Welcome to Skoll eNews, the Skoll Foundation's bimonthly update on Skoll activities and news in the world of social entrepreneurship!



SustainAbility Looks to Social Entrepreneurs
For Solutions to 'Impossible' Challenges

Long before "corporate responsibility" was considered de rigueur, SustainAbility was telling corporations they needed to consider the economic, social and environmental impacts of their products. In fact, John Elkington, founder and chief entrepreneur of SustainAbility coined the term "triple bottom line" back in 1994.

Today, as the London-based consulting firm celebrates its 20th anniversary, it has moved to a powerful new agenda. Working with the Skoll Foundation, it is probing the ways that social entrepreneurs reframe seemingly impossible challenges such as health care and climate change as opportunities, shaking up entrenched systems and offering innovative new models. The report that SustainAbility released at the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship in March 2007, "Growing Opportunity: Entrepreneurial Solutions to Insoluble Problems," is the first in a series of annual surveys, papers and workshops about social entrepreneurship funded with a $1 million, three-year field-building grant from Skoll.

The partnership seeks to accelerate the development of the field of social entrepreneurship by building bridges between social enterprises, businesses and financial markets. It will explore and address the challenges social entrepreneurs face, identify best practices and help build awareness of social entrepreneurship among business and financial communities, where connections can help advance the work of social entrepreneurs.

"People want to see creative, innovative, scalable solutions to problems. That's why we are delighted to be involved with social entrepreneurs," explains Elkington. Interacting with these energetic individuals is, he says, "like sticking your finger in a power plug."

He describes the evolution of the sustainability movement as a series of waves, each building to a peak where a new set of issues influences businesses. The first wave, which occurred during the 1960s and 1970s, occurred at a time when the nascent green movement was beginning to try to influence government. At that time, many businesspeople were uncomfortable with linking financial gains and social returns. "They thought it was akin to Communism," Elkington recalls.

The second wave crested during the late 1980s and early 1990s, when the Cold War was ending and a series of environmental and social catastrophes made big businesses start to worry about being good corporate citizens. Today, he believes we experiencing the third wave, characterized by increasing interest in globalization and two forms of governance, global and corporate. As a result, there are growing calls for more responsible business practices on a global scale.

During his 35 years in the environmental movement, Elkington has watched some corporations move from reluctant compliance with socially responsible goals (usually after getting "whacked by environmentalists," he says) to good citizenship on a worldwide stage. "Something else is happening today," he noted. "We are entering a new space with companies like CitiBank announcing a $50 million investment in environmental and climate projects and GE's chief executive, Jeff Immelt, able to report the doubling of the revenues of his company's commitment to ‘ecoimagination' in just two years."

SustainAbility's newest report, "Raising Our Game: Can We Sustain Globalization?", which was released today, examines some of the key trends driving globalization, including interconnected global financial markets, and new players such as China and India, alongside the growing risk of financial, social and environmental discontinuities, and the implications for corporate responsibility and sustainable development agendas.

Elkington is optimistic about the solutions that the leaders supported by the Skoll Foundation bring to the table. "Social entrepreneurs question the ways that things have ‘always been done,' " he says. "By reconsidering how market needs are best met, and by being transparent and accountable while rebooting the process of value creation, they are set to have a profound impact on the world's most complex societal and environmental challenges. Their impact may be limited by their current scale, but it could be limitless with the right business partners."

SustainAbility has a diverse team of more than 30 people working from its headquarters in London as well as Washington, D.C., and Zurich. The company advises clients on the risks and opportunities associated with corporate responsibility and sustainable development. For more information, call/email John Elkington at +44 20 7269 6921 (via Sam Lakha) or email him at elkington@sustainability.com.

NOW Show on PBS Spotlights Social Entrepreneurs

NOW, a weekly news and public affairs program hosted by David Brancaccio , has launched a new monthly social entrepreneur feature entitled Enterprising Ideas that is underwritten by the Skoll Foundation with a $1.2 million grant from the PBS Foundation Social Entrepreneurship Fund.

The first story ran on May 25 and featured Liza Kimbo and CFW Shops (formerly SHEF), highlighting CFW's franchise approach to health care delivery in Africa. All Enterprising Ideas stories are being streamed from the NOW Web site, which includes an Enterprising Ideas mini-site for social entrepreneurs and those who want to support them. The mini-site includes a page detailing how different organizations define the term "social entrepreneur," a section inviting entries to the Project Enterprise Contest and a "Tools and Tips" resource page with ideas for starting and funding a new social project.

NOW expects to produce 16 Enterprising Ideas stories over the next 18 months, of which half will be international. The show airs on PBS each Friday at 8:30 p.m. (check local listings).

Frontline/World Hosts Social Entrepreneur Film Festival

Frontline/World will host an evening of films and discussion about positive social change created through social entrepreneurship on Monday, June 25, at the Delancey Street Screening Room, 600 Embarcadero, San Francisco.

The "Heroes from a Small Planet" film festival will take place from 6 to 10 p.m. and include an opening reception, films about six social entrepreneurs and a panel discussion with Frontline/World reporters and some social entrepreneurs. The films to be shown are The Play Pump (South Africa), Sounds of Hope (Paraguay), A Little Goes a Long Way (Uganda), Room to Read (Nepal), Run Lornah Run (Kenya) and Hero Rats (Tanzania).

Admission is free, but space is limited. Respond by June 23 to Frontline/World at rsvp@flworld.org.

The Skoll World Forum Keeps On Giving

There were powerful and transcendent moments at the recent Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship, held March 27-29 at Oxford University. In an impassioned speech, Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan asked why the Western and Muslim worlds feel threatened by each other. Larry Brilliant of Google delivered a show-stopping case for optimism with his firsthand account of conquering smallpox while he was leader of the World Health Organization.

Twenty-five of the world's senior social entrepreneurs shared insights and leading innovations in education, rural development, work in conflict zones, health, human rights and the environment.

Nearly 700 individuals from 40 countries came to this gathering of minds, which included keynote speeches by Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Grameen Bank founder; Peter Gabriel, musician, activist and cofounder of WITNESS; and Jeff Skoll, founder and chairman of the Skoll Foundation.

Those who didn't attend the Forum can experience what took place during three jam-packed days of workshops, presentations and discussions, all designed for learning, problem solving and community building on the topic of "Social Innovation and Diffusion." Social Edge offers the thoughts of the 17 bloggers who attended the Forum, as well as streaming video of the main keynote speeches and panels from the conference. Short clips from the Forum are also available on YouTube.

Click here for quick links to all the archived videos from the 2007 Skoll World Forum.

Social Edge Tops iTunes Chart

Social Edge is using Web 2.0 tools to tell captivating stories of social entrepreneurs around the world. Its new podcasts (audio interviews) and vlogs (video blogs) are now available on YouTube and iTunes.

The "X-Interview," a series of video interviews taped at the Skoll World Forum, was rated No. 1 recently in the "Government and Organizations" podcast section on iTunes, ahead of U.S. President George Bush's Weekly Radio Address and podcasts by the Carnegie Council, the United Nations and the Council on Foreign Relations. Social Edge's "Peace Corps Entrepreneurs on The Edge" series also ranked in the Top 25.

These new Web 2.0 tools clearly have the impact to make a difference. Check out the Social Edge channel on YouTube and iTunes!

Blogger Tells It Like It Is

After a few months of training in New York, current Acumen Fund Fellow and former Oxford Skoll Fellow Keely Stevenson moved to Tanzania to help local social ventures improve their double-bottom lines. She often manages to find a live Internet connection to report on the horrendous conditions and small triumphs of life in Africa in her blog on Social Edge. As she works to raise the standard of living there, she eloquently describes with words and videos such challenges as flying toilets, female genital mutilation and why "justice is like a hot dog." You can read Keely's blog, From Tribeca to Tanzania, on Social Edge.

Skoll Announces New Appointments

We are pleased to announce that Laura Vais has been promoted to Vice President, Marketing and Sandy Herz will be Senior Advancement Officer. In addition, four new employees have been appointed: Daniel Crisafulli as Senior Program Officer, Lakshmi Karan and Bridget McNamer as Program Officers and Katie Kalemba as Investment Analyst.

As Vice President, Marketing, Laura Vais is responsible for leading a growing team of professionals who implement the Skoll Foundation's "connect and celebrate" strategy for social entrepreneurs. In addition to overall marketing and communications activities, she oversees the foundation's film and media initiatives, the Social Edge online community and the annual Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford University in the U.K. Laura was previously Director of Marketing for the foundation.

As Senior Advancement Officer, Sandy Herz will directly manage the foundation's growing portfolio of film and media initiatives, including our relationships with PBS, NPR and Sundance. Sandy was previously VP of Marketing and is looking forward to investing time in her growing family while still remaining a key member of the foundation team.

As program officers, Daniel Crisafulli, Lakshmi Karan and Bridget McNamer are members of the Skoll Foundation's Program and Impact team, which is responsible for the development, execution and evaluation of grantmaking investments and services that advance the field of social entrepreneurship.

Senior Program Officer Daniel Crisafulli leads field-building initiatives in social entrepreneurship. He came to the foundation from the World Bank, where he comanaged a social entrepreneurship and innovation program called the Development Marketplace. His earlier work at the World Bank focused on technology, finance and small business investment. From 2000 to 2004 Daniel was Investment Officer and cofounder of the technology venture capital group at the International Finance Corporation, where he developed a venture approach toward investing.

Program Officer Lakshmi Karan manages a variety of grant relationships. Prior to working at Skoll, she was a consultant to Fortune 500 companies, specializing in competitive analysis, knowledge management and training. In 1999 she decided to dedicate herself to social betterment. She interned with the Asia Foundation and worked as a consultant to Earthwatch Institute, Oxfam America and the Reebok Human Rights Program. She also served as Program Manager for the Alchemy Foundation.

Bridget McNamer manages a variety of grant relationships and initiatives in her role as Program Officer. She came to the foundation from Northern California Grantmakers (NCG) in San Francisco. While there, as Program Design Consultant, she developed programs for the organization's Corporate Contributions Roundtable, including the 2007 Corporate Philanthropy Institute.

Bridget's time with NCG capped more than a decade of experience as a consultant and practitioner in the field of corporate social responsibility and philanthropy. Six of those years were spent as Vice President at Bank of America, initially as a Manager of Corporate Sponsorships and more recently as a Program Officer with the bank's charitable foundation.

As Investment Analyst, Katie Kalemba is responsible for analyzing the foundation's investments. She also plays a key role in developing and monitoring its proxy voting and other capital alignment programs.