June 19, 2007

Skoll Foundation Announces Seven New Appointments

Program & Impact team adds three new staff

PALO ALTO, Calif.—June 19, 2007—The Skoll Foundation announced today that its Program and Impact team has brought on three new team members to help manage its growing portfolio of social entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurship field-building partners. New team members include Daniel Crisafulli as Senior Program Officer, and Lakshmi Karan and Bridget McNamer as Program Officers. An additional new hire is Katie Kalemba as Investment Analyst. Internal appointments include Laura Vais to Vice President, Marketing; Paula Kravitz to Marketing Director; and Sandy Herz to Senior Advancement Officer.

As members of the Skoll Foundation’s Program and Impact team, program officers Daniel Crisafulli, Lakshmi Karan and Bridget McNamer are responsible for the development, execution and evaluation of grantmaking investments and services that advance the field of social entrepreneurship.

Senior Program Officer Daniel Crisafulli leads field-building initiatives in social entrepreneurship. He came to the foundation from the World Bank, where he comanaged a social entrepreneurship and innovation program called the Development Marketplace. His earlier work at the World Bank focused on technology, finance and small business investment. From 2000 to 2004 Daniel was Investment Officer and cofounder of the technology venture capital group at the International Finance Corporation, where he developed a venture approach toward investing. He earned a bachelor’s degree in government, summa cum laude, from Dartmouth College and a master’s degree in public policy from the Kennedy School at Harvard University, where he was a Kennedy Scholar.

Program Officer Lakshmi Karan manages a variety of grant relationships. Prior to working at Skoll, she was a consultant to Fortune 500 companies, specializing in competitive analysis, knowledge management and training. In 1999 she decided to dedicate herself to social betterment. She interned with the Asia Foundation and worked as a consultant to Earthwatch Institute, Oxfam America and the Reebok Human Rights Program. She also served as Program Manager for the Alchemy Foundation. Lakshmi grew up in South India and came to the United States in 1993. She received a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Madras and a master’s degree in system management from the National Institute of Information Technology, both of which are located in Madras, India. She also earned a master’s degree in international relations from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and is currently a Ph.D. candidate at The Fletcher School, researching program evaluation utilization.

Bridget McNamer manages a variety of grant relationships and initiatives in her role as Program Officer. She came to the foundation from Northern California Grantmakers (NCG) in San Francisco. While there, as Program Design Consultant, she developed programs for the organization’s Corporate Contributions Roundtable, including the 2007 Corporate Philanthropy Institute. Bridget’s time with NCG capped more than a decade of experience as a consultant and practitioner in the field of corporate social responsibility and philanthropy. Six of those years were spent as a Vice President at Bank of America, initially as a Manager of Corporate Sponsorships and more recently as a Program Officer with the bank’s charitable foundation. Her background includes experience as a consultant in global public affairs for Levi Strauss & Co. and four years as Program Manager for Business for Social Responsibility, both in San Francisco. Earlier in her career, Bridget taught for International Schools in Jakarta and served as Assistant to the President at American University in Cairo. She earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Harvard College and an M.A. in international relations and economics from The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Katie Kalemba joins the Skoll Foundation as Investment Analyst with responsibility for analyzing the foundation’s investments. She also plays a key role in developing and monitoring its proxy voting and other capital alignment programs. Katie was Internal Audit Manager for Marvell Semiconductor in Santa Clara, Calif., where she helped establish and develop the Internal Audit Department. Previously, she was Internal Auditor for Ernst & Young in Palo Alto, executing traditional internal audits, participating in annual risk assessments and preparing large companies for Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 compliance. She earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Brigham Young University.

The foundation’s Marketing team also announced several changes. Laura Vais was appointed to the position of Vice President, Marketing, with responsibility for leading a growing team of professionals who implement the foundation’s “connect and celebrate” strategy for social entrepreneurs. In addition to managing overall marketing and communications activities, she oversees the foundation’s film and media initiatives, the Social Edge online community and the annual Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford University in the U.K. Laura was previously Marketing Director for the foundation.

Paula Kravitz moves into the Marketing Director position and is responsible for overall brand management, as well as several “connect and celebrate” programs, including the Skoll World Forum, Internet strategy and the “Uncommon Heroes” short films featuring Skoll award recipients. Previously, Paula was Marketing Projects Manager for the foundation.

Sandy Herz fills a new position, Senior Advancement Officer, and will manage the foundation’s growing portfolio of film and media initiatives, including its relationships with PBS, NPR and the Sundance Institute. Sandy was previously the foundation’s Vice President of Marketing, having joined in 2004 to create and implement its “connect and celebrate” marketing programs and initiatives.

About the Skoll Foundation

The Skoll Foundation advances systemic change to benefit communities around the world by investing in, connecting and celebrating social entrepreneurs—individuals dedicated to pioneering new solutions that result in lasting improvements to complex social problems. It invests in social entrepreneurs through the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship. It connects them through Social Edge, an online community at www.socialedge.org and via the annual Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford University. It celebrates social entrepreneurs through media projects such as Uncommon Heroes, a series of short, independent films featuring Skoll awardees. For more information, visit www.skollfoundation.org.