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Frequently Asked Questions

The Skoll Awards for Innovation in Silicon Valley

The following is a brief overview of some of the key points regarding the awards program, its criteria and its structure.

What are the Skoll Awards for Innovation in Silicon Valley?

The Skoll Awards for Innovation in Silicon Valley promote systemic change and innovation in Silicon Valley. They represent the Skoll Foundation's commitment to support positive change in its local community.

Who are this year's winners?

The seven nonprofit organizations funded comprise a portfolio that targets different geographic areas, socio-economic groups and social needs throughout Silicon Valley. They are headed by social sector leaders with varying levels of experience. The organizations are:

• American Leadership Forum, Santa Clara - $150,000. ALF brings together leaders from the public, private and nonprofit sectors who normally wouldn't meet, in order to develop a collaborative leadership skills network with the capacity to address community needs.
• Businesses United in Investing, Lending and Development, Menlo Park, $125,000. BUILD empowers youths in under-resourced communities to excel academically, lead in their communities and succeed professionally. This year BUILD is helping 110 students in local high schools learn business and academic fundamentals. BUILD's innovative approach is based on students' own initiative and entrepreneurship and is aimed at successfully enrolling students in higher education programs. Every student from BUILD's first graduating class (2002) is pursuing higher education. BUILD plans to double the number of students it assists each year for the foreseeable future and projects expansion into other regions and possibly nationally.
  
• Community School of Music and Arts, Mountain View - $150,000. CSMA provides "Arts for All," and with its new building is poised to dramatically expand its outreach into San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.
• Lenders for Community Development, San Jose - $170,000. LCD increases the flow of capital into low-income communities by helping businesses grow and create jobs, financing affordable housing and other facilities, and helping individuals develop savings and assets. LCD's loan programs have channeled $4 million into local small businesses unable to qualify for conventional loans. These types of loans could be leveraged on a much larger scale. Before LCD, Silicon Valley had no significant asset-building opportunities for the poor; now it has the most effective program of this kind in the U.S. LCD also has helped provide more than $29 million in affordable housing lending, representing more than 2,700 units of affordable housing in San Jose. LCD is now actively pursuing its newest opportunity, a New Markets Tax Credit, which will bring $25 million in new investment capital to low-income communities in Silicon Valley.
  
• People Acting in Community Together, San Jose - $130,000. Building on the success of its Children's Health Initiative, PACT seeks to address community needs by training thousands of community leaders to realize their full potential as advocates for systemic change.
• Project Cornerstone, San Jose - $98,000. Project Cornerstone is leading a movement to integrate the development assets approach into more than 100 partner agencies, schools and government institutions that serve children and youth throughout Silicon Valley.
• San Jose Conservation Corps, San Jose - $150,000. Drawing on its 15 years of experience, San Jose Conservation Corp is poised to expand and innovate its "Learn and Earn" programs to serve more youths.

What were the criteria for the awards?

The Skoll Foundation's distinctive rubric emphasized four qualities that were used to evaluate applicants:

• Advances systemic change - that is, the organization aims to have a long-term impact on socio-economically disadvantaged communities
• Has strong leadership and a proven track record
• Operates from a position of strength and is poised for growth
• Leverages existing resources in new ways to create compelling solutions to challenging problems in Silicon Valley

How much are these awards?

A total of $1.5 million will be allocated to seven nonprofit organizations.

Of that amount, $973,000 will be presented in direct financial assistance. An additional $500,000 will be awarded in the form of consulting services apportioned to meet each organization's needs. The consultant will facilitate participation by organizational leaders in a community where they will be encouraged to collaborate, share resources and learn from one another.

How were the winners selected?

More than 70 Silicon Valley organizations submitted applications for the grants. From these, 13 semifinalists were selected for due diligence. Nine finalists were invited to make 20-minute presentations before a Selection Committee composed of Silicon Valley leaders and the Skoll Foundation staff. This competitive process mirrored the way entrepreneurs seek financial support in the business world. The Foundation's Board of Directors approved the final selection of seven organizations.

The Silicon Valley leaders who served on the Selection Committee were Robert Cohn, Partner, Sequoia Capital; Debra Dunn, Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs, Hewlett-Packard; Jim Fruchterman, President and CEO, Benetech; and Robert L. Joss, Dean of the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

What is different about these awards?

The Skoll Awards for Innovation in Silicon Valley are distinctive because:

• They offer core organizational support, rather than project-specific support.
• The Skoll Foundation provides financial assistance that is likely to continue for several years (based on organizational performance), rather than one-time allocations.
• The funding level and types of support are tailored to each organization's needs.
• Each organization will have customized assistance from a consultant who will help the organizations build their capacity and expand their impact.
• All of the organizations will be encouraged to participate in a peer-to-peer learning community where they are encouraged to share resources, collaborate and try new approaches to challenging problems. They also will be encouraged to connect via the Skoll Foundation's online meeting place for the social sector, Social Edge, at www.socialedge.org.
• The Skoll Foundation will document and celebrate the learning and progress of these pioneers.

How many awards does the Skoll Foundation offer?

The Skoll Foundation has three awards programs:

• The Skoll Awards for Innovation in Silicon Valley represent the Foundation's commitment to support positive change in its local community. Information about next year's awards will be available in the summer of 2004.
• The Foundation's flagship program, the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship, will promote social entrepreneurship around the world. This program is currently under development. Awards are by nomination only.
• The Foundation also makes Skoll Social Sector Capacity Investments to advance the social sector as a whole. These awards are by invitation only.

What is the Skoll Foundation?

Headquartered in California's Silicon Valley, 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 to benefit communities around the world by investing in, connecting and celebrating social entrepreneurs, who use business skills to act as agents of social change. 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 media projects such as a four-part public television documentary that will be broadcast in late 2004, and via the Skoll World Forum for Social Entrepreneurship, which will be held at the Skoll Centre in spring 2004.

Where can I find out more about the Skoll Foundation?

Contact:
Terry Nagel - Skoll Foundation
media@skollfoundation.org