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2007 Skoll Awards Ceremony

Video Description

Salman Ahmad sings and plays guitar along with a tabla player at the 2007 Skoll Awards Ceremony at the Skoll World Forum. Later, Sally Osberg gives a talk about the newest Skoll awardees and their work. She shows two short films of the awardees in the field. Then, Jeff Skoll shows two more films about other awardees. Muhammad Yunus talks about the world’s greatest problems. Finally, the 2007 Awardees receive their awards: Founders of Escuela Nueva, Free the Children, Gram Vikas, Kashf Foundation, Marine Stewardship Council, and YouthBuild USA.

Speakers

  • Co-Founder, WE
    Craig Kielburger is a social entrepreneur and the co-founder of a family of organizations dedicated to the power of WE, a movement of people coming together to change the world. Along with his brother Marc Kielburger, Craig co-founded WE Charity, which provides a holistic development model called WE Villages, helping to lift more than one million people out of poverty in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Back at home in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, WE Schools & WE Day provide comprehensive service learning programs to 10,000 schools, engaging 2.4 million young change-makers. Lastly, he is the co-founder of ME to WE, a pioneering social enterprise, the profits from which help sustain the work of his charitable organization. His work has been featured on the Oprah Winfrey Show, 60 Minutes and the BBC. Craig is the youngest ever graduate from the Kellogg-Schulich Executive MBA program. He has also received 15 honorary doctorates and degrees for his work in the fields of education and human rights. Craig is a New York Times bestselling author who has published 12 books, as well as a nationally syndicated columnist. Craig has received The Order of Canada, the Nelson Mandela Freedom Medal and the World Children’s Prize.
  • Managing Director, Working Capital
    Dan Viederman is a Managing Director at Working Capital, focused on efforts to engage and invest in entrepreneurs and tech innovators in pursuit of new tools to scale improvements for vulnerable workers in global supply chains. Previously, Dan was CEO of Verité, a leading non-profit organization working against global forced and child labor through in-depth research and corporate engagement. In recognition of Verité’s impact, Dan was winner of a 2007 Skoll Foundation Award for Social Entrepreneurship and was named Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneur of the Year in 2011. He has also managed China offices for World Wildlife Fund and Catholic Relief Services. Dan is graduate of Yale University, the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs and the Chinese language program at Nanjing Teacher’s University.
  • Project Director, Opportunity Youth United
    Dorothy Stoneman, 2007 Skoll Awardee, was the Founder and CEO of YouthBuild USA, Inc., from 1978 through 2016. This organization is the national support center for over 260 YouthBuild programs in the USA and the sponsor of YouthBuild International which has brought YouthBuild to 21 other countries. In YouthBuild programs low-income young adults work toward their own high school diploma or equivalency while learning job skills and getting paid for building affordable housing for homeless and low-income people in their communities. Over 180,000 YouthBuild students have built over 33,000 units of affordable housing while rebuilding their own lives. Stoneman is a leader in advocating for youth engagement in civil society and for ending poverty. After joining the Civil Rights movement in 1964, Stoneman lived and worked for 24 years in Harlem, where in collaboration with local teenagers she created the first YouthBuild program in 1978 and then orchestrated its expansion throughout NYC, USA, and internationally. In 2012 she spearheaded the creation of the National Council of Young Leaders and now supports them full-time to build out Opportunity Youth United as a grassroots membership organization focused on civic engagement for low-income young adults dedicated to increasing opportunity and decreasing poverty in America, building racial equity and racial unity. Stoneman also serves with the Aspen Institute’s Opportunity Youth Network, Voices for National Service, America’s Promise, the National Advisory Board for Public Service at Harvard University, and serves on the board of Public Allies and as board chair for Youth Action YouthBuild in East Harlem. She received the MacArthur Fellowship in 1996, honorary PhD from Bank Street College of Education, John Gardner Leadership Award in 2000, Harvard Service Award in 2011, America’s Promise Award in 2017, and the Woke White Women Who Walk the Talk award in 2019.
  • Founder And Chairman Emeritus, Jeff Skoll Group
    Founder and Chairman Emeritus Jeff Skoll is an entrepreneur devoted to creating a sustainable world of peace and prosperity. Over the last 17 years, he has crafted an innovative portfolio of philanthropic and commercial enterprises, each a distinctive catalyst for changing the trajectory of issues that most affect the survival and thriving of humanity. This portfolio includes the Skoll Foundation, Skoll Global Threats Fund, Participant Media, and Capricorn Investment Group—all coordinated under the Jeff Skoll Group umbrella. The Skoll entrepreneurial approach is unique: driving large-scale, permanent social impact by investing in a range of efforts that integrate powerful stories, data, capital markets, technology, partnerships, and organized learning networks. Operating independently from one another yet deeply connected through a shared vision, Skoll organizations galvanize public will, influence policy, and mobilize resources to accelerate the pace and depth of change. Jeff was the first full-time employee and President of eBay, where he experienced firsthand the power of combining entrepreneurship, technology, and trust in people. His work today embodies those fundamental lessons. All of Jeff’s organizations rely on the premise that people are fundamentally good, and that given the opportunity to do the right thing, they will.
  • CEO & President, Gram Vikas USA
    Joe Madiath completed his studies in English literature from Madras University. As a student, he was elected as the President of Madras University Students’ Union and founded the Young Students’ Movement for Development (YSMD) to harness positively the student disenchantment prevailing during the period. In 1969, as a student, he journeyed across India, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka on a bicycle for a year. In 1971, Joe led 400 YSMD volunteers to manage a number of relief camps for refugees from Bangladesh. Later that year, 40 volunteers along with Joe, moved to Orissa, which had been ravaged by a cyclone and tidal waves. Joe and a few colleagues decided to stay on in the area after relief work to work as development activists. They moved to Ganjam District in southern Orissa in 1976 on invitation from Government, to initiate development activities among the indigenous communities. This resulted in the establishment of Gram Vikas in 1979. Since its inception, till the end of June 2014 Joe has been the Executive Director of Gram Vikas and now the Chairman of Gram Vikas. Gram Vikas, today, is one of the largest NGOs in Orissa, reaching out to over 100,000 indigenous and poor families living in 1200 rural habitations. Some of the pioneering efforts of Gram Vikas have been in biogas promotion, community forestry, rural habitat development and education. Gram Vikas’ current approach to convergent community action with water and sanitation as the entry point is evolving into a movement influencing local democratic self-governance and poor people’s control over development processes. Recipient of awards: Shawn Feinstein World Hunger Award; Global Development Network Award (1998); World Habitat Award (2002); Kyoto World Water Grand Prize (2006); Social Life Time Achievement Award by Godfrey Phillips Red and White Bravery Awards (2006); NGO of the Year (2006) by Resource Alliance; Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurs (2006) by Skoll Foundation, USA
  • Co-Founder, WE
    In 1995, when Craig Kielburger was 12, he was shocked by a newspaper article about the murder of a child laborer turned child rights activist. Craig enlisted the help of his brother, Marc, and they established Free The Children (FTC), to help fight poverty, exploitation and powerlessness among their peers. The organization began as a group of classmates raising money and awareness, and evolved into an international phenomenon: hundreds of Youth in Action school chapters, a partnership with Oprah’s Angel Network and volunteer service trips to Asia, Africa and Central America. Craig never stopped spreading the message that children in the Western world could effect social change. Marc, a Harvard graduate, Rhodes Scholar and Oxford-educated lawyer, has helped the organization move from focusing strictly on international issues to bridging the gap between global and local needs.
  • Founder, President, Global Footprint Network
    Mathis Wackernagel co-created the Ecological Footprint in the early 1990s with his Ph.D. advisor Prof. Rees at the University of British Columbia. Now he is President of Global Footprint Network (www.footprintnetwork.org) which he founded in 2003 with Susan Burns. Together with its partners, Global Footprint Network focuses on bringing about a sustainable human economy in which all can thrive within the means of our one planet. Since 2003 this international think-tank has engaged with more than 50 nations, 30 cities, and 70 global partners to deliver scientific insights for policy and investment decisions. With their annual Earth Overshoot Day (www.overshootday.org), they annually reach over 4 billion media impressions. Mathis’ awards include the 2018 World Sustainability Award, the 2015 IAIA Global Environment Award, the 2012 Blue Planet Prize, the 2012 Binding-Prize for Nature Conservation, the 2012 Kenneth E. Boulding Memorial Award, the 2011 Zayed International Prize for the Environment, an honorary doctorate from the University of Berne, and the 2007 Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship.
  • Soprano and Co-Executive Director, Sing for Hope
    Monica Yunus is the Co-Founding Director of Sing for Hope, a leading non-profit that brings arts outreach programs to communities in need and presents initiatives -- such NYC's summertime street pianos -- that make the arts accessible to all. An internationally renowned soprano, Ms. Yunus has performed with the world's leading companies, including The Metropolitan Opera, Washington National Opera, The Zouk Festival, and in recitals in Spain, France, and her native Bangladesh. She has been honored with a 21st Century Leaders Award and, in 2013, received a Congressional Citation, was honored as "New Yorker of the Week" by NY1, and was named one of the "Top 50 Americans in Philanthropy" by Town&Country. A leading voice in the "artist as citizen" discussion, she has performed and spoken at the Fortune Most Powerful Women’s Summit, Nexus Global Summit, and The United Nations. The daughter of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus, Ms. Yunus is a graduate of The Juilliard School.
  • Founder, Grameen Bank
    Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus is the father of microcredit and social business, Founder of Grameen Bank and of more than 50 other companies. Fortune Magazine named him 'one of 12 greatest entrepreneurs of our time'. Professor Yunus received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with the Grameen Bank Project and is one of seven people to have received the Nobel Peace Prize, the US Presidential Medal of Freedom and the US Congressional Gold Medal. He received his BA and PhD in Economics and is the recipient of more than 50 honorary degrees.
  • Musician, Real World Records
    Peter Gabriel is a British singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career. More recently he has focused on producing and promoting world music and pioneering digital distribution methods for music. He has also been involved in various humanitarian efforts. In 2007 Gabriel was honoured as a BMI Icon at the 57th annual BMI London Awards for his “influence on generations of music makers.” Gabriel was also awarded the Polar Music Prize in 2009 and inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis in 2010.
  • Managing Director, Kashf Foundation
    Ms. Roshaneh Zafar founded the Kashf Foundation, the first specialized microfinance organization in Pakistan, in 1996.Today, one of the fastest growing MFIs in the country, Kashf Foundation was the first microfinance institute in Pakistan to achieve financial self sufficiency and demonstrated the business case for investing in womens economic empowerment.
  • Rupert Howes Chief Executive Rupert Howes has served as Chief Executive of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) since October 2004. He oversees the organization to ensure that it achieves its mission to contribute to the health of the world?s oceans by recognizing and rewarding sustainable fishing practices, influencing the choices people make when buying seafood, and working with conservation and industry partners to make the global seafood market environmentally sustainable. Prior to joining the MSC, Rupert worked as the Director of the Sustainable Economy Programme at the Forum for the Future, an influential UK-based sustainable development organization that partners with business, capital markets, governments, and others to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable way of life. Rupert previously worked as a Senior Research Fellow at the Science Policy Research Unit at Sussex University, and a Research Officer at the International Institute for Environment and Development. Rupert has been internationally recognized for his work to promote sustainable fishing practices. In 2014, Rupert was awarded a Schwab Foundation Social Entrepreneurship Award, which recognizes leaders in sustainable social innovation. In 2009, he received the World Wildlife Foundation?s ?Leaders for a Living Planet? Award, which recognizes individuals who make a significant personal contribution to the conservation of the natural world and sustainable development. He also received a Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship in 2007 for his contributions in establishing the MSC as the world?s leading fishery certification and eco-labelling program. Rupert earned an M.Sc. in Environmental Technology from Imperial College London, and a B.A. in Economics (with honors) from Sussex University. He also qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG.
  • Past President and CEO, Individual
    As the first President and CEO of the Skoll Foundation, Sally Osberg helped build it into the leading philanthropy in the field of social entrepreneurship. During her tenure, the Foundation supported more than 100 entrepreneurial organizations driving equilibrium change on many of the world’s most pressing problems and developed innovative platforms for connecting civil society, government and private sector leaders with societal problem solvers. Among these platforms are the annual Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship, the Skoll Centre at Oxford University’s Said Business School, and the Sundance Institute’s “Stories of Change” initiative. In 2015, Sally and Roger Martin published Getting Beyond Better: How Social Entrepreneurship Works, which articulates a theoretical framework for social entrepreneurship and distills lessons for practitioners, academics and impact investors. Her thought pieces have appeared in leading social impact and business journals and books; in 2015, she and Roger Martin were honored by Thinkers 50 for their intellectual leadership in the field of social enterprise. Prior to joining Jeff Skoll and the Skoll Foundation, Sally served as the founding Executive Director for Children’s Discovery Museum of San Jose, a pioneering institution in the field. Sally currently serves as the Chair of the Camfed (the Campaign for Female Education in Africa) USA Foundation, on the Philanthropy Advisory Council of the Royal Bank of Canada, on the Advisory Council of the Elders, and as a board director of the Social Progress Imperative and the Palestine-based Partners for Sustainable Development. She is also an Associate Fellow of the Said Business School of Oxford University. She received her M.A. in English and American Literature from the Claremont Graduate School and her B.A. in English from Scripps College, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Born in Boston, Sally grew up on the east coast but has spent most of her adult life in California. She now lives outside Philadelphia, in Wayne, Pa., within walking distance of her two grandchildren.
  • Co-Chair, Salman and Samina Global Wellness Initiative
    bio on www.ssgwi.org
  • Executive Director, Friends-International
    Sébastien Marot is the Founder and Executive Director of Friends-International, an internationally acclaimed global social enterprise saving lives and building futures of over 150,000 marginalized children and youth each year across 12 countries in 4 continents. Friends-International has been at the forefront of social innovation using social business and social enterprise models to expand impact and reach. In recognition of his work Sébastien has been awarded various accolades including the Order of Australia for “service to humanity”, the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship (2007), was voted Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2009 in Asia by the Schwab Foundation and Friends-International was recognized as one of the top 100 NGO’s by The Global Journal from 2012.
  • Founder, Board Member & Director, Finance for Change, Global Footprint Network
    Susan is Director of Finance for Change, a project of Global Footprint Network. As co-founder and CEO of Global Footprint Network, she built the organization into one of the leading scientific organizations in the world addressing global ecological limits. Susan now advises investors and credit rating agencies on environmental risk and has collaborated with more than 30 financial institutions in groundbreaking research on topics ranging from food price shocks to climate change. She is also a Senior Fellow with Future 500, a non-profit consultancy that builds trust between corporations and activists to advance business as a force for good. She was also formerly a Special Advisor to the Poverty Stoplight, a mobile technology that empowers families to move out of poverty by making them the architects of their own living conditions. Prior to launching Global Footprint Network, Susan founded the pioneering environmental sustainability consulting firm Natural Strategies, advising multinational companies on sustainability as a source of competitive advantage. Susan led the development of the screening methodology for Portfolio 21, the US’s first mutual fund dedicated to environmental sustainability. In 2007 Susan, along with Global Footprint Network co-founder Mathis Wackernagel, won the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship. In 2012 John Elkington, a world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development, identified Susan among the “Zeronaut 50” Roll of Honor, i.e., leading pioneers who are driving the world’s most significant problems to zero. Susan and Mathis are 2014 ISSP Sustainability Hall of Fame Inductees. Susan also a vocalist and member of the Oakland Interfaith Community Choir, and CASA: a “court-appointed special advocate for foster children.
  • Founder and Director, Fundacion Escuela Nueva
    Vicky Colbert Laureate of the first edition of the Yidan Prize for Education Development (2017) and 2013 WISE Prize for Education Laureate, Vicky Colbert is founder and director of Fundación Escuela Nueva. Colbert is a Sociologist from Javeriana University in Colombia and pursued her graduate studies in Sociology of Education at Stanford University in the United States. In 2015, the American University of Nigeria distinguished her with an Honoris Causa Doctorate in Philosophy. She is co-author of the worldwide renowned Escuela Nueva model and was its first National Coordinator. Colbert has pioneered, expanded and sustained this educational innovation from many organizational spheres: as Viceminister of Education of Colombia, UNICEF´s Education Adviser for LAC and now from Fundación Escuela Nueva (FEN), an NGO she founded to ensure its quality, sustainability and innovation. She has been recognized with several awards and distinctions in the fields of leadership and social entrepreneurship, such as the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, the Clinton Global Citizenship Award, the Kravis Prize, the Colombiano Ejemplar Prize (Colombia 2017) and Magisterio Prize (Spain 2017). She has also been recognized as Outstanding Social Entrepreneur by the Schwab Foundation, Ashoka and the World Technology Network.
  • Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, Manchester-Bidwell Corporation
    Bill Strickland is the President and CEO of Manchester Bidwell Corporation and its divisions, Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild (MCG) and Bidwell Training Center (BTC), both founded in 1968, and National Center for Arts and Technology in 2005. As president and CEO his duties include: developing and implementing major fund-raising plans of action; working with Boards of Directors and Industrial Advisory Boards; encouraging participation of corporate executive officials from major multi-national Pittsburgh corporations. Strickland has completed the development of a 40,000 sq. ft. production greenhouse, created for the development of Phalaenopsis orchids and hydroponics vegetables, and a 62,000 sq. ft. facility as a mortgage free asset for both MCG and BTC. The facilities include a 350-seat music/lecture hall, library, arts studios and labs, dining and meeting rooms, state-of-the-art award winning audio and video recording studios, serve as a demonstration site for Hewlett Packard and Steelcase equipment and are home to 25,000 Phalaenopsis orchids that are cultivated for wholesale distribution. The National Center for Arts & Technology (NCAT) a division of the Manchester Bidwell Corporation (MBC,) was created to assist interested communities in opening and sustaining local educational organizations that replicate the MBC Model. There are currently nine operational centers in the United States and one center in Israel. Throughout his distinguished career, Strickland has been honored with numerous prestigious awards for his contributions to the arts and the community.