Staffing: Building Your Human Resources Capability

Abstract

The Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship has been held every spring since 2004 in stately Oxford, England. The Forum is co-produced by the Skoll Foundation, which was founded by Jeff Skoll, the first President of eBay, and the Skoll Centre at the University of Oxford which was founded with an initial investment from this philanthropist. The Forum is used, in part, to announce the annual Skoll Foundation Award Winners—a group of accomplished social entrepreneurs who have been chosen to receive new, multiyear funding from the foundation. Many of the “big name” social entrepreneurs treat the Forum as a kind of “Academy Awards” event and attend every year, using it as a time to network, fundraise, and learn from one another. I have had the privilege of attending the Forum four times, and each time I have been inspired and in awe of the social entrepreneurs I have met or seen. I am convinced that the social entrepreneurs who have been chosen to attend the Forum as either award winners or speakers are a special breed. They exhibit enormous passion and excitement for what they are doing and possess the kind of magnetism and persuasion abilities that make you want follow them into “battle” as either an employee, a volunteer, or a donor.