Information on the 2006 Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship

March 29-31, 2006
Saïd Business School, Oxford University, England

Click here to view archived video highlights from Oxford!
Click here to read Jeff Skoll's remarks at the 2006 Skoll Awards Ceremony

The third annual Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship, offered an unparalleled opportunity to network with and learn from leading thinkers and practitioners in the field of social entrepreneurship. The Skoll World Forum was held March 29-31, 2006, at the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford University. This year’s event focused on leveraging assets and growing social capital markets.

Topics that were explored at the 2006 Skoll World Forum were:

• How to expand financial resources to create social and environmental impacts
• How to replicate, adapt and scale up pilot programs in social investing and corporate social responsibility
• Cutting-edge innovations in social-benefit finance, including those by private investors
• How to harness market forces for social good through the creation of a social stock market and longer-term investment funds that factor in social and environmental risks
• Ways that world-class social entrepreneurs leverage financial assets to build communities and create value

Speakers

The Forum built on current efforts in philanthropy, social investing and corporate social responsibility by bringing together experts from the worlds of social change and capital markets. Among the speakers were:

• Jeff Skoll, founder and chairman of the Skoll Foundation and founder and CEO of Participant Productions
• Al Gore, former vice president of the United States, now chairman of Generation Investment Management
• David Blood, former CEO of Goldman Sachs Asset Management now managing partner of Generation Investment Management
• Muhammad Yunus, founder of Grameen Bank and pioneer of microfinance
• Ian Goldin, vice president of the World Bank and author of the upcoming book, Globalisation for Development
• Noreena Hertz, author of The Silent Takeover and IOU and a vocal critic of current aid and trade policies and unaccountable corporate power
• Bunker Roy, director of Barefoot College in India, which trains rural villagers through a self-help model that respects local knowledge and promotes community decision-making
• Victoria Hale, CEO of Institute for OneWorld Health, which develops drugs to tackle diseases that disproportionately affect people in developing countries
• Karen Tse, CEO of International Bridges to Justice, which promotes human rights in Asia

Who Attended

The 2006 Skoll World Forum attracted more than 550 participants from more than 40 countries.

Special Events

The conference offered ample opportunities to network and learn. Panel discussions were interspersed with coffee breaks, workshops, keynote addresses, debates, meals and receptions. Among the highlights were:

• A ceremony honoring winners of the 2006 Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship, who are leading social entrepreneurs from around the world
• Al Gore and David Blood in conversation with John Elkington; founder of SustainAbility
• The Delegates Program, an opportunity for attendees to convene their own meetings with Forum delegates on self-identified topics
• "A State in Transition," a high-level panel discussion on China vs open door policy on social development
• Open Space, an afternoon of networking that offers a structured way to link up with key allies for break-out discussions

Click here to see the program from the 2006 Skoll World Forum..

Click here to learn more about the 2005 Skoll World Forum.

Click here to learn about the 2004 Skoll World Forum.

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