In the enormity of today’s challenges, we can find ourselves disillusioned by the seeming lack of progress and worsening conditions of what we face: climate change, disinformation, broken food systems, vast inequities, anti-democratic forces, shrinking civil societies, and more. The picture can look bleak and overwhelming. And yet, when people come together around an idea – a vision for a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world – there is no limit to what can be achieved. There are change makers across the global working towards a world that is more prosperous for all. 

The Skoll Foundation fuels this awareness of collective progress across disparate issues to restore our hope and determination with the annual Skoll World Forum and the Skoll Award for Social Innovation, given to a handful of individuals and organizations each year. This was precisely what founder Jeff Skoll had in mind when he launched this work 20 years ago, but even he may not have foreseen the powerful ripple effects that have taken place since then. As he said at this year’s Forum, which I had the pleasure of attending a few weeks ago, “We can be an unstoppable force at making change in the world and that is what I see ahead for us all. It is incredible what good people will do when given the opportunity to be good.” 

On full display at the Forum were multiple inspiring examples of “impossible” change being made possible. These are the types of stories that keep us going at TPI – they remind us that our clients’ commitment to using philanthropy to make change, and our work to support them, are important. I hope these three examples shared at the 2023 Forum inspire you to keep working towards a better future for all. 

Fighting Disinformation

Maria Ressa, 2021 Nobel Peace Prize winner and CEO/co-founder of Philippine media service Rappler, noted that “you cannot solve any global problem if our information ecosystem is corrupted.” As cited earlier in the Forum, a lie told a thousand times is seen as fact, and according to a study by the MIT Media Lab, lies spread six times faster than truth. So, what to do, especially in countries with even smaller locales facing elections in a time of rapid and vicious disinformation? When asked during her session what we can do, Ressa outlined how she created a four-layer pyramid system in her country. At the bottom, 150 news organizations that usually competed committed to fact-checking statements that hit social media. Above that were civil society organizations, “the mesh,” as she said, like churches, business groups, and NGOs sharing the facts with inspirational – not angry – emotional messages. Inspiration, it turns out, spreads just as fast as anger. Near the top were the academic institutions, which reported back to the papers on where attacks were being targeted on a regular basis so that defenses could shift, and at the top were the lawyers who handled legal challenges to those spreading disinformation. 

Not only were there inspirational, pragmatic approaches for systemic response to disinformation in the Skoll sessions, but there was insight into how we can begin to shift narratives, and the value of making sure we know who precisely is telling us each story. 

Telling Stories That Break Down Barriers

American filmmaker Ava DuVernay spoke to breaking down barriers on two levels. First, she addressed working differently within and around established systems to create change. And equally important, she spoke thoughtfully about how stories on the big and small screens not only help us see the humanity in others but also give us shared experiences around which we can find common ground. She cited being approached in a European grocery store by a white man who began to gush about the drama Queen Sugar, a very Southern American black story based on a novel by Natalie Baszile. The series had reached him in a way that no other vehicle might have, underscoring to DuVernay the power of story and creativity to spread ideas of humanity and possibility and help them take root in any kind of soil. 

Read the full article about supporting changemakers by Maggi Alexander at The Philanthropic Initiative.