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On My Way to the Skoll World Forum for Social Entrepreneurship

by Keely Stevenson — last modified 2007-03-24 14:29

I left to warm sunshine at Kilimanjaro airport yesterday and arrived in chilly Oxford--- a familiar and happy place to me since I wore my gown for exams during my graduate studies here in business administration two years passed. The dreamy spires of Oxford are the symbol of this magical city full of knowledge and history. Changemakers from all corners of the earth convene here in the UK annually to share social entrepreneurial ideas shaping our future. The Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship convenes an international community of outstanding practitioners and thought leaders in social entrepreneurship to set the future agenda for visionaries who want to transform society. The Skoll Forum took root four years ago, when the Skoll Foundation launched a partnership with Oxford University to create the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship. The Centre is housed within Oxford University’s Said Business School and is leading many interesting research initiatives, designing MBA curriculum and developing scholars and practitioners in the field of social change and entrepreneurship. Recently, four colleagues and I published a working paper on social capital markets through the Skoll Centre, which you can read and discuss on Social Edge by clicking here.

This week, I am here for several reasons: 1) to meet the Acumen Fund Fellows who are convening for our mid-year meeting where we hope to focus on combing through common lessons and experiences among Acumen’s portfolio of businesses serving the poor, 2) to attend and deliver a presentation at the Skoll World Forum, 3) to teach a case study on social finance in Kim Alter’s MBA course.

Having attended all three previous years of the Skoll World Forum conference, I am excited at this year’s theme on innovation, and I look forward to blogging regularly to share what I am learning with those of you who cannot attend (woo hoo- I love high speed Internet!). In the past years, the attendance of those from Africa has been minimal, so I know the Centre was trying to reach out to practitioners more aggressively. This year we are expecting about 700 participants from 40 countries on six continents. Click here to view the official program for the forum.

Among the speakers featured at March 27-29 conference will be Jeff Skoll, founder and Chairman of the Skoll Foundation and Participant Productions; Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace laureate, Grameen Bank founder and microfinance pioneer; Peter Gabriel, musician, activist, cofounder and Chair of WITNESS; David Galenson, Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Chicago and best-selling author of numerous books on creativity and innovation; Dr. Larry Brilliant, Executive Director of Google.org and founder and former Director of the Seva Foundation; Bill Drayton, CEO and Chair of Ashoka; Jeroo Billimoria, founder of Aflatoun/Child Savings International; Fazle Abed, founder of BRAC; Susan Collin Marks, Senior Vice President of Search for Common Ground; Ashok Khosla, President of Development Alternatives Group; Nina Smith, Executive Director of RugMark Foundation USA; J.B. Schramm, founder and CEO of College Summit, Inc.; and Salman Ahmad, Pakistani musician, artist, activist and founder of South Asia’s internationally renowned rock band, Junoon.

I look forward to sharing with you the scoop!

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On My Way to the Skoll World Forum for Social Entrepreneurship