Skoll | Rethinking Possible

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The Skoll Foundation’s vision is to live in a sustainable world of peace and prosperity for all.

To solve the world’s most pressing problems, we need to trust those closest to the challenge. These are the solutions, people, and organizations making our world a better place for everyone.

This is Rethinking Possible, stories from the frontiers of radical change, created by Skoll Foundation and Freethink.

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Muslims make up one of the most diverse religious communities in America, yet face some of the harshest stereotypes of any religious group. Many of these pervasive false narratives were created and magnified in a post-9/11 landscape. 

Founded in 2010, Pillars Fund is working to amplify the leadership, narratives, and talents of Muslims. Pillars has distributed more than $9 million in grants to organizations to push back against harmful stereotypes while spotlighting the positive work being done by Muslim communities.

A woman wearing a hijab sitting on an orange couch.

Gen-Z and Millennials are often typecast as apathetic generations, likely to bow out of the political process due to disinterest in an increasingly partisan and frustrating landscape.

But how true is this stereotype? Young people have been at the forefront of nearly every political movement in history, and getting them to show up to defend democracy in the 2024 election is crucial.

A person holding a cell phone with a sticker that says i voted.

Often the continent of Africa conjures images of starvation, when in reality the African diet is perhaps the most balanced diet in the world, packed with nutrient-dense foods like cassava, fonio, leafy greens, and vibrant vegetables. So why is there such a disparity between reputation and reality?

A table full of food on a banana leaf.
We have this tragedy where the interests of very few people are creating a problem for everybody else.
- Tasso Azevedo
Racial equity has everything to do with economic recovery. 
- Michael McAfee
We know from every example across history of where we’ve really seen change in the longer term, it’s required collaboration across sectors.
- Olivia Leland
I think we’re giving back children their childhood. That’s the Teaching at the Right Level.
- Madhav Chavan
The community health worker is a trusted neighbor. The program is cheap and yet the impact is immense. 
- Liz Jarman
If every country in the world invested in their own community health work forces, we could save 2.5 million lives annually.
- Raj Panjabi
I’ve always felt nagged by the gap between democracy as it is, and democracy as we wish it would be.
- Tiana Epps Johnson
Climate change is fundamentally a public health issue.
- Dr. Aparna Bole
Civic engagement is so important because it challenges so many stereotypes. We’re the group you didn’t bet on that are really engaged, and we are dedicated to this because we live here. This is our home. We want it to be better.
- Stephanie Cho
Tasso Azevedo
General Coordinator, MapBiomas
Michael McAfee
President & CEO, PolicyLink
Olivia Leland
CEO of Co-Impact
Madhav Chavan
Co-Founder & President, Pratham
Liz Jarman
CEO, Living Goods
Raj Panjabi
Last Mile Health
Tiana Epps Johnson
Co-Founder, Center for Tech and Civic Life
Dr. Aparna Bole
MD, Pediatrician, UH Rainbow Babies  & Children’s Hospital
Stephanie Cho
Executive Director, AAAJ-Atlanta
Listen to the Podcast

Rethinking Possible’s companion podcast is a radically honest and fresh conversation about how transformational social change actually gets made and who makes it. Hosted by Courtney E. Martin and Nguhi Mwaura, and brought to you by the Skoll Foundation in partnership with Aspen Ideas.

The Skoll Award

The Skoll Foundation presents the Skoll Awards for Social Innovation each year to a select group of social innovators whose work targets the root causes of societal problems that are ripe for transformational social change.

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