NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

OXFORD, England, March 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — 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.