Skoll Foundation

On January 24, 2011, Sally Osberg spoke in at the Global Competitiveness Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Conscious Capitalism and Unleashing Social Competitiveness. Video of her presentation and her presentation slides are now available. Conscious Capitalism Session Description: Conscious Leaders are motivated by the desire to discover a company’s deeper purpose, rather than by [...]

Remarks by Sally Osberg delivered July 27, 2010 at the Commonwealth Club for their Social Entrepreneurship in America series.

Thank you, Ruth, for that kind introduction… and for your leadership in creating this landmark Commonwealth Club series on social entrepreneurship. It’s an honor for me to be one of the speakers you’ve brought together—among the 13 of the folks you’ve assembled are several Skoll social entrepreneurs and partners the Skoll Foundation’s been privileged to support: people like Muhammad Yunus and Mary Houghton, Bill Drayton and Jacqueline Novogratz, Premal Shaw and Willy Foote… extraordinary human beings and exemplary social entrepreneurs. read more

On June 15, 2010, Jeff Skoll became the first Stanford Graduate School of Business alumnus to address a graduating class when he spoke at the commencement ceremony for the 2010 graduating class.  Jeff recounted his own path since graduating from the GSB 15 years ago, and left the graduates with two key thoughts…while they’re thinking about [...]

Introductory remarks by Jeff Skoll delivered April 14, 2010 at the Skoll World Forum at the University of Oxford.

It is my honor to welcome all of you to the seventh annual Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship.  I’d also like to take a moment to thank everyone from the Skoll Foundation and the Skoll Centre for your hard work preparing for this event.

It is hard to believe how far social entrepreneurship has come in these past seven years.  We’ve gone from a curiosity to a force in society.  Mohammed Yunus, Bill Drayton, Craig Kielburger and Paul Farmer have become rock stars.  And the term social entrepreneurship has entered the public lexicon and one day may even be in the Oxford dictionary.

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In Sept. 2009, the MIT Journal Innovations published a special edition on the 2009 Skoll World Forum with lead essays by President Jimmy Carter and Paul Farmer. Sally Osberg’s introduction to the conference also served as the introduction to this special edition of Innovations. read more

Remarks by Jeff Skoll delivered March 27, 2009 at the Skoll World Forum at Saïd Business School, the University of Oxford.

What an amazing few days we’ve shared here together.  Thank you, Soraya, for your insights and inspiration.  You have reminded us why we’re all here, doing what we do.  Thanks also to Lord Puttnam for his wisdom and to you, Pamela, you have almost survived your first Forum!  Congratulations. read more

Sally Osberg delivered the keynote presentation — New Directions in Philanthropy — at the Yale Club of New York on March 10, 2009.

Thanks so much. It’s wonderful to be here with you all, to see many friends in the audience—and to acknowledge Yale’s exceptional role in nurturing so many powerful agents of social change over the years, with more than a few of you here tonight among them. read more

Remarks by Jeff Skoll delivered March 27, 2008 at the Skoll World Forum at Saïd Business School, the University of Oxford.

I would like to say a special thank you once again to Stephan Chambers, Liz Nelson, Alex Nicholls and the entire Skoll Centre team for being such wonderful hosts again this year.

As Sally alluded, one of the great joys I have had this year is to work as a funder and Advisor with the Elders.  Frankly though, advising people like Mary Robinson, Archbishop Tutu or President Carter about global issues is a little like advising George Clooney on how to be a movie star.  Most of what I know I learned from observing them in the first place. read more

Introductory remarks by Jeff Skoll delivered March 26, 2008 at the Skoll World Forum at Oxford University.

Once again, the staff of the Saïd Business School—and the entire Oxford community—has really outdone itself this year.  I want to say a special thanks to Stephan Chambers, Liz Nelson, Alex Nicholls, and the entire Skoll Centre team for their hard work.

As you just heard, this is the fifth year of the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship. Oxford has been a wonderful host, but this is a tough place to recognize the fifth meeting of anything. After all, this university has been around for almost a thousand years.  It’s kind of like bragging to Warren Buffett that you just won a $5 scratch ticket in the lotto. read more

Remarks by Jeff Skoll delivered March 28, 2007 at the Skoll World Forum at Saïd Business School, at the University of Oxford.

On behalf of everyone here: thank you for all that you do for social entrepreneurs.

As Sally’s introduction implied, I have been introduced a number of different ways over the past eight years. First, I was the eBay guy; then I was the Skoll Foundation guy; now I’m the movie guy;

The hardest part at each turn was to learn a whole new language. At eBay, it was the language of business: profit, loss, return on investment. At the Foundation, it was the language of social change: equilibrium change and inflection points. read more

Opening remarks by Jeff Skoll delivered March, 27, 2007 at the Skoll World Forum, the University of Oxford.

It is a source of great pride for all of us at the Skoll Foundation that Oxford University and the Said School of Business have been such terrific hosts for the Skoll Center for Social Entrepreneurship. I want to say a special thanks to Alex Nicholls, Rowena Young, and the entire Skoll Centre team for all their hard work. read more

Interview of Sally Osberg, Skoll Foundation President and CEO, on Building the Field of Social Entrepreneurship. Published 09.07.06 in Philanthropy News Digest

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Remarks by Jeff Skoll delivered March 30, 2006 at the 2006 Skoll World Forum at Saïd Business School, the University of Oxford.

Thank you all very much. And thank you, Sally, for the kind words. Sally really is following Skoll’s first rule of public speaking: that it’s best to be introduced by someone you’ve hired for an important job. Thank you, Sally. Nobody does a better job than Sally. And the Skoll Foundation team is just fantastic. read more

Introductory remarks by Jeff Skoll delivered March 3, 2006 at the 2006 Skoll World Forum, the University of Oxford.

For nearly 1,000 years, Oxford has been a pillar of the establishment. It has had a role in educating four British and eight foreign kings, 47 Nobel Prize winners, 28 foreign presidents, seven saints, 86 archbishops, 18 cardinals and one pope. Not to mention Hugh Grant! read more

Delivered by Sally Osberg to the Associazione fra le Casse di Risparmio Italiane (Rome, Italy), September 12, 2001.

I am honored to be with you today, to share my knowledge and experience in developing a new foundation: the Skoll Community Fund, today the largest supporting foundation of Community Foundation Silicon Valley. Since the foundation is still young at just over 2 years old, and since I am still new-having come on board in February of this year as our first Executive Director-I bring you experience with what is truly a work-in-progress, a powerful evolving vision for philanthropy in the new millennium. read more