In today’s Wall Street Journal, Wendy Kopp, Founder and CEO of Teach for America and a Skoll social entrepreneur, reflects on education reform over the twenty years since she established the groundbreaking organization. 
In her commentary, titled “My Reasons for Optimism on Education,” Kopp notes just how far we’ve come, from Jaime Escalante of “Stand and Deliver” fame pushing [...]

Skoll Foundation Program Office Kimberly Dasher Tripp and Teach for America-Bay Area Managing Director Chantal Laurie Below, co-author a piece in the Fall 2010 issue of the Stanford Social Innovation Review titled “Freeing the Social Entreprenuer”. It’s a roadmap for social entrepreneurs when they are building their leadership teams at that critical juncture between running a startup [...]

Two schools in an East Oakland, California school district are extending their day by three hours, hoping to boost the test scores of the sixth grade students attending the poor performing schools. As noted in today’s San Francisco Chronicle, Citizen Schools, headed by Skoll social entrepreneur Eric Schwarz, is integral to the success of the program. 
Citizen Schools [...]

Skoll social entrepreneur Martin Burt founded Fundacion Paraguaya in 1985 as a micro-lending affiliate of ACCION International and has since built it into an extremely successful microfinance organization. Elisabeth Rhyne, Managing Director for the Center for Financial Inclusion, recently profiled Martin and the work of Fundacion Paraguaya on the HuffingtonPost. In the piece, Elisabeth writes about Martin’s most [...]

The Elders released a statement today calling on governments and individuals to respond more quickly and generously to help the millions of people whose lives and livelihoods have been shattered by the floods. The United Nations has launched a $460 million emergency appeal but only half the money has been pledged. Aid flows are improving but [...]

This Saturday, August 21st, Global Footprint Network tells us, is the day we will reach Earth Overshoot Day: the day when human demand on nature surpasses what nature can renewably supply. According to data from Global Footprint Network, headed by Skoll social entrepreneurs Susan Burns and Mathis Wackernagel, as of August 21st, humanity will have [...]

The Skoll Foundation announced today it is providing emergency grants to three of its social entrepreneurs working in Pakistan, and to two additional partners who also have ongoing programs in the country, many in flood affected areas. The grants will go to support the various emergency relief activities each of the organizations are currently involved in, [...]

Omidyar Network today announced it has committed $5 million over three years to microlending pioneer Kiva.org, whose Co-Founder and CEO Matt Flannery, and President Premal Shah, are 2008 Skoll social entrepreneurs. During the first two years of the grant, Omidyar Network will match up to $2 million of online donations from individual Kiva lenders.
According to [...]

Marc Freedman, CEO and Founder of Civic Ventures, was named one of the 50 most influential nonprofit leaders by The Nonprofit Times in their 13th annual Power & Influence Top 50. The executives were chosen for the impact they have now and for the innovative plans they are putting in place to evolve the charitable sector. Marc, [...]

Congratulations to Root Capital for achieving a truly remarkable milestone this summer — it awarded its 800th loan and reached a total of $200 million in disbursements. This reflects a 44 percent annual growth rate. These loans, provided to small and growing businesses across 30 countries in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa, have positively impacted the lives of [...]