This year’s virtual Skoll World Forum welcomed more than 3,000 attendees from 121 countries to Face/Forward with courage, determination, and hope. Over three days, we shared ideas for innovation, sparked unexpected connections, witnessed memorable performances, and celebrated the 2022 Skoll Awardees, each driving solutions ranging from stronger health systems, racial justice, and climate action to civic engagement and inclusive economic growth.
We opened the gathering with a stirring visual poem, What’s in a Face, by Darius Simpson, which encouraged us to “face the facts” of an unjust world beset by challenges that seem to be hardening before our eyes. But it also called on us to examine our collective capacity for transformational social change when we work together. Simpson’s poem set the tone for the 2022 Forum, inviting us to breathe deeply, learn from the lessons of the past, and face the future with bravery, resilience, and trust in the power of the collective.
Through poignant plenaries, 16 sessions, 25 roundtable discussions, and 5,000 chat messages, Forum attendees explored the complexities of global challenges across the Skoll Foundation’s strategic priority areas: strengthening health systems and pandemic prevention, promoting effective governance, mobilizing climate action, creating inclusive economies, and advancing racial justice. On the third day of the Forum, our network used Ecosystem Day to foster an additional 140 conversations and opportunities to connect.
Across the virtual Skoll World Forum program, several resonant themes continued to bubble up, offering opportunities for improving practices, deepening impact, and building transformative partnerships.
Solome Lemma, Executive Director of Thousand Currents, urged funders aiming for impact on the climate crisis to make big bets on community-led movements.
RT @SkollFoundation “An issue as big as the #ClimateCrisis will not be solved with partial participation and half-measures.”
ED @solomelemma has strong advice for those in #philanthropy looking to drive change for frontline communities. 👇🏾 #SkollWF pic.twitter.com/78yWRqmvo0
— Thousand Currents (@1000currents) April 10, 2022
Watch the full session: Ensuring Climate Commitments Reach Frontline Communities
Nasir Qadree, Founder of Zeal Capital Partners, outlined its approach to removing barriers to access, and resourcing entrepreneurs at the community level.
Communities often know the best way to solve their own problems, but they’re not always at the table. @NasirQadree explained how @ZealVC works to ensure entrepreneurs who are in community have access to the resources and support they need to make an impact #SkollWF #technology pic.twitter.com/qYqdpb5RIA
— Skoll Foundation (@SkollFoundation) April 7, 2022
Watch the full session: Funding the Future: Innovative Pathways to Impact
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director General of the World Trade Organization, brought a gender lens to her interview with Skoll Board member James Mwangi, insisting that men need to make room for women in leadership positions.
In the rousing closing plenary, Githinji Gitahi, Group Chief Executive Officer of Amref Health Africa, reminded us that the most powerful antidote to poverty is justice.
Watch the full session
Watch the full closing plenary
Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation, urged funders to support proximate leaders and pushed for greater transparency in funding practices.
.@DarrenWalker joined @AM_Argilagos @BeHIPGive, @cheryldorsey @EchoingGreen, @briggsjimmie, and @mikemcafee06 @policylink to consider how we can best support the racial justice leaders and groups leading the charge of building a more just nation. #SkollWF @SkollFoundation https://t.co/xQiaU45DPb
— Ford Foundation (@FordFoundation) April 15, 2022
Watch the full panel: Funding Surge? Implications for the Future of Racial Justice
William Foster from The Bridgespan Group argued that to act in service of transformation, philanthropy must increase its appetite for risk.
Traditional #Philanthropy has the reputation for being risk-averse in many circles. @BridgespanGroup‘s @WMLFoster notes that there are some very human reasons why, but the #FutureOfFunding should include a reframing of risk so it favors building more durable institutions #SkollWF pic.twitter.com/055g9Muia5
— Skoll Foundation (@SkollFoundation) April 8, 2022
Watch the full panel: Beyond the Storm: Innovations for the Future of Philanthropy
Rakesh Rajani, VP of Co-Impact, spoke of the need for funders to act in solidarity with the most impacted communities around the globe.
Jen Ford Reedy, President of the Bush Foundation, argued that we must think differently and extend deeper trust in funding.
.@BushFdn‘s @fordreedy details how their approach to #Philanthropy has shifted to center community and #Trust, and about how they think the #FutureOfFunding involves reparative action alongside granting resources #SkollWF pic.twitter.com/G43pkOxsf9
— Skoll Foundation (@SkollFoundation) April 8, 2022
Watch the full panel: Beyond the Storm: Innovations for the Future of Philanthropy
Jonathan Dotan, co-Founder of Starling Lab, cautioned that innovation that outpaces wisdom fuels misinformation and mistrust.
Watch Dotan’s full talk
Alessandra Orofino, 2022 Skoll Awardee and founder of Nossas, called on mobilizing people power and mass movements to face down authoritarianism.
How do we protect democracy in the face of authoritarianism? Alessandra Orofino of @_nossas points to the power of mass movements. #SkollWF pic.twitter.com/ptlnJapuYJ
— Skoll Foundation (@SkollFoundation) April 7, 2022
Watch the full panel: The Dangerous Decline in Democracy
Sonali Kahn, Managing Director of Sesame Workshop India, reminded us that our divided landscapes demand that we welcome all voices and insist on radical collaboration.
How are you inviting collaboration when advancing change? @SesameWrkshpIND Managing Director @sonalikhan highlights the need to bring more voices in when repairing this divided landscape. #SkollWF pic.twitter.com/QiE4ItA9De
— Skoll Foundation (@SkollFoundation) April 7, 2022
Watch the full panel: Bridging Divides for a Collective Future
Samantha Power, Administrator of USAID, reminded us that as the battle lines for the fate of democracy are being drawn, we are stronger together.
Watch her full opening plenary interview with NPR’s Scott Simon
No Skoll World Forum would be complete without the inclusion of memorable performances and this year was no different. Five time Grammy Award-winner Angelique Kidjo graced our opening plenary to lift our spirits. Amadou and Mariam, the musical duo from Mali, offered their joyful songs in closing plenary to send us on our way and Face/Forward into the future.
As we take inspiration from the 2022 Skoll World Forum and forge ahead with our work, please feel free to explore our content archive.
Banner image: Some of the 2022 Skoll Awardees (L-R) Tasso Azevedo (MapBiomas), Shahed Alam (Noora Health), Rodney Foxworth (Common Future), Angela Gichaga (Financing Alliance for Health), and Edith Elliott (Noora Health)
