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Dear Skoll Newsletter Subscriber, We've posted the following stories to the Skoll Foundation Blog over the last two weeks: Earth Overshoot Day September 25
Today, September 25, is Earth Overshoot Day. Calculated by Global Footprint Network, co-founded by Skoll social entrepreneurs Mathis Wackernagel and Susan Burns, this is the day each year when "humanity begins living beyond its ecological means. Beyond that day, we move into the ecological equivalent of deficit spending, utilizing resources at a rate faster than what the planet can regenerate in a calendar year." Global Footprint Network has a good web page up explaining the idea and highlighting how the day is moving earlier on the calendar each year. Talking Social Innovation in America’s Cities
Professor Steve Goldsmith of the Kennedy School's Ash Institute for Democratic Governance and Innovation is hosting an online discussion on social innovation in America's cities. A number of individuals from academia, the social sector and government are participating. Skoll social entrepreneurs Eric Schwarz of Citizen Schools and JB Schramm of College Summit have both weighed in. Water.org Launches Haiti Challenge at CGI
Water.org, co-founded by 2009 Skoll social entrepreneur Gary White and Matt Damon, launched a commitment from the opening plenary at the Clinton Global Initiative focused on Haiti. Water.org is making "a $2 million commitment to provide 50,000 people in Haiti with safe water and sanitation over the next three years. As part of the commitment, Water.org has also launched a social media campaign so that anyone can participate in meeting the water challenge in Haiti." Go to the Haiti Challenge website for more information. Larry Brilliant on “Love in the Time of Swine Flu”
Larry Brilliant, president of the new Skoll Urgent Threats Fund, has published the first of a three-part series on swine flu on the Huffington Post. This post provides the basic fundamentals on swine flu, including symptoms. Future posts will discuss the public health issues around swine flu, as well as the case for vaccination. IDE-India Featured on NewsHour on PBS
Skoll social entrepreneur Amitabha Sadangi of IDE-India was featured on NewsHour on PBS. The segment focused on how India needs to improve food production without environmental degradation and talked about how IDE-India uses market approaches to help subsistence farmers become income farmers. This is part of the Skoll Foundation's sponsorship of social entrepreneurship programming on NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. Social Investment Almanack
The Office of the Third Sector in the United Kingdom has just co-published Good Deals 2009: A Social Investment Almanack, a "collection of think pieces and case studies that aims to build knowledge and inspiration among those operating in the social investment space as well as those looking in with curiosity from the outside." In the publication, Skoll Foundation CEO Sally Osberg talks about how the new philanthrocapitalists are "taking a market-based approach and looking for feedback loops to determine that social value is being created." Root Capital is cited as the type of organization to which philanthrocapitalists are attracted. Peruvian Recycler Law Sets the Pace
The Peruvian Congress this month passed a new law on recyclers, becoming one of the first countries globally with a national law specifically for the recycler industry. This achievement is due in no small part to the work of Ciudad Saludable, led by 2006 Skoll social entrepreneur Albina Ruiz. This is a great example of how a social entrepreneur starting at a community or grassroots level can ultimately expand impact to the national level (or beyond) via government embrace of his or her approach. Maps, Gaps and Apps
The Skoll Foundation's Jill Finlayson led a panel discussion at the Social Capital Market's conference - SOCAP09 - aimed at identifying the barriers to greater efficiency in the social entrepreneurship ecosystem and how we might use technology to address the challenges. She's put up an informative sequence of three blog posts on this question, as well as her take on the gains made over the last year, and the gaps that remain, in moving the sector forward. Riders For Health Teams With Stanford on Measuring Impact
Riders for Health announced a partnership with Stanford's Graduate School of Business on a five-year project to measure the connection between Riders' health delivery logistics systems and health results in Africa. Riders for Health is a strong proponent of social entrepreneurship and social enterprise, with a dedicated section of its website on the concept. Developing and monitoring impact metrics is an important part of their approach. Responsibility Pioneers
There's a good story in Time Magazine about growing consumer awareness around how consumption choices impact the environment, workers and other social issues. Among other things, the article talks about how corporate America is ripe for embracing social responsibility, in part because it increasingly attracts investment capital. The article includes a sidebar with 25 Responsibility Pioneers, includes Skoll social entrepreneurial organizations Peaceworks and Kickstart, as well as partners Acumen Fund and Ashoka and Social Edge blogger D.light Design. Water.org Featured in Esquire Magazine
Esquire Magazine has a feature piece on Water.org, the organization run by 2009 Skoll social entrepreneur Gary White that was formed earlier this year when Gary's Water Partners International merged with Matt Damon's H20 Africa Foundation. The article gives the background on how the two came together and has some great quotes that speak to Gary's strong reputation in the field. Camfed Graduate Wins Global Women Leaders Award
Penelope Machipi, a 22-year woman from rural Zambia, received a $25,000 Goldman Sachs-Fortune Global Women Leaders Award at the Most Powerful Women Summit in San Diego. Penelope is a graduate of the Camfed program, run by 2005 Skoll social entrepreneur Ann Cotton. Penelope was featured in a film produced by the local women in her town. The making of that film was, itself, the subject of a Camfed-produced documentary film, Where the Water Meets the Sky. College Summit Student Introduces the President
Timothy Spicer, a College Summit Peer at Wakefield High School in Arlington, Virginia, introduced President Obama when he gave his "back to school speech" on September 8. College Summit helps students with no history of college in their families make the jump from high school to college. You can read more about Timothy's involvement in the event here. He was also interviewed on Fox News the following day. Time Magazine Suggests Kiva and KINDED
Time Magazine has an online column about "New Ways to Make a Difference." Skoll social entrepreneur Daniel Lubetzky's "KINDED" initiative is listed, as is Kiva, the peer-to-peer online microfinance company run by Skoll social entrepreneurs Matt Flannery and Premal Shah. Partners In Health on NOW on PBS
Partners in Health, co-founded by 2008 Skoll social entrepreneur Paul Farmer, was featured on NOW on PBS in a segment detailing its innovative partnership with the Rwandan government to deliver rural health care. The show was part of NOW's Enterprising Ideas series, which is supported by the Skoll Foundation. On a related note, here's a new short video by Paul that explains his philosophy of health care as a human right. | 
Earth Overshoot Day 
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