By Suzana Grego - Skoll Foundation

“The Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship shines a light on emerging leaders who fearlessly work in their own way to create a more sustainable, peaceful, and prosperous world for all,” said Jeff Skoll, founder and chairman of the Skoll Foundation. “The current COVID-19 pandemic reminds us of the importance of this type of solutions-oriented global leadership, and of our common humanity.”

Awardee organizations receive $1.5 million in core support investments to scale their work and increase their impact. Social entrepreneurs also gain leverage through their long-term participation in a global community of visionary leaders and innovators.

The Skoll Awards distinguish transformative leaders whose organizations disrupt the status quo, drive sustainable large-scale change, and are poised to create even greater impact.

Each of the 2020 Awardees leads an organization that shows great promise of outsized impact:

ARMMAN: Dr. Aparna Hegde

ARMMAN leverages mobile technology to expand access to information and preventive health services for pregnant women, mothers, and children. Using free voice call services mMitra and Kilkari, ARMMAN sends timed and targeted preventive care information weekly to mothers during pregnancy and infancy. In partnership with the Indian government, ARMMAN has also implemented a mobile academy to train frontline health workers in life-saving preventive health behaviors.

Center for Tech and Civic Life: Tiana Epps-Johnson, Donny Bridges, and Whitney May

The Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) is the largest provider of free and low-cost trainings and tools for local election administrators in the United States. The Center works to make voting more inclusive, fair, and secure; increase public confidence in the electoral process; and ensure that voters are able to cast informed votes. It publishes free, open-source civic datasets used in some of the most powerful tools to drive civic participation.

Glasswing International: Celina de Sola and Ken Baker

Glasswing International leverages community resources to enable healing and interrupt cycles of violence in Central America. Its Community Schools approach integrates after-school programs focused on life skills development with community mental health interventions at public schools located in stigmatized and marginalized communities. These volunteer-led programs not only improve students’ academic performance and resilience while decreasing absenteeism and aggressive behavior, but also create healthier communities that offer viable alternatives to crime and violence.

The International Council on Clean Transportation: Drew Kodjak

The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) is responding to the urgent threat of climate change by providing first-rate, unbiased research and analysis to government officials and others to improve the environmental performance and energy efficiency of road, marine, and air transportation. ICCT works in the largest transportation markets across the globe—the United States, Europe, Japan, China, India, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, and Korea—as well as with international transportation organizations to help advance government adoption of transportation regulations.

Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project: Drew Sullivan and Paul Radu

The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) works to expose crime and corruption and provide the transparency necessary to drive justice and accountability. Aleph, a suite of tools and data developed in-house, allows journalists to search billions of records to trace and expose criminal connections and patterns. Journalists can efficiently and securely collaborate with other journalists, editors, and advocacy groups across borders to unearth evidence that enables law enforcement to act, drive investigations, and press for justice.

“These extraordinary leaders are working to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems. They are bringing new and innovative solutions into healthcare, climate and transportation, corruption, violence prevention, and democracy,” said Don Gips, CEO of the Skoll Foundation. “Each social entrepreneur brings a distinct approach, yet all are working toward a shared vision of a more just and sustainable world.”

About the Skoll Foundation

The Skoll Foundation drives large-scale change by investing in, connecting, and celebrating social entrepreneurs and the innovators who help them solve the world’s most pressing problems. Founded by Jeff Skoll, the Foundation’s signature program is the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship. Today, the Foundation’s portfolio includes 116 organizations and 144 social entrepreneurs around the world. Learn more at skoll.org