Information on the 2005 Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship

March 30 – April 1, 2005
Saïd Business School, Oxford University, England

The second annual Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship focused on networks and the crucial roles they play for social entrepreneurs and their supporters.

Social entrepreneurs know that their own charisma and drive are not enough to transform society; by activating networks, they can accomplish far more than they can alone. The Skoll World Forum explored the theme of “Making Networks Work” from many angles, including media networks, academic networks and funder networks—all of which contribute to the success of a social enterprise. The Forum also provided ample opportunities to make personal connections during the conference with some of the world’s key social entrepreneurs, knowledge leaders and field builders in social entrepreneurship.

Highlights of the 2005 Skoll World Forum included:

• A panel on media networks featuring Jeff Skoll, founder of the Skoll Foundation and the former president of eBay, and leading Hollywood figures such as Jake Eberts, producer of award-winning, socially relevant films including Gandhi, Driving Miss Daisy and Chariots of Fire
• A dialogue with social sector funders, led by management writer and broadcaster Charles Handy, about how they assess risk and what motivates them to invest in new initiatives
• Reflections by social entrepreneurs on how they have engineered social change, including Stan Thekaekara from southern India, who trades globally in tea; Margrethe Juncker, who works on AIDS education in Uganda; and Ann Cotton, who promotes education in sub-Saharan Africa
• Master classes on how to capture and communicate the impact of a social venture
• Fresh ideas on why networks are important to us, how people behave within them and which management approaches are most successful
• Networking with friends in the field, such as Charles Leadbeater, Bill Drayton and Jerr Boschee, as well as recipients of Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship; Mark Moore, who has done definitive work on public value; Penny Newman of Café Direct, who works with hundreds of tea, coffee and chocolate producers; and Tariq Zafar, who helps lead a pan-Asian learning network of social entrepreneurs tackling entrenched drug use

Click here to learn about the 2006 Skoll World Forum.

Click here to learn about the 2004 Skoll World Forum.

Click here to learn about the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship.