Posted on December 27, 2012

Skoll Foundation Announces 2013 Awards for Social Entrepreneurship

The Skoll Foundation has announced the recipients of the 2013 Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship.

The annual awards provide unrestricted funding to extend the reach of organizations that have achieved significant impact in tackling the world's most pressing problems through social entrepreneurship. Each awardee will receive a three-year operating support grant and will be invited to join the global network of Skoll social entrepreneurs, which currently numbers ninety-seven individuals from eighty organizations.

This year's awardees are Independent Diplomat, which advises marginalized governments and groups on diplomatic strategy with an eye to giving them a greater say in international negotiations; Crisis Action, which brings human rights and humanitarian organizations together to protect civilians from armed conflict; the Khan Academy, whose online educational content enables independent learners worldwide to learn at their own pace through a blended learning model; the Citizens Foundation, which provides affordable primary and secondary private education to low-income students, especially girls, in urban slums and rural areas in Pakistan; BasicNeeds, which raises awareness and promotes more effective treatment of mental health problems that affect millions of people in developing countries; and World Health Partners, which works to improve the quality of rural health care through the creation of a complete service-delivery ecosystem.

"While Skoll's six new awardees focus on different issues," said Skoll Foundation president and CEO Sally Osberg, "they share what Skoll believes is key to accelerating large-scale change: an entrepreneurial approach, a proven innovation with demonstrated impact that can be scaled, focus on a pressing issue that is at an inflection point, and an ability to catalyze systems change."