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SKOLL FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES NEW BOARD MEMBERS

PALO ALTO , Calif. —December 7, 2004—The Skoll Foundation announced today the election of two new members to its private foundation Board of Directors: Debra Dunn and Roger Martin.

Debra Dunn is Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Global Citizenship for the Hewlett-Packard Co., where she leads corporate social and environmental programs, government and public affairs, corporate philanthropy and HP initiatives aimed at providing appropriate, technology-based services and solutions to emerging markets and underserved populations. She serves on the boards of Business for Social Responsibility, the China-U.S. Center for Sustainable Development and Enablis.

Roger Martin is Dean of the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. Under his leadership, the school has risen to No. 21 in the world, as ranked by the Financial Times in its 2004 annual survey of the world’s top 100 MBA programs. In his former position as a Director of the Monitor Company, Martin advised some of the world’s top companies on strategic planning. He was co-head of the firm for two years and was founding Chairman of Monitor University, the firm’s educational arm. Martin’s highly regarded articles have appeared in numerous publications, including Harvard Business Review and Time. He currently is Chair of the Ontario Task Force on Competitiveness, Productivity and Economic Progress.

“We are pleased to welcome these two high caliber board members who bring perspective and expertise from the worlds of business and academia,” said Sally Osberg, President and CEO of the Skoll Foundation.

Dunn and Martin join Jeff Skoll, Chairman, Osberg and James DeMartini on the board of The Skoll Foundation. DeMartini is Managing Partner of Seiler & Co., LLP. Launched in 2002 by Jeff Skoll, The Skoll Foundation’s mission is to advance systemic change by investing in, connecting and celebrating social entrepreneurs, who are individuals dedicated to creating new solutions that result in lasting improvements to communities around the world.

The Skoll Foundation encompasses two separate corporations: a private foundation legally known as The Skoll Foundation and a public charity called The Skoll Fund. The Skoll Fund, created in 1999, is a supporting organization associated with Community Foundation Silicon Valley of San Jose, California. Each entity is governed by its own Board of Directors, and the private foundation manages the day-to-day operations, grant making and programs of both entities. Both organizations were founded to support social entrepreneurship, and together they are known as the Skoll Foundation.

Members of the Board of Directors of The Skoll Fund remain the same. They are: Jeff Skoll; James DeMartini; Debra Engel, who is a private investor and consultant; Kirk Hansen, who is Executive Director of the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University; and Peter Hero, who is President of Community Foundation Silicon Valley.

About the Skoll Foundation

Headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., the Skoll Foundation was created in 1999 by Jeff Skoll, the first employee and first president of eBay. Its mission is to advance systemic change by investing in, connecting and celebrating social entrepreneurs.

The Skoll Foundation invests in social entrepreneurs through three award programs and the new Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at the Said Business School at Oxford University. The foundation connects social entrepreneurs through its online community, Social Edge , at www.socialedge.org. It celebrates social entrepreneurs through projects such as a four-part public television documentary called “The New Heroes” that will be broadcast in 2005, and via the Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship, which is held every spring at the Skoll Centre. For more information, visit www.skollfoundation.org.

 

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