public television documentary called “The New Heroes” that will be broadcast in 2005, and via the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship, which is held every spring at the Skoll Centre. For more information, visit www.skollfoundation.org.