Jeff’s Skoll’s Remarks at Luncheon at Google Headquarters

Celebrating Premiere of The New Heroes - June 20, 2005

Thank you very much, Sally. And to Larry [Page] and Sergey [Brin] and all our friends at Google, a hearty thank-you for hosting this screening, and for helping to launch this celebration of social entrepreneurs.

Before I came over, I googled The New Heroes and, sure enough, it comes out right on top, exactly where it should be. Nice. Then, out of curiosity, I went to MSN and did a search on The New Heroes. The search yielded Hercules, Odysseus and Bill Gates. Needless to say, I think they need some fine-tuning over there.

I also want to thank all of you for coming out to watch the show. For those of you who have known me awhile, you may recall that I have had in the past some house parties around such high quality shows as Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place and American Idol. So let me assure you in advance that the content of The New Heroes is a bit more highbrow.

I especially would like to thank Robert Redford for agreeing to host The New Heroes. After the devastating rejection by Ryan Seacrest, it was good to have Bob as a backup.

Seriously, though, Bob is one of a kind: an extraordinary actor and director, and an outstanding activist and visionary. His authenticity and his integrity would be rare in any setting, but in the media industry, he’s in a class by himself. I am proud to have him as a partner and as a friend. Thank you, Bob, for your starring role in The New Heroes, and for the star power you’ve lent to this event.

The New Heroes is about people – like Bob – who see opportunities where others see problems, people who apply their creativity and entrepreneurial talent, discovering new ways to conquer our greatest challenges. They are a new kind of hero; they are the people we call social entrepreneurs.

Just as Larry and Sergey have changed how we access information, many of the people in this room have also made equally great contributions – shaping new ways of communicating, accessing information and investing. Like you, social entrepreneurs are change agents, but they are change agents for society, leveraging the power of their innovative ideas to solve the biggest problems facing our future.

The Skoll Foundation supports social entrepreneurs for many reasons. To me, it’s not about altruism. It’s about a new kind of philanthropy. I believe that it is in our own self-interest to back the best minds and talents of our generation as they apply their entrepreneurial skills to problems that affect our very survival as a species.

I believe that the inequality between the rich and the poor is the source of many of our most critical challenges: environmental degradation, crime, drugs, terrorism. Social entrepreneurs work to decrease that inequity; their new ideas leverage even modest investment many times over, returning not financial gains but gains in the form of healthier children, cleaner and more prosperous communities, peaceful and more tolerant societies, and a just and sustainable planet.

Community by community, social entrepreneurs prove every day that even problems considered hopeless can be solved. Their success gives us all a reason to have hope, to take action for a better world. And, when we get their stories in front of others, then we really can create change at a global scale.

The New Heroes will air June 28th and July 5th on PBS, in two two-hour programs – and I’m happy to tell you there are no pledge breaks.

In just a minute, we’re going to see two of the program’s stories. One features Kailash Satyarthi, who founded Rugmark; the other showcases Martin Fisher and Nick Moon, whose human-powered water pumps are helping to create a new middle class in Africa.

As you know, Kailash and Martin are with us today, and I hope you have a chance to meet them both. Their stories, like the stories of so many social entrepreneurs are truly inspirational. They are the New Heroes of our time.

I hope you will be as inspired by these stories as I am.

Let’s take a look.