Jeff Skoll's Vision

Philanthropy is all about making a positive difference in the world by devoting your resources and your time to causes you believe in. In my case, I like to support causes where "a lot of good comes from a little bit of good," or, in other words, where the positive social returns vastly exceed the amount of time and money invested.

I also like the idea that philanthropy can be innovative, using the latest advancements to bring results to many people, ideally on a global basis.

Like most of us, I want to live in a world where healthy communities flourish and where individuals are given the opportunity to use their talents and abilities to achieve their full potential. With the fundamental philosophy of empowerment in mind, I led the creation of the eBay Foundation in 1998, followed by my own personal foundation, the Skoll Foundation, a year later.

Today, the empowerment-based mission of the Foundation is being realized through our support of social entrepreneurs and innovative nonprofit organizations working to make a difference in their communities, both here in Silicon Valley as well as in other parts of the country and around the world. We hope you will read about their work on the Skoll Foundation site, and we invite you to join us in being inspired by the courage and commitment of these nonprofit organizations and their entrepreneurial leaders.

I believe that Silicon Valley is truly a place of excellence and the impact of this tiny community on the world is completely disproportionate to its size. We are the undisputed leaders of technological change. But with our abundance of talent and resources, we also have the opportunity to be the pioneers of social change and, ultimately, this may be our greatest contribution. The Skoll Foundation is fully dedicated to this mission.

Sincerely,

Jeff Skoll

Speeches and Published Work by Jeff Skoll