2019 Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship
Wednesday, April 10, 2019
Session Description
Join us for the emotional highlight of the week—our celebration of the 2019 Skoll Awardees. We’ll honor five remarkable social entrepreneurs from around the world who truly embody the spirit of Accelerating Possibility. We’ll hear their stories of imagination and courage in crafting blueprints for a better tomorrow. GRAMMY award-winner and Order of Canada recipient Sarah McLachlan will perform.
Doors open at 3:30pm and seating is general admission.
The Skoll Awards plenary is free for Skoll World Forum delegates, and no additional ticket is necessary. Members of the general public can purchase tickets in advance here.
Time & Location
Time:
4:00 PM - 6:00 PM, Wednesday, April 10, 2019
BST
Location:
New Theatre
Speakers
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Speaker
Julie Cordua, CEO. Thorn
Julie helped create Thorn in 2012 as an organization focused on building technology to defend children from sexual abuse. Under Julie's leadership, Thorn has created products and programs that are deployed today in 55 countries, have reached more than 3 million people and have helped identify more than 18,000 child victims of abuse. Julie came to Thorn from (RED) where she was VP of Marketing/Communications and helped establish the brand as one most successful cause marketing initiatives in history, delivering more than $160 million to fight AIDS in Africa. Prior to joining (RED), Julie spent nearly a decade in the wireless industry. Julie holds a B.A. in Communications from UCLA and an M.B.A. from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management.
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Speaker
Gregory Rockson is the Co-founder and CEO of mPharma. mPharma is building a next-generation health management organisation (HMO) in Africa. Its portfolio of solutions includes vendor-managed inventory services, primary care solutions for community pharmacies and data analytics. Founded in 2013, mPharma is headquartered in Ghana with operations in 8 other African countries, Nigeria, Zambia, Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Gabon, Uganda and Togo. The company also owns Haltons, Kenya’s 2nd largest pharmacy chain, and Vine Pharmaceuticals in Uganda and manages a network of 600 pharmacies and GoodHealth shops serving millions of patients annually. His contribution to the healthcare industry earned him a Skoll Award in social entrepreneurship in 2019.
Gregory received his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Westminster College, was a PPIA Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton University, and a Rotary Scholar at the University of Copenhagen. Gregory also founded the Big Brother
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Speaker
Nicola is a business leader and social innovator, driving multi-sector partnerships for systems change and inclusive economy. As Executive Director of Yellowwoods Holdings she leads the group’s efforts to drive system inclusion and sustainability through, and with, its portfolio of businesses that include financial services, restaurants and eco-tourism businesses. Nicola also manages Yellowwoods’ innovative social financing and grant making. Under her leadership, Yellowwoods has incubated a portfolio of African non-profit social enterprises, including SmartStart Early Learning and the Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator for which she won the Skoll Award in 2019 and the World Economic Forum Schwab Foundation 2020- Corporate Social Intrapreneur award. She is a McNulty Prize awardee for her work in the Aspen Global Leadership Network, a member of the Ministerial Task Team on Post School Education and Skills in the context of 4IR and sits on the Advisory Board of Africa Leadership Group.
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Performer
Founder, Sarah McLachlan Foundation
With over 30 years in the recording industry, Sarah McLachlan is a multi-platinum singer and songwriter best known for her intimate vocals and relatable lyrics. Canadian-born, McLachlan is a multiple Grammy and Juno Award winning artist who has sold over 40 million albums throughout her career and was recently inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. McLachlan has also been awarded the Elizabeth Cady Stanton Visionary Award and is an Officer of the Order of Canada.
In addition to her personal artistic efforts, in 1997 McLachlan founded the Lilith Fair tour, which showcased female musicians and brought more than 2 million people together over its three-year run. Lilith Fair raised over $7 million for local and national charities and helped launch the careers of numerous female performers. The festival was the most successful all-female music event and was the top-grossing touring festival during its run.
In 2002 McLachlan founded her non-profit organization, the Sarah McLachlan School of Music. The School of Music serves over 1,000 at-risk and underserved youth in Vancouver and Edmonton each year and provides, at no cost:
• A high-quality music program staffed with talented mentors, youth facilitators & guest artists
• A space for at-risk and underserved children and youth to develop the confidence they need to explore their strengths and overcome their challenges
• An opportunity for students to develop strong relationships with their peers and instructors
• A long-term commitment that nurtures trust, growth, and personal development
The school is funded entirely through private donations and McLachlan covers 100% of the administrative costs through her Foundation, so that all funds raised go directly to the student's education. The scientific evidence of music's value is increasing every day, there is no doubt that music has a positive effect on every child's life.
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Speaker
I am the CEO of the Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit that operates Wikipedia. I spent a decade as the CEO of Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, a social enterprise building African solutions to tackle the global crisis of youth unemployment. Previously, I served as Chief Operating Officer of Planned Parenthood Federation of America and as the Advisor to the President of Rice University. I earned a B.A. magna cum laude from Rice University, a M.Sc. from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, and a J.D. from Yale Law School. I am a Trustee of Yale University, the Mellon Foundation, Co-Impact, and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.
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Moderator
Chairman, Seiler LLP
Jim DeMartini is the Chairman of Seiler LLP. In his role as a trusted advisor, Mr. DeMartini counsels clients in matters including income, estate and gift tax planning, wealth management, all facets of real estate, and charitable gift planning.
Currently, Mr. DeMartini is a member of the Board of Directors of the Skoll Foundation and the Stupski Foundation. Mr. DeMartini was also Founder and Member of the Board of Directors of Sports Association for Youth, a non-competitive baseball league that currently benefits more than 1,000 Bay Area youths annually. Additional past community activities include Notre Dame de Namur University Trustee, Executive Committee Member, and Chairman of the Audit Committee; Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur of California Advisory Board; Santa Clara University English Advisory Board; Lucile Salter Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford Capital Campaign Committee; Stanford University Medical Center Friends of Orthopedics; Chair of the Santa Clara University Men’s Golf Committee; and Skoll Global Threats Fund board member.
From 1999-2004 Mr. DeMartini served on the Board of Directors of Mid-Peninsula Bank, a member of the Greater Bay Bancorp group. He attended the University of California at Los Angeles and holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from Golden Gate University. Mr. DeMartini pursued graduate studies in taxation and speaks on a variety of related topics. Mr. DeMartini is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and California State Society of Certified Public Accountants.
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Speaker
Don Gips is the Chief Executive Officer of the Skoll Foundation, a global philanthropy with a mission to build a sustainable world of peace and prosperity for all. With a career spanning public service, politics, business, nonprofits and technology, Gips leads the Foundation’s work investing in, connecting, and championing social innovators around the world.
In 2008, Gips helped lead President Barack Obama’s transition team and then served in the White House as his Director of Presidential Personnel at the beginning of the Administration. From there he went on to serve as U.S. Ambassador to South Africa from 2009 to 2013. There he was recognized for his efforts to promote improved relations with South Africa when the U.S. State Department chose him as the recipient of the 2010 Sue M. Cobb Award for Exemplary Diplomatic Service.
During the Clinton Administration, he served as Chief Domestic Policy Advisor to Vice President Al Gore and Chief of the International Bureau at the Federal Communications Commission. At the FCC, he helped design the first spectrum auctions for licenses to utilize the continuum of frequencies used to provide wireless services ranging from radio broadcasting to mobile communications and satellite services.
In 1993, he helped create the framework for what would become the U.S. national service program, AmeriCorps, that continues to enroll more than 200,000 Americans each year in public service.
Gips has also held various roles in the private sector. He was head of Corporate Development at Level 3 Communications; led the Africa practice at Albright Stonebridge Group; and served as a venture partner at Columbia Capital and a Senior Advisor at Blackstone. He began his private sector career as a consultant at McKinsey & Company.
He currently sits on the board of CassTech, Africa’s leading provider of information and telecommunications services, and is on the Board of the Nelson Mandela Children’s Fund US. He has also served on the boards of Zayo, Mindspeed, Liquid, Omnispace, and Nextnav.
Don received an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a Bachelor’s degree from Harvard University. He is married to Elizabeth (Liz) Berry Gips. Don and Liz have three grown sons: Sam, Peter, and Ben.
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Speaker
Bright is the President of mPedigree, a social enterprise working on three continents in partnership with governments, Fortune 500 companies, and grassroots organizations to spread innovative, including patent-pending, technologies that secure communities from supply chain fraud. At Koldchain, he led pioneering work at the Harvard Innovation Labs to invent & patent organo-sensors for biomedicals. Besides his own primary work, he is an enthusiastic Advisor of other organisations. He serves on the Supervisory Board of Care International; on the Sustainability Board of UCB, a European biopharma pioneer; the Board of Directors of the Salzburg Global Seminar; and is the Vice Chair of the Africa Population Health Research Center. He previously served on the inaugural Microsoft Africa Advisory Council. As an early Director at IMANI, he has contributed considerably to its recognition as one of Africa's top 5 think tanks. He was on the 2016 Fortune 50 World Greatest Leaders list.
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Moderator
Richard Fahey served as Chief Operating Officer of the Skoll Foundation from 2004 to 2021, where he contributed to the fulfillment of the Foundation’s mission to drive large-scale change by investing in, connecting, and celebrating social entrepreneurs and the innovators who help them solve the world’s most pressing problems. Richard now serves as Special Advisor to the Foundation.
As COO, Richard led the Skoll Foundation’s finance, impact measurement, technology, and other business management functions. He was the key executive staff interface between the Investment Committee and the Capricorn Investment Group which manages the Foundation’s endowment. Richard worked closely with the Foundation’s investment manager to align the Foundation’s investment capital with its mission.
Prior to joining Skoll, Richard spent nearly 25 years with the Hewlett-Packard Company in a variety of senior operations, infrastructure, finance policy, and controller positions. He earned his B.A. at Georgetown University in Economics and History, and his M.B.A at the University of Chicago.
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Moderator
Director, Stanford University
Debra is focused on achieving a more just and sustainable economic system through collaborative action, human centered design and transformational systems change. She serves on the Boards of the Skoll Foundation, B Lab, IDEO.org, Imperative 21 and the global advisory boards of the African Leadership University and the Wellbeing project. She also works as an advisor to social ventures around the world.
Pre-Covid, Debra was a faculty member at Stanford University's d.school where she co-founded the FEED (Food Entrepreneurship, Education and Design) Collaborative.
Pre-Stanford, Debra was a business executive at Hewlett Packard where the common threads in her broad, 22-year career were driving large scale change, creating new businesses and producing positive social impact and good business results concurrently.
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Speaker
Selorm Branttie is the Global Strategy Director for mPedigree, the industry leader in using innovative mobile technologies to counter the faking of products using mobile technology.
Since joining mPedigree in 2010, Selorm has been responsible for the expansion of the service under the mandate of NAFDAC in Nigeria and seeing the technology to industries including but not limited to Automotive, Cosmetics, Textiles and several Fast Moving Consumer Goods brands.
Selorm led efforts to put mPedigree on course to provide traceability applications for crop seed varieties in East Africa, with plans to bring other agro-inputs under the ambit of the surveillance program.
He is also responsible for the design and dissemination of public information related to drug supply chains and anti-counterfeiting, working closely with stakeholders like regulators and pharmaceutical co-operatives in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Sierra Leone.
Selorm is an Aspen Global Voices 2019 fellow and a Skoll Enterprenurship Award winner for 2019.
Selorm was a founding member of IMANI Center for Policy and Education, a think tank that directs on issues related to development and governance. His efforts contributed to the organization being named among the world’s top 100 think tanks by the United Nations and in the top 5 of African research institutes in consecutive years by the University of Pennsylvania
