Jeff’s Remarks at 2005 SASE Award Celebration

Thank you, Sally. I got you some flowers…

It is indeed a privilege to get to know Sir Ben Kingsley and in particular to have the time together flying from LA to Oxford. One advantage of traveling with the actor who played the world’s most famous pacifist is that you know you’ll never argue about the window seat.

This is an occasion of great honor for me, and for the Skoll Foundation, to gather here at Oxford, to celebrate the vision, the dedication, and the many positive changes ignited by social entrepreneurs throughout the world.

I believe that the inequality between the rich and the poor is what causes the ills of the world – environmental deterioration, crime, drugs, terrorism. Social entrepreneurs work to decrease that inequity, bringing in new ideas to leverage small amounts of resources into something that creates a great amount of good. A great social entrepreneur is someone who makes a difference at scale, who doesn’t just affect a small number of people, but who shifts the entire landscape.

The Skoll Foundation invests in the work of social entrepreneurs, and this evening we will be honoring the 2005 recipients of Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship. We also connect social entrepreneurs to each other and to the field through events like this forum. But to realize our vision of large-scale positive change in the world, we need to celebrate and tell their stories.

Social entrepreneurs have two kinds of power. One is the power to bring about specific changes – rescuing children from forced labor, empowering communities to improve their access to clean water or their children’s educational opportunities. Perhaps more important is the power to inspire – to show that the poor and disadvantaged, when given opportunities, can lift themselves up, and to inspire those with resources and advantages to set aside cynicism and join forces with social entrepreneurs confident that their efforts will contribute to making a difference.

At the Skoll Foundation, and at Participant Productions, we are committed to bringing the stories of social entrepreneurs to the broadest possible audience. The program you are about to see is one example of that. It is a segment from The New Heroes, which will air this summer on the US Public Broadcasting system. Following the screening, we have the incredible honor of welcoming Sir Ben Kingsley to tell us a brief part of the story of each one of the 2005 Skoll Award recipients. In case anyone is curious, I would gladly give up my seat to him on any day.

We are truly among heroes here….