Carter Center Featured Partner: The Skoll Foundation

Featured February 2007

A new donor has joined in partnership with The Carter Center: In August 2006, the Skoll Foundation announced an award of $3 million over three years to The Carter Center. The grant will be divided equally between the Center's Peace Programs and Health Programs, which work closely with governments and international institutions to improve global health and promote human rights and democracy.

The Skoll Foundation was founded in 1999 by Jeff Skoll, the first President of eBay, an online auction company with more than 100 million buyers and sellers worldwide. The Skoll Foundation has adopted an entrepreneurial approach to philanthropy by advancing systemic change through investment in social entrepreneurs. The foundation empowers people and programs that are positively impacting their communities and provides the support necessary to extend and expand their good work. The Skoll Foundation provided nearly $30 million in overall grants in fiscal year 2006 and ranks in the top tier of foundations nationally. Mr. Skoll serves as the foundation's chairman and is often on the lists of top philanthropists in the U.S.

Funding from the Skoll Foundation will enable the Center to carry out projects such as the Human Rights Defenders Forum, which will take place at The Carter Center in May 2007. The Forum is an annual conference that strives to support global leaders on the front lines of the struggle for human rights and democracy. Also supported by the Skoll Foundation grant is the Ethiopia Public Health Training Initiative (EPHTI) replication conference, scheduled for February 2007. The conference will convene ministers of health and education of 10 African nations to highlight the successes and challenges of the EPHTI and its potential for replication throughout Africa in an effort to strengthen health care delivery on the continent.

The Carter Center is honored to have the partnership of the Skoll Foundation in these and other projects and values our shared commitment toward improving the health and well-being of the global community.