Skoll Foundation

CEO Sally Osberg will receive the Scripps Distinguished Alumna of the Year tomorrow at Scripps College in Claremont, Calif.

First presented in 1978, the Scripps College Distinguished Alumna Award celebrates the notable achievements of Scripps alumnae and is presented each year during Reunion Weekend. Foremost consideration is sustained growth and distinctive achievement in the nominee’s chosen field.

Sally earned her M.A. in literature from the Claremont Graduate School and her B.A. in English from Scripps College, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.  Besides tomorrow’s award, Sally has received the John Gardner Leadership Award from the American Leadership Forum, been inducted into the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame, and been named by the San Jose Mercury News as one of the “Millennium 100″ for her role in shaping and leading Silicon Valley.

Congratulations, Sally!

CEO Sally Osberg just posted the opening video that played at the Skoll World Forum on her Huffington Post blog, where it’s featured on the front page of the Huffington Post.

She just added her own introduction to the video, saying:

“Anniversaries are always a time to reflect. But for the 10^th anniversary of the Skoll World Forum, we thought that the opportunity was really to look forward. So we asked friends, folks who’d been part of the Forum community for many years, to join us in imagining what the future might be.”

In the video, you’ll  hear the insights of Arianna Huffington, Skoll Awardee Premal Shah, new energy entrepreneur Elon Musk, Creative Commons chief executive Joi Ito, Skoll Awardee Afghan Institute of Learning Founder Sakena Yacoobi, collective intelligence strategist Shaifali Puri, neuroscientist Sarah Caddick, theoretical physicist Geoffrey West, and science prodigy Tanishq Abraham.

Watch: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sally-osberg/dare-to-imagine_b_3178886.html

CEO Sally Osberg snapped this photo today at the United States Capitol, where  Congressional leaders presented  the founder of the Grameen Bank, Muhammad Yunus, with the Congressional Gold Medal.

“It takes genius to do something simple, and Muhammad Yunus is a genius,” Sen. Dick Durbin said during the ceremony.

Yunus was honored because of his “efforts to combat global poverty,” and has also won the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Nobel Peace Prize. Those are besides many other awards, including our Global Treasure Award just last week at the Skoll World Forum.

Here’s a new interview with Yunus from the New York Times’ Fixes column: “Yunus is best known for his work pioneering and spreading microfinance. Today, microfinance providers reach about 200 million clients globally. In Bangladesh, the Grameen Bank has 8.4 million borrowers, 96 percent women. Yunus has also developed many other enterprises that offer an array of products and services to the poor, including Grameen Phone, the largest cellphone operator in the country. Over the past two years, his work has come under attack by the government of Bangladesh, which we have reported on here, here and here in Fixes. Below, in an interview conducted a few days ago, Yunus reflects on his life, the role of social business, and the importance of imagination in creating a poverty-free world.”

Read the rest: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/17/beyond-profit-a-talk-with-muhammad-yunus/

CEO Sally Osberg mentions eight Skoll awardees as examples of how social entrepreneurs are delivering new solutions to global problems in her latest op-ed. An excerpt:

“Imagine that you are a mother living in a village in rural Gambia. At least one of your eight children will probably die before reaching the age of five. It doesn’t matter that there are vaccines or treatments for the disease that will take your child—measles, hepatitis, diarrhea, or perhaps HIV. What you know is that it’s a ten-kilometer walk to the health clinic. When you arrive, you’re likely to find a sign saying the nurse couldn’t get there that day.

Andrea and Barry Coleman, stars in the world of motorcycle racing, saw the problem when they went to Africa to support the work of children’s charities. It wasn’t lack of medicine or healthcare workers. Rather, what was missing were the parts, mechanics, and maintenance for vehicles taking workers and supplies to villages and clinics. The couple wept over wasted vehicles rusting behind health-ministry offices, then returned home and mortgaged their house to found Riders for Health, a reliable, scalable vehicle-maintenance system for healthcare delivery.

The story of Riders for Health is a story of social entrepreneurship.”

Read the rest: http://www.forbes.com/sites/skollworldforum/2013/04/08/how-social-entrepreneurs-deliver-new-solutions-to-global-problems/

Wednesday at the Skoll World Forum opening plenary, Harvard Business School Professor Michael E Porter gave a presentation about the new Social Progress Imperative and announced there would be big news: here it is, the official press release! (At 2 p.m. BST Thursday, learn more about it in a Skoll World Forum session that will be streamed online). 

Team led by Harvard Business School Professor Michael E Porter designed index to guide national policies and investments, and shows social progress is about much more than economic growth

(April 11 2013) Oxford, United Kingdom — Sweden is the most socially advanced country globally according to a new index released today at the Skoll World Forum, the premier international platform for accelerating entrepreneurial approaches and innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing social issues. Britain is ranked second, above Germany, which ranks fifth, the United States, sixth, and Japan, eighth.

The Social Progress Index, which ranked 50 countries by their social and environmental performance, was designed by Professor Porter and The Social Progress Imperative. They are working in collaboration with economists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and leading international organisations in social entrepreneurship, business, philanthropy, and academia including Cisco, Compartamos Banco, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, Fundación AVINA, and Skoll Foundation.

read more

In today’s San Jose Mercury News, Skoll Foundation CEO Sally Osberg and Founder Jeff Skoll published an opinion piece called, “McDonald’s signals good news for sustainable fishing.”

An excerpt:
“The restaurant has teamed up with the nonprofit Marine Stewardship Council to certify that all its fish offerings, including its new Fish McBites, are sustainably sourced. It’s the first national chain to exclusively serve certified sustainable seafood.”Fans of McDonald’s iconic ‘Filet-o-Fish’ may notice a new blue label on their sandwich wrappers.

This is a huge victory in the fight to preserve the world’s fish resources. McDonald’s sells about 300 million Filet-O-Fish sandwiches annually. Credible certification programs like the council’s provide a tangible reward to companies that are conducting their business responsibly and simultaneously improving the environment.”

Read the rest: http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_22775756/jeff-skoll-and-sally-osberg-mcdonalds-signals-good

and learn more about the partnership: http://www.skollfoundation.org/mcdonalds-usa-first-national-restaurant-chain-to-serve-msc-certified-sustainable-fish-at-all-u-s-locations/

Sally Osberg was recently quoted in the Financial Times in a piece entitled, “Philanthropy: Collaboration is key to getting more from less.” An excerpt:

“‘We can’t make a big dent in the challenges without a far greater ability to join forces,’ says Sally Osberg, president and chief executive of the Skoll Foundation, which was founded by eBay billionaire Jeff Skoll to invest in social entrepreneurs. ‘That’s where I see all this heading.’

Here, the sector has made advances since the days when, too often, grant makers based measurement of non-profits purely on overhead levels – even though investing in IT, training or streamlined procurement systems increases operational efficiency, leaving more cash for programmes.

Ms Osberg believes that many philanthropists have moved on from this approach. The sector is becoming more sophisticated and understands that accountability and legitimacy is dependent on measurement and results that add up,” she says.

Read the rest: http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/8a1cc2ec-5e76-11e2-a771-00144feab49a.html#axzz2IvUGlRMW

“Social entrepreneurs see possibility where others see problems. They are unapologetically ambitious, setting their sights not just on incremental improvements but on systems-level transformation. And to achieve their audacious ends, social entrepreneurs enroll those most vested in that transformation — people oppressed, marginalised, or constrained by an existing reality.”

Those are Skoll Foundation CEO Sally Osberg’s words in This is Africa, a new publication from the Financial Times that “seeks to examine African business and politics in a global context and to make sense of the relationships that Africa is building with the rest of the world.” read more

Frequent Skoll World Forum moderator, journalist David Bornstein, recently quoted Sally Osberg in his New York Times column, “Fixes.” Bornstein is also giving a talk about the future of social entrepreneurship, with Bill Drayton, on Nov. 29 in New York City. An excerpt from his column, called “The Rise of the Social Entrepreneur”:

“Social entrepreneurs excel at togetherness,” says Sally Osberg, president and chief executive of the Skoll Foundation. For a long time, Osberg said, she viewed social entrepreneurs as “individual actors” whose ideas led to the “creative destruction” necessary to “replace a societal status quo” with systems that were more just. “But over recent years,” she added, “I’ve come to see how the ‘social’ that characterizes their purpose also characterizes their way of working. In other words, social entrepreneurs don’t just pursue a social end, they pursue that end in a fundamentally communal way.” This approach is badly needed at a time of extreme factionalism, she adds: “Regardless of whether you call it teamwork, collaboration or consensus-building, we need it, and we need it now.”

Bornstein’s talk, Nov. 29 at 6 p.m. at Liquidnet, will address topics such as, “What are the biggest challenges facing social entrepreneurs in the current environment?  What will be the tipping point to create an “everyone a change maker” world?  What are the future trends in social innovation?” Those who can’t attend can join the conversation online: Your ideas will feed into the event. Tell us: What would the world look like if all entrepreneurs were social entrepreneurs? Tweet us at @csisl with hashtag #FutureSocEnt

Learn more: http://futureofsocialentrepreneurship.eventbrite.com/?ref=estw

A week from today, our CEO Sally Osberg is speaking on a panel called “Strategic Philanthropy: How to Think Bigger and Do Better” at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting.

The Sept. 24 panel, which starts at 10:30 a.m. in the New York West room, also includes Francisco Suárez Hernández, Chief Sustainability Officer, FEMSA; Trevor Mundel, President, Global Health Program, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Jacqueline Novogratz, Founder and CEO, Acumen Fund and Kevin Starr, Managing Director, Mulago Foundation.

“This session will explore creative ways for philanthropists to think bigger and do better, be it through providing seed grants to social enterprises or building partnerships with corporations,” according to the CGI web site.

Read more at: http://www.clintonglobalinitiative.org/ourmeetings/2012/agenda/?day=2

President and CEO Sally Osberg sat down with Forbes.com, and spoke from the heart. She talked about her early days with the foundation (she’s the founding CEO!), the “DNA” of Jeff Skoll, and the impact of several Skoll Awardees. (Water.org, Partners in Health, Kiva, Root Capital, GoodWeave, Imazon, Ceres and Gram Vikas to name a few).

She answered questions about the foundation’s new collaborative approach to change, how the term “social entrepreneur” has evolved, and so much more (the story is six Internet pages long!) Here’s an excerpt: read more

The idea was appealing from the start:  convene a group of older but far from doddering global leaders, women and men justly renowned for their integrity and achievement, and ask them to serve as tribal elders for a world in need of their moral clarity and sensible savvy.  In 2007, Nelson Mandela took up the charge. With the help of musician Peter Gabriel and entrepreneur Richard Branson, he persuaded 10 exemplary human beings to join the founding body that has become The Elders.

Grand visions like this get the blood flowing. They stoke our belief that peace is possible and a more equitable, sustainable world within reach. But for such visions to take root, they must be grounded in strategy and nourished by action. In 2008, The Elders found the partner they needed to do just that in CEO Mabel van Oranje.

Over the past four years, Jeff and I have seen, first-hand as members of The Elders’ Advisory Council, this bold and beautiful vision brought to life.  Elders’ missions to some of the most bitterly contested places on earth—Sudan, the DPRK and South Korea, Israel and the West Bank, Zimbabwe, Cyprus and others—have shown how to navigate mine-fields; by spurring dialogue, comforting the afflicted and speaking truth to power, Elders have proven again and again that peace has a fighting chance.  But missions like these don’t just happen; thanks to Mabel and her team, they were impeccably planned and superbly executed.  And even more critical, follow-up continues.

Elders have also taken positions and made statements on climate change and injustice, but on no issue have they been more outspoken and committed than that of women’s rights.  In December, 2008, at the organization’s meeting in Paris, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter inspired his fellow Elders to challenge head-on the role of religious and traditional practice in oppressing women.

The following year, when The Elders met in Johannesburg, Mabel and her team  invited tribal chiefs,  religious leaders, women’s rights champions, and experts in the field to join them.  During a special session, deftly chaired by Elders Graca Machel and Gro Brundtland, an opportunity emerged:  to use The Elders’ convening power to  form an alliance focused on child marriage,  all too commonly sanctioned by religion, reinforced by poverty, and sustained by tradition.  Today, thanks to Mabel’s and the Elders’  steadfast leadership, the  Girls Not Brides alliance has more than 120 members from 30 countries, and is on its way to ridding the world of a devastating wrong.

Heading to the spring 2012 meeting of The Elders in Oslo, I knew the organization would be hard-pressed to get through its heavy agenda. But next steps on Sudan and South Sudan, Israel and Palestine, the Korean peninsula, women’s rights, child marriage and the budget weren’t the only things on my mind. I also knew how tough this meeting would be for Mabel.

In February, Mabel’s husband, Prince Friso van Oranje,  was caught in an avalanche; he remains hospitalized, and  the timeframe and chances for his recovery are uncertain.  How on earth would she manage the meeting? How would the Elders? The rest of us. read more

This piece, called “Social Entrepreneurs ‘Refreshingly Uncynical’ — But Not At All Delusional” is featured on the front page of the Huffington Post today. (Sally is above, right, with Eve Ensler at this year’s Skoll World Forum.) Enjoy!

By Sally Osberg

Just as I was coming up for air after our ninth Skoll World Forum, held each spring in the U.K. at Oxford University, David Brooks’ New York Times column on social entrepreneurs hit my desk. Talk about timing!

For starters, Mr. Brooks cites coffee shops, universities and “a certain sort of conference” as fertile ground for bumping into “some of these wonderful young people who are doing good.” Big note to self: be sure to invite him to the Forum next year. Not only would this global community of 900 delegates welcome his savvy perspectives, he’d discover just how many social entrepreneurs are actually doing what he thinks they aren’t.

In his provocative piece, “Sam Spade at Starbucks,” Mr. Brooks attests to the appeal of the “refreshingly uncynical” women and men he considers social entrepreneurs. But they’re missing a big beat, he believes, by shunning government, and by thinking “they can evade politics” in their pursuit of social progress. Our experience at the Skoll Foundation suggests otherwise.

So, with all due respect, allow me to take up Mr. Brooks’ gauntlets.

Contrary to his concern that “you can cram all the nongovernmental organizations you want into a country, but if there is no rule of law… your achievements won’t add up to much,” in fact, many social entrepreneurs are directly and indirectly supporting the rule of law. Landesa, for example, a new addition to the Skoll Foundation portfolio, works with governments in 40 countries to transfer property rights, which ultimately bring food, income, and the opportunity to transcend poverty. In India, for example, a local state government worked with Landesa to educate women about their land rights and help them through the land-application process. Already, 100 women in that small area have their land titles. They are counted among the 105 million families who have received land rights because of Landesa’s government partnerships.

Mr. Brooks is concerned that social entrepreneurs have “little faith in the political process.” But a number of organizations work with a “healthy political process.” Camfed (the Campaign for Female Education) partners with the Zambian government to enforce child protection as a cornerstone of its education plan. (In Africa, it’s common for teachers to pressure their female students to have sex with them). Now, 1,500 schools have these plans in place. The real social progress? Experts agree the best way to bring lasting social benefits to a country is to expand educational and economic opportunities for girls. In total, Camfed has given grants to 60,000 girls to complete secondary school.

While Mr. Brooks thinks young activists are “not as good at thinking nationally and regionally,” Partners in Health (PIH) is doing just that, by partnering with the governments of Haiti and Rwanda to ensure sustainable access to first-class medical care. In Rwanda, the year-old Butaro Hospital is a collaboration between PIH and the Ministry of Health. It provides salary incentives and extensive training to healthcare workers. In Haiti, PIH will soon open Mirebalais Hospital, which former President Bill Clinton recently visited. PIH is also helping the Haitian Ministry of Health develop an immunization program to protect all Haitians against cholera, which has already killed more than 7,000 people. read more

Arianna Huffington was recently asked, “Who’s the most important woman in the world? Who is someone to watch?” She named four women, including our very own CEO Sally Osberg. Read what else she said about Osberg here.

Erik Hersman of the famed Ushahidi blog, talks about his time at the Skoll World Forum and says, “one of the most interesting discussions I had was with Sally Osberg, the CEO of the Skoll Foundation, where we talked about scale, sustainability and the accelerating speed of change globally…she said, especially in the social entrepreneur space, “sustainability is a shibboleth.”

Read more about Osberg’s thoughts here.

In other Skoll World Forum news, if you missed our last post on top media hits, make sure to read it….and, here is another from the Skoll World Forum:  The Guardian wrote about changes in innovation and activism.

Enjoy.