Archbishop Desmond Tutu to Give Keynote Address at Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship

Wed 30 March 15.00hrs - Friday 1 April 16.00hrs

OXFORD, England, March 29, 2011 - The Skoll World Forum is the leading international platform for
accelerating entrepreneurial approaches and innovative solutions to the
world's most pressing social issues. The theme for the 2011 Forum is 'Large
Scale Change - ecosystems, networks and collaborative action.'

The programme covers a wide variety of complex global issues such as
water, energy, food security, climate change, peace and security, social
equity and emerging collaborative business models. 800 invited leaders,
thinkers and practitioners from the social, academic, finance, private and
policy sectors around the world, will discuss a range of key issues
including:

MegaChange

What will the next 25 years bring? Developments in the global economy,
business, demographics, science and technology will define what the world
looks like in 25 years. How will these trends shape the complex environment
for those working to create large scale change? A panel of leading thinkers
and futurists will explore the issues.

Creating Shared Value

Mark Kramer, co-author with Michael Porter of influential HBR article
will join a conversation about how more enlightened mainstream companies are
finding innovative ways to rethink their supply and distribution chains for
responsible corporate practice. How does this re-engineering affect their
bottom line in the short, medium and longer term?

Finance track

Six sessions will explore how social ventures can be financed,
particularly as government funding dries up, and how commercial models are
coming to the fore with grants, for instance, structured like conventional
business loans (with deliverables over time frames, requirements in terms of
productivity, efficiency and impact - and an agreed financial return).

A keynote by Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Desmond Tutu will contribute to a discussion on leadership with insights
from his experience of community leadership and of leading leaders through
his work with The Elders.

Solutions for an energy greedy planet

Pioneers in renewable energy will discuss the government's carbon plan,
oil dependency, the necessary measures to incentivise industry to develop
renewable energy and the failure of conventional finance to support this
sector adequately.

A call for a new legal structure in the UK

Leading figures are calling for a social enterprise limited liability
partnership - to provide a framework for organisations and individuals who
want to invest in social ventures for a return, with appropriate tax
incentives.

The greying of the population

The Ageing population and demographic changes will be discussed and the
innovative approaches many firms are using to capitalise upon the skills of a
mature workforce. This session will also explore intergenerational tensions
and how these might develop as the young are increasingly asked to fund the
old. It will also look at business opportunities with this sizeable mature
market.

Filling the talent gap

Companies should think more creatively in filling the talent gap by using
disabled or 'differently-abled' people with particular skills sets. The
mission of the Specialist People Foundation is to place 1 million autistic
people in employment internationally. Should big companies seriously explore
this potential labour pool?

Global perspectives

A session on China will discuss how it is opening up to social ventures
and other forms of entrepreneurship and the changing attitudes of the
government there. The speakers will provide insight for entrepreneurs seeking
to enter China who are interested in these opportunities.

Others will be talking about the Middle East and in the light of recent
events will think about the part entrepreneurship can have in economic
empowerment.

The role of the media

Three sessions will focus on the use of communications and media tools.
Soap operas, animations and books are among the media being used successfully
to address issues of prejudice, repression, ethnic, religious and social
rivalries. John Marks, the producer of a very successful TV series based on a
local football team (produced in 17 countries and expanding quickly), will
explain his work. Dr Naif Al-Mutawa will discuss the creation and impact of
his hugely popular cartoon superheroes The 99 based on Islamic traditions but
global human values. Others will explore the impact of science journalism on
public understanding of issues such as global warming.

Using technology in humanitarian crises

How mobile technology is being used to mobilise resources in disaster
zones and crisis areas using social networking platforms and free, open
source software to create live crisis maps utilizing feeds from Twitter,
Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, SMS, RSS and others, collated in real-time to
provide detail of how a crisis is evolving and rapid decision-support.

The full programme is at
www.skollworldforum.org/forum-2011/schedule-overview

Many speakers are available for comment, interview or can make editorial
contributions.

Follow us on Twitter: @skollworldforum

Notes for editors

1 The Skoll Foundation was created to pursue a vision of a sustainable,
peaceful and prosperous world. Led by CEO Sally Osberg since 2001, the Skoll
Foundation's mission is to drive large-scale change by investing in,
connecting and celebrating social entrepreneurs and other innovators
dedicated to solving the world's most pressing problems.
www.skollfoundation.org

2 The Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, Saïd Business School,
University of Oxford is a leading global entity for the advancement of social
entrepreneurship that fosters innovative social transformation through
education, research, and collaboration. Led by Dr. Pamela Hartigan, the Skoll
Centre focuses on influencing future business leaders to create more
values-based markets that uphold human dignity and respect the planet.
www.skollcentre.org

3 About Saïd Business School

Established in 1996 the Saïd Business School is one of Europe's youngest
and most entrepreneurial business schools with a reputation for innovative
business education. An integral part of Oxford University, the School
embodies the academic rigour and forward thinking that has made Oxford a
world leader in education and research. The School has an established
reputation for research in a wide range of areas, including finance and
accounting, organisational analysis, international management, strategy and
operations management. The School is dedicated to developing a new generation
of business leaders and entrepreneurs and conducting research not only into
the nature of business, but the connections between business and the wider
world. In the Financial Times European Business School ranking (Dec 2010)
Saïd is ranked 11th. It is ranked 15th worldwide in the FT's combined ranking
of Executive Education programmes (May 2010) and 27th in the world in the FT
ranking of MBA programmes (Jan 2011). In the UK university league tables it
has ranked first of all UK universities for undergraduate business in eight
of the last nine years in The Times. For more information, see
www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/

    You are invited to join this event. Please register now with the press
    office

    Clare Fisher, Head of Public Relations, Saïd Business School
    Direct telephone: +44(0)1865-422713, Mobile: +44(0)7912-771090
    Email: clare.fisher@sbs.ox.ac.uk

    Josie Powell, Public Relations Coordinator
    Direct telephone: +44(0)1865-422573, Email: josie.powell@sbs.ox.ac.uk
    pressoffice@sbs.ox.ac.uk

You are invited to join this event. Please register now with the press office: Clare Fisher, Head of Public Relations, Saïd Business School, Direct telephone: +44(0)1865-422713, Mobile: +44(0)7912-771090, Email: clare.fisher at sbs.ox.ac.uk . Josie Powell, Public Relations Coordinator, Direct telephone: +44(0)1865-422573, Email: josie.powell at sbs.ox.ac.uk , pressoffice at sbs.ox.ac.uk