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Welcome to Skoll eNews, the Skoll Foundation’s bimonthly update on Skoll activities and news in the world of social entrepreneurship!
Skoll Foundation Awards $16 Million
To Leading Social Entrepreneurs
The Skoll Foundation announced last week that it is awarding $13 million to recipients of the 2006 Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship and $3 million to Ashoka for a partnership to help build the field of social entrepreneurship.
This year 16 organizations will receive Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship, which offer three-year funding to established organizations led by social entrepreneurs who are applying innovative and effective approaches to resolve critical social issues around the world. Skoll Awards are designed to advance solutions to critical social challenges in six issue categories: tolerance and human rights, health, environmental sustainability, economic and social equity, institutional responsibility, and peace and security.
Each year’s recipients are identified through an open competitive process that honors social entrepreneurs whose work has already demonstrably improved the lives and circumstances of marginalized, disadvantaged or disenfranchised populations throughout the world. Skoll Award funding supports the expansion and larger-scale replication of awardee programs. The award winners also are eligible to apply for program-related investments from the foundation during the three-year grant period.
In addition to naming the Skoll Award recipients, the Skoll Foundation announced a $3 million, three-year field-building partnership with Ashoka, a global organization based in Arlington, Va. With a 25-year history and a global network of more than 1,700 social entrepreneurs in 60 countries, Ashoka is a key Skoll partner that is instrumental in developing and cultivating a pipeline for social entrepreneurship worldwide.
The competitive Skoll Awards will be personally presented by Skoll Foundation Chairman Jeff Skoll on March 30 at the third annual Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship at the University of Oxford in England.
The organizations receiving three-year 2006 Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship through the open competition have all proved effective at a local or regional level and are poised to expand to a national or multinational scale. They are:
- Afghan Institute of Learning, which works to restore education and health programs and empower community leadership in Afghanistan – $480,000.
Social entrepreneur: Sakena Yacoobi
- Benetech, which employs technology to address social problems – $1,215,000.
Social entrepreneur: Jim Fruchterman
- Ceres, Inc., which advances corporate environmental and social responsibility to a growing network of major institutional investors – $525,000.
Social entrepreneur: Mindy Lubber
- Child Savings International, which works to help lift children out of rural poverty by teaching money-saving and financial planning skills – $765,000.
Social entrepreneur: Jeroo Billimoria
- CIDA City Campus, which provides disadvantaged South African youths a chance to earn a four-year bachelor of business administration degree – $1,015,000.
Social entrepreneur: Taddy Blecher
- Ciudad Saludable, which establishes community-based solid waste management businesses to reduce unhealthy waste volume in municipal landfills and generate income – $615,000.
Social entrepreneur: Albina Ruiz
- College Summit, Inc., which helps students from disadvantaged communities navigate the college application process – $1,515,000.
Social entrepreneur: J.B. Schramm
- Health Care Without Harm, which helps health care providers avoid the use of toxin-containing products (such as mercury), as well as environmentally harmful practices (such as incineration of medical waste) – $765,000.
Social entrepreneur: Gary Cohen
- Institute for Development Studies and Practices, which trains and inspires students to become engaged in Pakistan’s economic and social development – $450,000.
Social entrepreneur: Quratulain Bakhteari
- International Bridges to Justice, which safeguards the rights of citizens by training and supporting criminal defense lawyers – $765,000.
Social entrepreneur: Karen Tse
- Renascer Child Health Association, which improves the health of poor children in Brazil by addressing conditions that contribute to transmission of disease in impoverished families – $615,000.
Social entrepreneur: Vera Cordeiro
- Riders for Health, which improves the delivery of health care to remote areas of Africa through a transport management system – $765,000.
Social entrepreneurs: Andrea and Barry Coleman
- Room to Read, which promotes literacy in the developing world by increasing access to educational resources and establishing community libraries – $1,215,000.
Social entrepreneur: John Wood
- Roots of Peace, which promotes sustainable development and enduring peace by converting minefields to vineyards, agricultural fields and wildlife migration corridors – $765,000.
Social entrepreneur: Heidi Kühn
- Search for Common Ground, which provides conflict- and war-ridden communities with productive methods for reducing strife and negotiating shared paths to peace – $765,000.
Social entrepreneur: John Marks
- VillageReach, which overcomes the “last mile” challenge of providing health care in developing countries by addressing vital infrastructure issues, such as finding suppliers and reliable transportation – $765,000.
Social entrepreneur: Blaise Judja-Sato
 For more information about recipients of Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship, click here. |
View the Skoll World Forum Online
 The annual Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship, which takes place next week at the University of Oxford, sold out early, but you will be able to follow the proceedings online on Social Edge, the Skoll Foundation’s online community for social entrepreneurs and others in the social sector.
This event brings together leading thinkers and practitioners in the field of social entrepreneurship to network and learn from one another. This year’s theme is "Leveraging Assets, Growing Social Capital Markets: Sustainable Routes to Wealth and Well-Being." Among the keynote speakers will be:
- Jeff Skoll, founder and chairman of the Skoll Foundation
- Al Gore, former vice president of the United States and now chairman of Generation Investment Management
- David Blood, former CEO of Goldman Sachs Asset Management and now managing partner of Generation Investment Management
- Ian Goldin, vice president of the World Bank
- Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank and pioneer of microfinance
- Victoria Hale, CEO of Institute for OneWorld Health
During the World Forum, you can join friends and allies around the world on Social Edge to share your thoughts and debate the issues. Social Edge's team of bloggers, including Jim Fruchterman of Benetech, Global X, Skoll Scholars and other students from Oxford's Said Business School, will report live on every session and panel. You will also be able to watch live video streams of the sessions taking place in the Nelson Mandela Theater. Every night, Social Edge will feature highlights in 15-minute videos.
The ceremony for the 2006 Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship will be streamed live from Oxford on Social Edge on Thursday, March 30, beginning at 9 a.m. U.S. Pacific time (noon U.S. Eastern time). Jeff Skoll and Sally Osberg of the Skoll Foundation will present the awards, along with Academy Award winners Sir Ben Kingsley and Robert Redford.
Click here to learn more about the 2006 Skoll World Forum.
Skoll Launches Partnership with SustainAbility
 The Skoll Foundation has announced a $1 million, three-year field-building partnership with Sustainability Ltd., a for-profit think tank and consultancy that promotes sustainable development.
The partnership supports the foundation’s strategy to focus on high-level, multiyear partnerships with experts who can advance the foundation’s work in the field of social entrepreneurship. The partnership also signals a significant evolution in the work of SustainAbility and its cofounder, John Elkington, who is widely recognized as a world authority on corporate social responsibility and sustainable development.
The partnership seeks to accelerate the field of social entrepreneurship by building bridges between social enterprises, businesses and financial markets. Specifically, it will fund a “state of social enterprise” survey, white papers and workshops on best practices, and research with business and financial communities on the scale of social markets and contributions made by social enterprises.
Skoll Foundation Releases 2005 Annual Report
 The Skoll Foundation’s annual report for 2005 is now available on the foundation’s Web site. It includes highlights of the fiscal year, details of the foundation’s initiatives, a message from founder and Chairman Jeff Skoll and CEO and President Sally Osberg, profiles of selected grantees and a complete list of grants awarded.
We’ve just learned that the foundation was chosen to receive a 2006 Wilmer Shields Rich Award for excellence in communications. The awards program is sponsored by the Council on Foundations. The Skoll Foundation received the top award, a Gold Award, for its biennial report for 2003 and 2004, which is available online. The award was given in the largest category: foundations with assets of $250 million or more. It will be presented at the 57th annual conference of the Council on Foundations in Pittsburgh on May 7.
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CALENDAR OF EVENTS
March 29-31 – Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship, University of Oxford. Recipients of 2006 Skoll Awards will be honored at on March 30 at 9 a.m. PST/12 p.m. EST. Watch coverage of the Forum live on Social Edge
April 3-5 – Global Philanthropy Forum, Washington, D.C. This year’s theme is "Policy, Philanthropy and Social Entrepreneurship." Patrick O’Heffernan will blog from the Forum on Social Edge.
April 5-6 – Ceres Conference 2006, Accelerating Sustainable Governance, Oakland, Calif. Corporate directors, CEOs, national environmental leaders, investors and corporate governance experts will discuss how sustainable governance builds shareholder value and promotes lasting prosperity. To read about and download Ceres’ new report on how 100 leading companies are addressing the growing financial risks and opportunities from climate change, click here.
April 11 – Paul Light debuts on Social Edge.
April 11 – Bill Drayton, founder of Ashoka, will be the keynote speaker at the 11th Annual Leadership Luncheon hosted by the Coro Center for Civic Leadership, in San Francisco.
April 19-20 – Clean Med Conference for Greening Health Care, Seattle, Wash.
May 7-9 – Annual Conference of Council on Foundations, Pittsburgh, Pa.
May 10-12 – Investors’ Circle 2006 Spring Conference & Venture Fair, San Francisco. Cosponsored by the Skoll Foundation. Features Venture Fair with 20 early-stage for-profit companies with a double bottom line and an Education Day with speakers and workshops on a variety of new approaches to mission-driven investing
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RESOURCES
The Center for Effective Philanthropy has published the first in a series of issue papers that aim to give foundation leaders information on best practices. “Foundation Communications: The Grantee Perspective” recommends three steps for effective interaction: consistent foundation communication; approachable and responsive staff who treat grantees fairly; and helpful foundation selection, reporting and evaluation processes. To download a free copy, click here.
BusinessWeek has began offering podcasts about topics and leaders from philanthropy. To access a recent interview with Council on Foundations President and CEO Steve Gunderson on foundation trends, click here. Other topics include community foundations, smart giving and philanthropy’s next generation.
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OPPORTUNITIES
The International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group, and the Financial Times recently announced their first international Private Sector Development Research Competition. It is designed to promote the best thinking on the role of business in development. If you feel you can provide innovative ideas and add to the global discussion on private sector development and economic growth, here is your chance. Write 4,000 words and you may win the $30,000 award. The deadline is June 30.
The Tech Museum Awards (Technology Benefiting Humanity) honor innovators from around the world who use technology to benefit humanity in the categories of environment, economic development, education, health and equality. Twenty-five laureates will be honored at a gala event on November 15, 2006, and five laureates will share a cash prize of $250,000. Successful candidates address universal human needs through cutting-edge breakthroughs or innovative applications of existing technologies. Nominations should be submitted online by April 3, 2006.
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GRANTEE NEWS
Six former child laborers recently started working legally in Nepal after graduating from a two-year carpentry training program through the Kumbheshwor Technical School in Lalitpur. Rugmark rescued the children from exploitative work in Nepalese carpet factories and took them to rehabilitation centers, where they lived for the past three years while Rugmark tried unsuccessfully to unite them with their families. Now that they are of legal working age, the youths are able to use their skills to lead independent lives and earn a living wage. A total of 127 former child laborers in Nepal have completed vocational training through Rugmark.
Room to Read has partnered with Rugmark to establish a library in Rugmark’s new facility near Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu. The facility serves as home and school for dozens of rescued child weavers. The children are enjoying the brand new building, which is well stocked with colorful books and furniture. For some, it is their first experience at holding a book.
Benetech has redesigned its Web site, adding stories and testimonials about its work in the areas of human rights, literacy and landmine detection. The organization also has released a report to help answer disputed questions about political violence in Timor-Leste from 1974 to 1999. The report establishes that at least 102,800 Timorese died as a result of the conflict. Approximately 18,600 Timorese were killed or disappeared, while the remainder died due to hunger and illness in excess of what would be expected due to peacetime mortality. Click here to read more.
The University of San Francisco has released a report called “Silicon Valley’s Changing Nonprofit Sector,” the first in a series of regional reports about the nonprofit sector throughout California. It shows the numerous benefits and resources that nonprofit organizations consistently deliver to communities they serve, despite the roller-coaster economy and uncertain funding.
Ashoka, which finds and supports social entrepreneurs, has released its new Social Entrepreneurship Series on Google’s latest video service, Google Video Store. The series, produced in partnership with the Skoll Foundation, is the first video collection of interviews with leading global social entrepreneurs.
Those featured in the 16-program series are Bill Drayton, founder of Ashoka; Muhammad Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank and the microcredit movement; Peter Eigen, founder of Transparency International, which fights corruption; Fazle Abed, founder of BRAC, the world’s largest citizen sector organization; and Alice Tepper, founder of Social Accountability International.
The 40-minute films include autobiographies as well as insights about topics such as corporate social responsibility, social-business ventures, method for scaling and global governance. They are available for pre-viewing and purchase on Google’s Web site. (To find the series, enter “Ashoka” in the search box.) The films also are available for purchase on Ashoka’s Web site. Consumers can buy the complete set at the special introductory price of $35.99; the institutional price is $239.99.
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