Skoll Foundation 1833 views

The Skoll Foundation drives large-scale change by investing in, connecting, and celebrating social entrepreneurs and other innovators dedicated to solving the world’s most pressing problems.

Jeff Skoll created The Skoll Foundation in 1999 to pursue his vision of a sustainable world of peace and prosperity. Led by CEO Sally Osberg since 2001, our mission is to drive large-scale change by investing in, connecting and celebrating social entrepreneurs and other innovators dedicated to solving the world’s most pressing problems. Social entrepreneurs are society’s change agents, creators of innovations that disrupt the status quo and transform our world for the better. By identifying the people and programs already bringing positive change around the world, we empower them to extend their reach, deepen their impact and fundamentally improve society.

We are now one of the leading foundations in the field of social entrepreneurship. Over the past 10 years, we have awarded more than $250 million, including investments in 85 remarkable social entrepreneurs and 70 organizations on five continents around the world who are creating a brighter future for underserved communities. In 2003, we partnered with the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford to launch the first academic center dedicated to social entrepreneurship, the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship. We also support and partner with many pioneers and innovators in the field, organizations such as Ashoka, Acumen Fund and Duke University’s Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship. As the field has matured and we enter our second decade, we are focusing our strategy. We are developing a deeper understanding of the issue areas where our social entrepreneurs operate so we can apply more resources at critical moments to maximize our collective impact. Learn more about our approach.Beyond investments and partnerships, we also operate two programs that foster collaboration including the annual Skoll World Forum, the premier conference on social entrepreneurship, and Social Edge, the online community at www.socialedge.org led by social entrepreneurs for social entrepreneurs. We also share the stories of social entrepreneurs through partnerships with leading film and broadcast organizations such as the PBS NewsHour and the Sundance Institute, which help drive public awareness of social entrepreneurship and its potential to address the critical issues of our time.