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Lack of access to quality health care, especially in developing countries, is a fundamental source of many of society’s ills, resulting in millions of preventable deaths every year. To solve this problem, innovations must be supported that enable access to and use of reliable, affordable, and appropriate health care that leads to improved health outcomes in disadvantaged populations.

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2021 Annual Letter
March 21, 2022
210427
Making Sanitation Everyone’s Business
I remember walking into the offices of Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (DWASA) along with my colleagues at Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor (WSUP) nearly eight years…
210090
Living the Values, Upholding the Legacy: The Archbishop Tutu Fellows Without the Arch
Jackie Chimhanzi - African Leadership Institute , January 24, 2022
Even as we come to terms with the passing of our dear Patron, we celebrate a life of service well- lived and the values and ideals he espoused and bequeathed…
209734
No Excuses: Universal Health Coverage is Possible Even in the Toughest Settings
Jacqueline Edwards - Medic , Ari Johnson - Muso , December 10, 2021
As the world recognizes Universal Health Coverage Day on December 12th, two Skoll community members reflect on their partnership’s progress towards achieving UHC in one of the world’s most challenging…
209655
Equipping Change Leaders to Reimagine and Reset Our Broken Systems
As I write, yet another new variant of Sars-CoV-2, Omicron is spreading concern and contagion around the world. Though we don’t yet know the implications of Omicron’s emergence, it’s a…
208867
Wealth, Power, and Social Change: Funding at a Systemic Level
Shivani Garg Patel - Skoll Foundation , Alix-Ines Lebec - Lebec Consulting , November 29, 2021
Shivani Garg-Patel, Chief Strategy Officer at the Skoll Foundation, recently joined philanthropy consultant Alix Lebec in a conversation for her series Wealth, Power, and Social Change. They talked about Shivani’s…
202968
Justice40 Accelerator Reimagines Federal Climate Funding System to Heal Black and Historically Disinvested Communities of Color
Zach Slobig - The Bridgespan Group , October 25, 2021
Communities at the frontlines of climate, environmental, and social injustices have the wisdom and the solutions to create systemic, transformational change. Historic and persistent structural racism though has meant that…
202905
Dr. Nancy Messonnier on Philanthropy’s Role in Strengthening Global Health Systems to Prevent the Next Pandemic
Skoll Foundation - , October 25, 2021
Dr. Nancy Messonnier began her public health career in 1995 as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer in the Childhood and Respiratory Diseases Branch of the National Center for Infectious Diseases. She went on to hold a…
202942
Inside a Coordinated Response to COVID From a Billionaire Who Saw It Coming
Skoll Foundation - , October 21, 2021
Inside Philanthropy recently published an in-depth look at Jeff Skoll's longstanding commitment to pandemic prevention and preparedness and the Skoll Foundation's COVID-19 and health system strengthening work.  It’s fair to…
202869
Access to Clean Water and Safe Sanitation is the Missing Link in Urban Climate Adaptation
October 14, 2021
Clean water and safe sanitation services have the potential to play a major role in helping the poorest urban communities adapt to climate change, but more needs to be done…
202573
The Skoll Foundation Announces $100 Million Commitment to Fight COVID-19 and Strengthen Health Systems Globally
Skoll Foundation - , September 23, 2021
This week, the Skoll Foundation joined President Biden’s Global COVID-19 Summit, where government, private sector, and civil society leaders joined together to begin the work on a coordinated plan to…
202393
Calling for a New Multilateral Fund for Global Health Security and Pandemic Preparedness
Skoll Foundation - , August 24, 2021
As the Delta variant surges and suffering continues around the world, Pandemic Action Network (PAN) and its partners are calling for a significant multilateral mechanism for sustained investment in pandemic prevention and preparedness. “This…
202313
United Nations General Assembly Resolution on Vision: Eye Care For All By 2030
August 11, 2021
  For 20 years, VisionSpring (2009 Skoll Awardee) has worked towards its goal of reaching and providing affordable, quality glasses to the 2.5 billion people worldwide who need them. In…
202228
Protecting the Community Health Workforce During COVID-19: Getting PPE to the Last Mile
Zach Slobig - The Bridgespan Group , July 27, 2021
As the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic bore down in Democratic Republic of Congo in December 2020, Bébé Bola, a community health worker (CHW) in the Pakadjuma township of…
201957
Rethinking Possible Episode 10 | Halla Tómasdóttir | Can Capitalism Save the Planet?
Nguhi Mwaura - Dalberg , Courtney Martin - Individual , June 23, 2021
Capitalism has arguably accelerated many of the world’s problems, from climate change to economic exclusion. What role can—and should—it play in accelerating solutions? Halla Tómasdóttir of The B Team offers…
201834
Hospitals and Health Systems Join the Race for a Healthy Climate
Gonzalo Muñoz - Conference of the Parties (COP) Champion for Chile, COP25 High Level Climate Champions , Josh Karliner - Health Care Without Harm , June 2, 2021
For more than a year, the world’s doctors, nurses, hospitals and health systems have been on the front lines in the battle against COVID-19. Many have served heroically as first…
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Rethinking Possible Episode Seven | Priti Krishtel | A ‘Patent Detective’ Investigates Access to Medicine
Nguhi Mwaura - Dalberg , Courtney Martin - Individual , June 2, 2021
Getting the right medicine at the right time can mean the difference between life or death. Yet until COVID-19, there hasn’t been widespread recognition of the importance of creating easy…
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Dr. Nancy Messonnier Joins Skoll Foundation as Executive Director for Pandemic Prevention and Health Systems
June 1, 2021
We are excited to welcome Dr. Nancy Messonnier to the Skoll Foundation as the Executive Director for Pandemic Prevention and Health Systems! Jeff Skoll has long supported efforts to prevent…
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This nonprofit is helping communities stop pandemics in their tracks
May 20, 2021
In 2016 — years before the COVID-19 pandemic — Cambodia launched a toll-free hotline to enlist the public in monitoring and tracking the spread of disease among both humans and animals. People can call 115 to…
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Rethinking Possible Episode Four | Dr. Christian Happi | The Decolonizing Power of African-led Scientific Innovation
Nguhi Mwaura - Dalberg , Courtney Martin - Individual , May 12, 2021
Based in Nigeria, Dr. Christian Happi is a molecular biologist whose day job is combating infectious diseases. Alongside his life-saving scientific work, he’s on a mission to embolden young African…
201449
Funding Institutions Perpetuate Inequitable Global Health Partnerships: Here Are Three Ways to Stop That
Katherine Ginsbach - O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law , Ngozi Erondu - Georgetown University , April 22, 2021
In February, the New York Times Editorial Board announced: “Foreign Aid is Having a Reckoning.” This reckoning based on the Black Lives Matter movement is not just isolated to foreign…
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2020 Annual Letter
March 30, 2021
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How Colombia Cuida Colombia Launched a Collective Movement to Address the COVID Crisis
Colombia Cuida Colombia (CCC) is a national COVID response movement of over 400 organizations across civil society and the private sector. It launched in March 2020 to mobilize a coordinated…
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Connecting Communities TEDx Style: Pandemic Responses and Reasons for Hope
Michael Ryan - TED Conferences LLC , Claire Wathen - Skoll Foundation , March 3, 2021
In a year with lockdowns and border closures, TEDx Skoll Conversations took us around the world to hear how frontline workers and community leaders are responding to the pandemic. Virtual…
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EYElliance Brings Systems Change into Focus in Liberia's Schools 
Zach Slobig - The Bridgespan Group , February 23, 2021
Systems orchestrators are leaders and organizations who shape transformational social change behind the scenes by connecting people, providing resources and support, and mobilizing collective, unified efforts. At the Skoll Foundation, we…
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Strengthening Mental Health and Wellness Support in COVID Response in São Paulo
Elena Crescia - TEDx , February 17, 2021
We all had to adapt and reinvent our plans and daily routines in 2020. For TEDx organizers around the world, this has been a challenge. While we realized we wouldn’t…
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Surviving a Pandemic with Grit, Innovation, and Creativity in South Africa  
Kelo Kubu - Gamatong , February 1, 2021
TEDxJohannesburg explores the issues with local innovators and social entrepreneurs.   Many countries in Africa were not adequately equipped to withstand the shock of the coronavirus pandemic. While the continent was…
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Rebooting Community from the Frontlines in Bangalore
Sartaj Anand - TEDx , January 27, 2021
When I had the opportunity to reboot TEDxBangalore digitally as COVID-19 restrictions eased in India, I focused on the theme of "Living with the Pandemic." It was one that resonated…
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New Allies: How Governments Can Unlock the Potential of Social Entrepreneurs for the Common Good
Shivani Garg Patel - Skoll Foundation , January 19, 2021
In our journey at the Skoll Foundation of supporting social entrepreneurs and other social innovators, we collectively seek paths to scale impact beyond the footprint of a single organization or…
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How A Pandemic and Wellbeing Practices Honed My Leadership Skills 
Eleanor Allen - B Lab , January 6, 2021
If you could track my radius of movement since March 2020, I bet 98 percent of my footsteps were in my house. At first my new and small world DC (during COVID) was claustrophobic and oppressive. I felt I was under house arrest, “confined” to my home after years…
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Families and Workers Fund Raises Nearly $30 Million for Workers Hardest Hit by COVID-19
December 16, 2020
  The Families and Workers Fund, a collaborative philanthropic effort designed to support and empower workers, families, and communities devastated by the health and economic crisis caused by COVID-19, is…
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Protecting Community Health Workers Through COVID-19 and Beyond
Alinafe Kasiya - VillageReach , December 14, 2020
No health worker should have to choose between treating their patients and keeping themselves and their families safe. However, as the global shortage and inequitable distribution of personal protective equipment…
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Reflecting on 2020: Social Enterprise Leaders’ Advice for Navigating Crisis
Ellen Martin - SoJo , Kimberly Bardy Langsam - Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship , Erin Worsham - Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship , December 14, 2020
2020 has been a year filled with unprecedented challenges—a global pandemic, racial reckoning, deepening climate crisis, and more. And while 2020 comes to a close, we know that these will…
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Philanthropies Commit to Sustained Collective Action in Response to the Climate Emergency   
December 10, 2020
  On the eve of the fifth anniversary of the Paris Agreement, philanthropies including the Skoll Foundation have underlined and enhanced their commitment to investing into climate solutions.   In September 2018, 29 funders made a combined pledge to grant $4…
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Bipartisan Assembly of Governors Support Call to Action to Defeat COVID-19
December 10, 2020
  Governors represent 1 in 3 Americans Recommendations call for common, comprehensive action across states COVID Collaborative also released review of state vaccine distribution plans The nation needs a uniform…
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How Skoll Awardees Faced the Pandemic with Innovation and Resilience
Jude O'Reilley - Skoll Foundation , December 7, 2020
Facing the historic global challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Skoll Awardees and our larger portfolio of grantees have met this moment with empathy, determination, and innovation. “This is the moment…
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The Power of Collective Healing to Support Healthy People on a Thriving Planet
December 7, 2020
Healing collective trauma at the community level, and planetary health are now becoming part of the DNA of the healthcare system, and that gives me an enormous amount of hope.…
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TEDx Skoll Conversations: Community-Driven Responses in a Global Pandemic
Claire Wathen - Skoll Foundation , December 3, 2020
Never has listening to ideas that help us reflect about different points of view, our next steps, and our human condition been more necessary. -Elena Crescia, TEDxSãoPaulo The COVID-19 pandemic…
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2020 Was the Year the Facts Fought Back
Claire Melamed - Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data , December 1, 2020
One of the themes of the last decade has been a frightening rise in misinformation and untruth. Social media platforms transmit falsehoods around the world with a single click. The…
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Noora Health Delivers Rapid Response in a Time of COVID-19
Ben Pyne - Skoll Foundation , November 18, 2020
COVID-19 Health Education and Caregiver support Reaches Millions The pandemic has reached all corners of the globe, hitting the world's most vulnerable populations hardest. India and Bangladesh were no exception.…
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Resilience Beyond COVID-19 in West Africa
November 6, 2020
  In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic brought about big changes for Tostan, the West Africa-based organization that has partnered with communities at the grassroots for almost 30 years to…
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Lessons from My Journey of Serial Social Entrepreneurship
Chris Underhill - BasicNeeds , November 4, 2020
I lay back in the ambulance early in the morning as it rushed through the dark streets of London. In those days there were no sirens but instead there was…
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A Pandemic Surveillance System for the Planet
October 22, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic has made it abundantly clear that the world is underprepared for the global spread of infectious diseases, but new technology is creating opportunities for the development of…
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How Radio Slowed COVID-19 in Burkina Faso
Zach Slobig - The Bridgespan Group , October 12, 2020
  In the first weeks and months of the pandemic, as the Skoll Foundation aimed to support COVID-19 response across sub-Saharan Africa, we made an early grant to Development Media…
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The Best Antidote to COVID-19? A Collective Approach
Donald Gips - Skoll Foundation , September 22, 2020
Collaboration and coordination are the only way to overcome COVID-19, says Don Gips, CEO at the Skoll Foundation, a private foundation working to drive social change through innovation and social entrepreneurship. “I…
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COVID-19 Action Agenda: Why Social Entrepreneurs Are Needed Now More than Ever
September 16, 2020
  As the massive scale of the COVID-19 pandemic became apparent, social entrepreneurs across the world, including many Skoll Awardees, have stood on the frontlines as first responders in this…
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mothers2mothers Launches Virtual Mentor Mother Platform to Confront COVID-19 Health Disparities
August 6, 2020
  Today, we’re excited to share that mothers2mothers (m2m)—an African not-for-profit that trains and employs women living with HIV as frontline health workers has launched a new, interactive WhatsApp platform to provide…
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Answering the Call: How VillageReach’s COVID 411 Campaign Fights the Pandemic with Innovative Mobile Solutions
July 30, 2020
  At the end of June, the African continent had 400,000 COVID-19 cases, with local transmission increasing significantly. By the end of July, that case count had more than doubled. Health…
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How Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs Harnessed Big Data to Map the Pandemic
Lucien Chan - The Audacious Project , June 15, 2020
The Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs (IPE), a 2015 Skoll Awardee, is a pioneering NGO that developed the first public database of water pollution information in China and brought…
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Missing Puzzle Pieces: How Structures of Patriarchy and Notions of Motherhood Shaped My Social Change Work
One of my first childhood memories is of a never-ending sea of small yellow rooms, sprawling across a desert with not a single tree. Many people wore the same kind…
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Impact in COVID-19 Era: Lessons from Social Entrepreneurs on “Scaling Through Mass Disruption”  
Elyssa Lewis - Skoll Foundation , June 8, 2020
How do social enterprises and the funders that support them achieve impact at scale even in times of acute crisis?  This is the question that prompted the Scaling Pathways partners—Skoll Foundation, Mercy Corps…
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How Amazon Conservation Team Approaches COVID-19 Response With Vulnerable Indigenous Communities During the Worsening Pandemic
Isidoro Hazbun - Amazon Conservation Team , May 29, 2020
Marginal access to healthcare, limited hygiene resources, and weak government support in deterring potentially contagious intruders put even the most remote communities in the Amazon at risk of the spreading…
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African and global philanthropists team-up to manufacture COVID-19 medical equipment in Africa
May 27, 2020
  African and global philanthropists have teamed up in an effort to help African nations secure cost effective ventilators, breathing support devices and other medical equipment. Strive Masiyiwa co-founder of…
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Emily Bancroft of VillageReach on What Health Equity Looks Like
Emily Bancroft - VillageReach , May 19, 2020
Emily Bancroft is President of VillageReach, an organization that works to transform health care delivery to reach everyone. VillageReach won the Skoll Award in 2006. Its initiative in Malawi, Chipatala…
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The Amazon Has Much to Teach Us—If We’ll Listen
Seven years ago, I was in one of the most remote places on the planet, hiking through the rainforest of the northwest Amazon, following an indigenous colleague clad in only a…
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COVID Near You: How You Can Fight the Pandemic in 30 Seconds from Your Home
Bruce Lowry - Skoll Foundation , May 13, 2020
How are you feeling? Before the outbreak of the novel coronavirus that was a simple question. Today, posed on the COVID Near You website, it’s a question with life and…
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How Chinese Social Entrepreneurs Stepped up to Respond to COVID-19
Changkun Shen - TEDx , May 4, 2020
Last September, we held a TEDx Skoll Conversation in Chengdu, which brought together social entrepreneurs from different regions across China to demonstrate the positive role of social innovation in shaping…
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It Took a Pandemic to Show that Handwashing is a Lifesaver—and a Privilege 
Patrick Moriarty - IRC International Water and Sanitation Centre , Eleanor Allen - B Lab , May 4, 2020
It took a global pandemic to raise the world’s awareness of the importance of handwashing and access to clean water – basic services that over 2 billion people in the world still lack.   Many of us in the US and…
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New Alliance launched at the World Economic Forum to Help Social Entrepreneurs Overcome the Impacts of COVID-19
Suzana Grego - Skoll Foundation , May 1, 2020
Geneva, Switzerland, 4 May 2020 –   Over 40 leading global organizations have united to launch the COVID Response Alliance for Social Entrepreneurs, pooling knowledge, experience and responses to alleviate suffering…
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Skoll Foundation Announces New Gift of $100 Million from Jeff Skoll to Fight COVID-19
Suzana Grego - Skoll Foundation , April 24, 2020
Gift Follows a Doubling of Current Grants to Total $200 Million Committed to Date  This week, Jeff Skoll made a new $100 million gift to the Skoll Foundation, which it…
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Collective Strength in a Time of Plague
April 21, 2020
This year during the first-ever virtual Skoll World Forum, Health Care Without Harm organized a session to explore the relationship between the coronavirus pandemic and the climate crisis. We had planned…
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Skoll Foundation Announces 2020 Awards for Social Entrepreneurship
Suzana Grego - Skoll Foundation , April 15, 2020
The Skoll Foundation has announced the five winners of the 2020 Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship. “The Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship shines a light on emerging leaders who fearlessly…
194526
Coronavirus and Air Pollution: A Deadly Link
Jane Burston - Clean Air Fund , Arvind Kumar - Institute of Robotic Surgery at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi , Josh Karliner - Health Care Without Harm , April 15, 2020
As the coronavirus pandemic impacts millions across the world and brings economies to a grinding halt, there’s a lot of talk about how emissions from fossil fuel combustion have dropped…
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Global Commons Alliance: Why This Historic Moment Demands Radical Collaboration
Gurpreet Singh - Skoll Foundation , February 10, 2020
Hundreds of business, government, civil society, and other leaders recently weighed in on the most urgent threats confronting humanity and, for the first time in the Global Risks Report’s history,…
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#GoodNews December: Highlights from Social Entrepreneurs in 2019
December 9, 2019
As the end of 2019 approaches, we’ve gathered up the good news: the progress and accomplishments of Skoll social entrepreneurs, hard at work on the world’s thorniest problems. We are…
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Adolescent Girls and Young Women Are New Frontline of HIV/AIDS Epidemic: A Solution Lies Within Their Communities
Frank Beadle de Palomo - mothers2mothers , November 27, 2019
Dimakatso, 23, lives in Soshanguve, South Africa. Her father passed away a little over a year ago, forcing her mother to relocate to a neighboring town for work, and leaving…
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How Mad Libs Helped Share Insights of Scaling Through Government
Upile Kachila - VillageReach , November 21, 2019
Last week as we prepared for a panel on transitioning health solutions to government, Skoll Principal Liz Diebold introduced me to the word game Mad Libs. While I’d never filled…
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James Mwangi on the Problem With Innovation
James Mwangi - Africa Climate Ventures , October 31, 2019
James Mwangi, Executive Director of the Dalberg Group, has spent decades designing and supporting innovative approaches to tackling the world’s most stubborn problems. His recent work has focused on helping…
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TEDx Skoll Conversation Series Comes to Jakarta With Focus on Governance and Resilience
Florentina Niradewi - TEDx , October 7, 2019
Two major events loomed large for the TEDxJakarta curatorial team as we began to think about this year’s event. First, were the earthquakes and tsunami that hit Palu, Sulawesi in…
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UNGA Week Calls to Action Span Climate, Health, Education
September 30, 2019
  Climate and health took center stage at the 74th session of the UN General Assembly last week in New York—the annual gathering of nearly 200 world leaders with a…
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Mohamed Nasheed on Beating the Odds Against Climate Change
Mohamed N Nasheed - , September 26, 2019
Former President of the Maldives, Mohamed Nasheed, recently made a triumphant return to his home country as head of the national parliament after several years of exile in the UK.…
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Bringing Community Healthcare to the People
September 19, 2019
There is an urgent challenge in Sub-Saharan Africa: people are dying from treatable illnesses like malaria, pneumonia, and diarrhea. The traditional model is that families find their way to a…
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2019 Social Progress Index: Measuring Real Things That Matter
Michael Green - Social Progress Imperative , September 18, 2019
We’re 43 years behind schedule in our progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. That’s the sobering takeaway from the recently released 2019 Social Progress Index (SPI). The report gauges social…
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Prescription for a Healthy Planet
Josh Karliner - Health Care Without Harm , September 10, 2019
Every year, human civilization churns out ever more dangerous quantities of greenhouse gases. Every day we see and feel the increasing effects of a growing climate crisis that impacts people’s…
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Don Gips on Designing New Systems and Innovative Multi-Sector Partnership
Zach Slobig - The Bridgespan Group , Donald Gips - Skoll Foundation , July 1, 2019
Don Gips joined the Skoll Foundation in early April, taking over leadership responsibilities from Interim President and COO, Richard Fahey. Don brings a wealth of experience in both the public…
187608
Can Liberia Teach Us How to Create a Universal Healthcare System That Works?
Zach Slobig - The Bridgespan Group , May 21, 2019
In the wake of a long and brutal civil war, Liberia had one of the world’s worst shortages of doctors—51 physicians to serve the entire country. The health of millions…
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What Does "Large-Scale Change" Look Like? We Partnered With Freethink to Find Out
Phil Collis - Skoll Foundation , May 20, 2019
At the Skoll Foundation, our north star is to drive large-scale change by supporting the work of social entrepreneurs and other innovators. "Large-scale change" is a very high bar for…
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Community Entrepreneurship: Solving Problems and Weaving Society Back Together
Gurpreet Singh - Skoll Foundation , May 13, 2019
“The idea of ‘social entrepreneurship’ has struck a responsive chord. … Though the concept of ‘social entrepreneurship’ is gaining popularity, it means different things to different people. … The language…
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The Promise and Peril of ‘Tech for Good’
Grace Mzumara - Saïd Business School , April 24, 2019
How would you explain the world today, to the world that was, a hundred years ago? I imagine my wide-eyed self, sharing the marvels of modern day transportation and music from the…
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How Big Data Helps Ma Jun Fight for Blue Skies and Clean Rivers in China
Zach Slobig - The Bridgespan Group , April 22, 2019
Long before he founded the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE), Ma Jun was a trailblazing investigative environmental journalist in China. His groundbreaking reporting on the mounting environmental crisis…
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Meet the 2019 Skoll Awardees for Social Entrepreneurship
Suzana Grego - Skoll Foundation , April 1, 2019
We are delighted to announce the five winners of the 2019 Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship, one week before we head into the 16th Annual Skoll World Forum: Crisis Text Line, Harambee  Youth Employment Accelerator, mPedigree, mPharma, and Thorn. …
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Introducing Our 2019 Skoll World Forum Emerging Leaders
Erin Harrington - Rosewood Family Advisors , Ariane Campbell - MasterCard Foundation , March 19, 2019
As we look forward to next month’s Skoll World Forum, the Skoll Foundation and the Mastercard Foundation are honored to introduce our 2019 Emerging Leaders! Launched in 2013, the Emerging…
182555
Raj Panjabi on Health Inequity and Lasting Systems Change
James Nardella - Last Mile Health , January 29, 2019
During West Africa’s devastating Ebola epidemic in 2014, the Liberian Ministry of Health and Last Mile Health—an organization that delivers primary health care to some of the most remote corners…
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Co-Impact Announces First Funding Round: $80 Million for Health, Education, Economic Opportunity
January 15, 2019
  Back in the fall of 2017, the Skoll Foundation joined several other funders—Richard Chandler, Bill and Melinda Gates, The Rockefeller Foundation, and Rohini and Nandan Nilekani—to commit $500 million for…
182262
Can Storytelling Help Solve the Problem of Health Disparities?
Zach Slobig - The Bridgespan Group , Alexandra Quinn - Health Leads , December 19, 2018
Those without enough income to keep the heat on and food in the fridge are more likely to get sick than those with sufficient resources to meet these essential needs.…
181889
A Vision for Change: How VisionSpring Found Scale Through Partnerships
Ann Mei Chang - Individual , October 30, 2018
Want to dramatically increase your impact and scale? A new book, Lean Impact by Ann Mei Chang, offers a practical guide to social innovation with inspiring examples drawn from her…
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Health Care in the House at the Global Climate Action Summit
Josh Karliner - Health Care Without Harm , September 21, 2018
September 2018.  It’s been a momentous month. A massive hurricane stormed across the Atlantic Ocean. A super typhoon simultaneously traversed the Pacific. Both wreaked havoc—displacing more than a million people…
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How to Improve Sanitation Across an Entire City: the Case of Visakhapatnam
Half of the one billion people in the world who still defecate in the open live in India. Poor sanitation in India is not just a rural issue: at least…
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The Biggest Challenge to Ending AIDS by 2030 Isn’t What You Think
Kathrin Schmitz - mothers2mothers , July 10, 2018
End AIDS by 2030. This is one of the headline-grabbing targets laid out in the Sustainable Development Goals. Later this month, more than 15,000 people from the international HIV/AIDS community…
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How to Get to SDG 6: Invisible Barriers to Urban Water and Sanitation
What do you think of when you think about improving water and sanitation? No doubt the first thing that springs to mind is a tap; probably followed close after by…
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Rural Women and Girls Catalyzing Change in the Climate Crisis
Zach Slobig - The Bridgespan Group , June 7, 2018
With World Environment Day this week, we're thinking a lot about the intersection of climate change and injustice, a place where many of our Awardees work daily. Climate change deepens…
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Emerging Technologies: Shifting the Path from Poverty to Prosperity?
Bruce Lowry - Skoll Foundation , May 24, 2018
Neither technology determinists nor tech skeptics would have been wholly satisfied with the Skoll World Forum session, “Emerging Technologies: Shifting the Path from Poverty to Prosperity.”  But it was a…
180425
The Power of Water Micro-Lending as Income Enhancer
Vedika Bhandarkar - Water.org , April 4, 2018
Her smile is truly as warm as the tea she prepares each morning to sell from her home in Mysore, Karnataka, India. Past the mint and chamomile drying in the…
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From Direct Action to Advisory Services: A Pathway to Scale for Social Entrepreneurs
Sarah Miers - Mulago Foundation , March 27, 2018
A central question for any social entrepreneur with a proven, effective innovation is how to scale its impact. For many organizations and funders, the answer to this question is elusive.…
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From Theirs to Ours: Proximity and the Power of Relationship
Alinafe Kasiya - VillageReach , March 26, 2018
Izizi ndi Zathu Zomwe. This is ours. That’s the name my team of adolescent researchers has given a groundbreaking public health initiative—a close study of their peers’ needs, behaviors, and…
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How to Stop a Practice Harmful to Three Million Women and Girls This Year?
Zach Slobig - The Bridgespan Group , February 7, 2018
Some 200 million women and girls alive today have undergone female genital cutting (FGC). Every year, three million more women are violated with FGC—a massive, mostly invisible health and human…
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Sustainable Health Solutions for the Last Mile: VillageReach Builds Them and Lets Them Go
Zach Slobig - The Bridgespan Group , January 12, 2018
Access to quality healthcare for all communities in a scalable and sustainable way—that is at the heart of VillageReach’s mission. VillageReach (2006 Skoll Social Entrepreneur) focuses on the lowest levels…
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How Collective Action Will Amplify Impact of Community Health Worker Models
James Nardella - Last Mile Health , January 3, 2018
We know that large-scale social change is a team sport—no one social entrepreneur can create a new status quo on her own. This reality is evident in the global effort…
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#GoodNewsDecember: Impact Highlights from Social Entrepreneurs in 2017
Robyn Park - Skoll Foundation , December 18, 2017
After a year marked by natural disasters, refugee crises, and political turmoil, it can be a challenge to not become discouraged. But take a closer look, and you'll see the progress…
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My Health, My Right: Turning an HIV-free Vision into Reality
Frank Beadle de Palomo - mothers2mothers , November 30, 2017
In 2006, Juliet was 26 years old and six weeks pregnant when her feelings of joy sank into anxiety and fear. The HIV test she had taken during an antenatal…
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Benetech Partners with Health Leads to Repair Bay Area Social Safety Net
Zach Slobig - The Bridgespan Group , November 22, 2017
We love to see our awardees enter into partnerships that leverage collective strengths to affect large-scale change. It’s even more satisfying when those partnerships are formed by organizations within the…
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10 TED Talks by Women that Provoke, Empower, and Challenge the Status Quo
November 2, 2017
We’re excited to be in New Orleans for this year’s TEDWomen, where women from all over the world have convened to hear from innovative thinkers giving talks centering on the…
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We The Future Spotlights Bold Models for Sustainable Development Agenda
Lindsey Powers - Skoll Foundation , Jess Fleuti - Skoll Foundation , September 29, 2017
Last week, a group of social entrepreneurs, corporate pioneers, and policy innovators gathered at the TED Theater in New York during Global Goals Week for We The Future: Accelerating Sustainable…
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How Public Private Partnerships are Making a Crappy Market Safe Across Bangladesh
Sarah Miers - Mulago Foundation , Lucien Chan - The Audacious Project , August 30, 2017
In Bangladesh, nearly half of 55 million urban residents lack the sanitation infrastructure to properly process human waste. The result: massive amounts of raw waste is unsafely dumped, fouling the…
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How VisionSpring Experiments with Distribution to Expand Its Reach
Zach Slobig - The Bridgespan Group , August 24, 2017
VisionSpring began with the guiding principle, “If you can’t see, you can’t work.” Since then it has evolved to include “If you can’t see, you can’t be safe”, and “If…
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Bending the Arc: Setting the Bar High for Social Change
Sandy Herz - Sobrato Family Foundation , July 5, 2017
Thirty years ago, as horrific disease like AIDS and tuberculosis ravaged much of the world, three remarkable young people—Jim Yong Kim, Paul Farmer, and Ophelia Dahl—came together in a squatter…
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Raj Panjabi’s TED Wish and the Power of Storytelling for Social Change
Sandy Herz - Sobrato Family Foundation , June 1, 2017
No condition is permanent. That’s the refrain of tough-minded optimism that Raj Panjabi, founder of Last Mile Health, grew up with in Liberia. It’s the mantra often repeated by his…
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Highlights from the Social Progress Imperative 2017 Summit
Zach Slobig - The Bridgespan Group , May 1, 2017
“What if sociologists had as much influence as economists?” That’s the provocation with which Bjarni Benediktsson, Iceland’s 46-year-old Prime Minister of Iceland, set the tone for recent global summit of…
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Skoll World Forum 2017 Reflection: Global Health, from Innovation to Implementation
Ruth Norris - Resources Legacy Fund , April 27, 2017
"Global health is a marathon, not a sprint."  -- Barbara Bush, Global Health Corps The race often starts with great excitement over big breakthroughs: new vaccines and treatments, new technologies…
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Highlights from Skoll World Forum 2017
April 21, 2017
The annual Skoll World Forum was, as always, an inspiring, energizing, and at times dizzying week of conversations and celebrations in the hallowed halls and cobblestoned streets of Oxford. Stephan Chambers…
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Fear Doesn’t Live Here: Fighting Inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa
March 30, 2017
By: Fiona Mavhinga, Founder, Camfed’s CAMA alumnae network “I have seen girls suffer,” Mary told me. “And I knew I had to speak for them.” Mary was born poor and grew…
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How We'll Get Universal Access to Safe Water in Latin America
Mark Duey - Water For People , March 22, 2017
Universal access to safe water in Latin America? How is this possible to achieve in a region where some of the most beautiful tourist destinations in the world have signs…
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Toilets, Taps, and Triumph for Women
Eleanor Allen - B Lab , October 20, 2016
I met Maria when I was a Peace Corps volunteer in the Dominican Republic. She was three years old—smiley, pudgy, and fun. I lived with her grandparents. We spent a…
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UNDP is Walking the Talk Towards Greener Healthcare Procurement
Rosemary Kumwenda - United Nations Development Programme , October 10, 2016
Public health is the core of medicine. It entails that we, as health care professionals, need to ensure public goods are delivered in a safe and sustainable way. Public procurement…
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Investment Needed to Fix Global Mental Health Crisis
Natasha Abraham - BasicNeeds , October 10, 2016
A major traumatic experience changed Muhammad’s life and he grew increasingly bitter, angry, and paranoid. Things escalated to the point where his family life began to suffer. Muhammad had been…
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Introducing the Task Force for Global Health at Hilton Humanitarian Symposium
Sally Osberg - Skoll Foundation , September 30, 2016
At the Hilton Humanitarian Symposium in New York on September 30, 2016, Skoll Foundation President & CEO Sally Osberg had the honor of introducing David Ross, President & CEO of…
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Universal Access to Sanitation: How Do We Get There?
Joony Moon - Skoll Foundation , August 31, 2016
In honor of World Water Week: a look at water and sanitation and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This article was originally posted in September, 2015. The world achieved the…
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One More Look at Rio: The Necessity and Complexity of Systems Change
Joony Moon - Skoll Foundation , August 24, 2016
Over the course of the 2016 Olympics in Rio, we’ve delved into some of the challenges facing Brazil. We began with the Social Progress Index’s (SPI) assessment of Brazil’s performance…
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“During The Olympics, There is Great Joy Among Us”: An Interview with Rio Social Entrepreneurs
Joony Moon - Skoll Foundation , August 15, 2016
At the Skoll Foundation, we have seen time and again the importance of the deep connection and inspiration social entrepreneurs get from working with and staying close to people and…
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No Small Feat: How a Social Entrepreneur Helped Defeat One of the World’s Worst Diseases
Sally Osberg - Skoll Foundation , August 11, 2016
This week The Task Force for Global Health was awarded the 2016 Conrad N. Hilton Foundation Hilton Humanitarian Prize, an inspired choice for this wonderful award. Since its inception in…
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South Asia: Skoll Awardees Drive Change in Health and Gender Equality
Last month I traveled to Nepal and India to meet with Skoll Awardees and partners and learn about their progress in deploying mobile health solutions, fighting gender bias, and expanding…
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Disease Surveillance App Wins Converts in Thailand
Erin Harrington - Rosewood Family Advisors , July 29, 2016
Recently I joined the pandemics team from the Skoll Global Threats Fund (SGTF) in Chiang Mai, Thailand, to spend a week learning about disease surveillance and how it’s used to detect…
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New Hope That Water Can Be a Bridge to Mideast Peace
Hilik Bar - Israeli Knesset , Gidon Bromberg - EcoPeace Middle East , July 21, 2016
Israelis and Palestinians often play the blame game on the crucial issue of water. Palestinians scream “water apartheid” and Israelis respond with accusations of a “sewage intifada.” But recently there…
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Tackling the Access Gap: Nonprofessional Workforces Expand the Reach of Basic Services  
Joony Moon - Skoll Foundation , June 30, 2016
Comparing the recently-launched 2016 Social Progress Index to prior years, we can see what many already know—social progress takes time. As developing countries struggle to provide equitable access to important…
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Health Sector Revolution: Changing What Counts as Healthcare
June 28, 2016
Today, the US healthcare sector is no longer debating the connection between patients’ unmet social needs—like shelter, heat, employment, and food—and poor health. It’s widely recognized that just 10 percent…
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Saving Lives Sustainably
Rosemary Kumwenda - United Nations Development Programme , June 10, 2016
Standard medical ethics dictate “primum non nocere” (first do no harm). The health sector provides an indispensable service to the public, playing an essential role in human development as the…
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Fix Mideast Water Crisis to Advance Peace Process
Despite continuing disputes over settlements, Jerusalem, borders, and refugees, there is at least one problem on which Arabs and Israelis can still make progress—water. Much hard work lies ahead. The…
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Meet the Social Entrepreneurs Defining the Future of Healthcare
Meera Patel - Ashoka , Ellen Goodman - Ashoka UK , April 25, 2016
There is a global crisis in healthcare; the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that one billion people lack access to basic care, and a further 100 million are pushed into…
Never Again? The Ebola Epidemic's Warning about Critical Infrastructure Gaps
MIATTA ZENABU GBANYA - MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL WELFARE , Eric Goosby, M.D. - UCSF Global Health Sciences , Paul Farmer - Partners In Health , Anthony Banbury - United Nations , Richard Besser - Robert Wood Johnson Foundation , May 1, 2015
The Great Paradigm Shift
Eduarda La Rocque - Pereira Passos Institute , Paul Farmer - Partners In Health , Diana Good - Independent Commission for Aid Impact , Michael Porter - Harvard Business School , Michael Green - Social Progress Imperative , April 29, 2015
Gary White of Water.org: The Ubiquitous Force
January 21, 2014
Gary White, Co-Founder of Water.org (along with Matt Damon) speaks about his vision: safe water and the dignity of a toilet for all, in our lifetime. For more information on…
GDP Turns 80: SPI Turns 1
January 8, 2014
What does a successful country look like? 80 years ago, economist Simon Kuznets introduced GDP to the world, alongside a clear warning against using it to define the wellbeing of people.…
The Social Entrepreneur: That Rare Individual
September 8, 2013
Sally Osberg, CEO of the Skoll Foundation, describes "the social entrepreneur" as part of this special special series from the Skoll World Forum featuring social entrepreneurs and other innovators discussing…
Mobilmentum: Accelerating Mobile For Development SWF - 2013
Gustav Praekelt - Turn.io , Ken Banks - FrontlineSMS , Priya Jaisinghani - USAID , Fiona Smith - GSMA Mobile for Development , May 21, 2013