Skoll Foundation


The Skoll Foundation is an American private foundation based in Palo Alto, California. The foundation makes grants and investments intended to reduce global poverty. It was founded by Jeffrey Skoll in 1999. The total assets of the foundation amount to $1.127 billion as of 2018. The combined entities made grants totaling about $71 million in 2018, based on unaudited numbers reported by the foundation. According to the most recent audited financial statements, the non-grant expenses for the foundation totaled around $17 million in 2018.

History

Skoll set up the foundation in 1999 to fund social entrepreneurship through awards, grants and educational programs at Oxford and Harvard Universities. Skoll, the first president of eBay, created the Skoll Foundation after setting up the eBay Foundation.
In 2001, Skoll hired Sally Osberg, formerly the founding executive director of the Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose. Osberg was the foundation's first employee, president and CEO. Osberg claims that she led the organization through its startup, implementation and renewal phases. Osberg and her colleagues set up platforms to connect civil society members with private and public sector leaders. These platforms included partnerships with Sundance Festival and Oxford's Saïd Business School.
In 2003, Skoll established the private Skoll Foundation. The two entities, which have distinct governing bodies but share staff and offices, together operate the foundation's grantmaking and other programs.
In April 2017, Osberg announced plans to step down from the role of CEO.
In 2018, Richard Fahey assumed the role of interim president after 14 years of executive leadership at the foundation. In February 2019, Donald Gips was appointed as the foundation's CEO. Formerly, Gips served as the U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of South Africa. In March 2021, the foundation hired Marla Blow as its president and chief operating officer. She had formerly served as the senior vice president for social impact in North America for the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth.
The foundation, which moved to its Palo Alto headquarters in 2004, also collaborated closely with the Skoll Global Threats Fund, established in 2009, to address climate change, pandemics, water security, nuclear proliferation, and conflict in the Middle East. Some of the fund's initiatives supported by the foundation have included an app, developed in partnership with the Brazilian Ministry of Health, that allowed monitoring of health conditions and potential infection by the Zika virus during the 2016 Olympics; supporting surveillance technologies that identify epidemics at their earliest outbreak; and development of an online tool that will help policymakers identify global water risk and food security hot spots.
The foundation began funding research into pandemic preparedness and prevention in 2009. Simultaneously, the organization funded research into climate change water scarcity, nuclear weapons and conflict in the Middle East; it called this its Global Threats Fund. Previously, the foundation partnered with Google's philanthropic arm, Google.org to fund Nathan Wolfe's 2008 research into cross-species transmission amongst Cameroonian bushmeat hunters. In 2018 the fund created Ending Pandemics, a non-profit spun out from its research into pandemic detection and rapid response.
Skoll increased the foundation's 2020 grant to $200 million to respond to the pandemic's economic, health and social impact. The African Field Epidemiology Network, a group that works with Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention were the foundation's first COVID-related grantees. The foundation also gave sixty-four past and current Skoll grantees $50,000 in emergency funding during this period.

Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at the University of Oxford

In 2003, the foundation donated $7.5M to the Saïd Business School at Oxford University to establish the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship. The center studies and promotes socially purposed businesses and hosts a one-year MBA programme in social entrepreneurship. The grant also funded an endowed lectureship, program director, visiting fellows, five MBA student fellowships, visiting fellows, and the annual Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship. The Skoll Centre's activities concentrate on educating social change leaders, practical research and convening leaders in the social change field.

Skoll World Forum

The annual Skoll World Forum assembles social entrepreneurship leaders at the Said Business School at to discuss solutions to social challenges. The foundation held its first forum in 2004. Attendance was roughly 1200 as of the 2019 Forum, and the delegates represented around 80 countries. The event facilitates impact investing.

Notable speakers

The Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship

Each year, the Skoll Foundation presents the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship. The foundation accepts nominations from within its network. The following list of Skoll Awards organized by year. Skoll claims the awards are to raise awareness through storytelling. "We felt that part of our mission was to create a ceremony where these folks are given more notoriety.”
YearOrganizationAwardee
2005Barefoot CollegeBunker Roy
2005CAMFEDAnn Cotton
2005Fair Trade USAPaul Rice
2005Fundación ParaguayaMartin Burt
2005GoodWeave InternationalNina Smith
2005Institute for One World HealthVictoria Hale
2005International Development EnterprisesAmitabha Sadangi
2005KickStart InternationalNick Moon Martin Fisher
2005Sonidos de la TierraLuis Szaran
2006Afghan Institute of LearningSakena Yacoobi
2006AflatounJeroo Billimoria
2006BenetechJim Fruchterman
2006CeresMindy Lubber
2006Ciudad SaludableAlbina Ruiz
2006Community and Individual Development Association City CampusTaddy Blecher
2006Health Care Without HarmGary Cohen
2006Institute for Development Studies and PracticesQuratulain Bakhteari
2006International Bridges to JusticeKaren I. Tse
2006PeerForward formally, College SummitJ.B. Schramm
2006Riders for Health
2006Room to ReadJohn Wood
2006Roots of PeaceHeidi Kuhn
2006Saude CriancaVera Cordeiro
2006Search for Common Ground
2006VillageReachBlaise Judja-Sato
2007Fundacion Escuela NuevaVicky Colbert
2007Gram VikasJoe Madiath
2007Kashf FoundationRoshaneh Zafar
2007Manchester Bidwell CorporationWilliam Strickland
2007Marine Stewardship CouncilRupert Howes
2008Amazon Conservation Team
2008American Council on Renewable EnergyMichael Eckhart
2008ArzuConnie Duckworth
2008Digital Divide Data
2008Kiva
2008mothers2mothers
2008OneSkyJenny Bowen
2008Voice of the Free, formerly Visayan Forum FoundationMaria Cecilia Flores-Oebanda
2009APOPOBart Weetjens
2009Bioregional Development Group
2009Gaia AmazonasMartin von Hildebrand
2009INJAZ Al-ArabSoraya Salti
2009International Center for Transitional JusticeJuan E. Méndez, Paul van Zyl
2009Teach for AllWendy Kopp
2009Water.orgGary White
2010Building MarketsScott Gilmore
2010Encore.orgMarc Freedman
2010Forest TrendsMichael Jenkins
2010Imazon
2010One Acre FundAndrew Youn
2010TelapakAmbrosuis Ruwindruarto, Silverius Oscar Unggul
2010TostanMolly Melching
2011Health LeadsRebecca Onie
2011New Teacher CenterEllen Moir
2011PrathamMadhav Chavan
2012LandesaTim Hanstad
2012Proximity Designs
2012NidanArbind Singh
2013Independent DiplomatCarne Ross
2014Khan AcademySal Khan
2014B Lab
2014Fundación CapitalYves Moury
2014Girls Not BridesMabel van Oranje
2014Global Witness
2014Medic MobileJosh Nesbit
2014Slum Dwellers InternationalJockin Arputham
2014Water and Sanitation for the Urban Poor Sam Parker
2015Blue Ventureslasdair Harris
2015Educate Girls FoundationSafeena Husain
2015Foundation for Ecological SecurityJagdeesh Rao Puppala
2015Institute of Public and Environmental AffairsMa Jun
2016Breakthrough
2016Equal Justice InitiativeBryan Stevenson
2016Living GoodsChuck Slaughter
2016NamatiVivek Maru
2016VidereOren Yakobovich
2017Babban GonaKola Masha
2017Build ChangeElizabeth Hausler
2017Last Mile HealthRaj Panjabi
2017Polaris ProjectBradley Myles
2018Code for AmericaJennifer Pahlka
2018Global Health CorpsBarbara Bush
2018SELCO IndiaSelco Foundation
2019Crisis Text LineNancy Lublin
2019Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator
2019mPedigree
2019mPharmaGregory Rockson
2019Thorn Julie Cordua
2020ARMMANAparna hedge
2020Centre for Tech and Civil Life
2020Glasswing International
2020Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project
2020International Council on Clean TransportationDrew Kodjak
2022Common FutureRodney Foxworth
2022Financing Alliance for HealthAngela Gichaga
2022MapBiomasTasso Azevedo
2022NDN CollectiveNick Tilsen
2022Noora Health
  • Edith Elliott
  • Shahed Alam
2022NOSSASAlessandra Orofino
2023AMANMina Setra & Rukkha Sombolinggi
2023Reach Digital HealthDebbie Rogers
2023Protect DemocracyIan Bassin
2023ConexsusCarina Pimenta
2023PolicyLinkMichael McAfee
2024Food for EducationWawira Njiru
2024IllumiNative
  • Crystal Echo Hawk
  • Michael Johnson
    • 2024MeedanEd Bice
    2024SaveLIFE FoundationPiyush Tewari
    2025Apis & Heritage Capital Partners
  • Todd Leverette
  • Philip Reeves
    • 2025Community Health Impact Coalition
  • Madeleine Ballard
  • Margaret Odera
    • 2025EarthEnableGayatri Datar
    2025Healthy Learners
  • Lonnie Hackett
  • Ignicious Bulongo
    • 2025Pacto pela DemocraciaFlávia Pellegrino