A Kenyan organization is among the awardees of the 2024 Skoll Award for Social Innovation. Food For Education was announced alongside three other organizations in an award which highlights leaders and organizations that advance transformational social change around the world.
Hailing from India, Kenya, and the United States, the 2024 cohort of social innovators reflects the Foundation’s strategy to recognize movement builders, system orchestrators, and dynamic changemakers.
Every year, the Skoll Award for Social Innovation recognizes exemplary leaders and organizations creating a more sustainable, peaceful, and prosperous world.
Each Awardee organization receives $2 million in unrestricted funding and flexible support to scale their work and increase their impact. This includes support for Awardees to make subgrants to key partners and to extend their own capacity in areas like monitoring, evaluation, and communications.
The Awardees will be celebrated during the 21st Skoll World Forum at the 2024 Awards for Social Innovation Ceremony,taking place on Thursday, April 11, 4:30-6 p.m. BST at the New Theatre in Oxford, England and virtually.
“Global challenges are mounting at an increasing pace,” said Don Gips, CEO of the Skoll Foundation. “This year’s Awardees reflect the innovations needed to meet the challenges of safeguarding democracy, changing narratives, advancing equity, and confronting persistent public health challenges.”
“This is a watershed year, and so much is at stake in all of these areas,” said Marla Blow, President and COO of the Skoll Foundation. “The 2024 Skoll Awardees show us what’s possible when we harness creativity and innovation, and support the ambition to bring big solutions to scale.”
2024’s recipients of the Skoll Awards for Social Innovation are:
IllumiNative (U.S.) builds power for Native American people through media representation and movement-building. They counter invisibility by ensuring Native stories are authentically told, re-educating Americans, and mobilizing support for Native issues. Since their founding in 2018, IllumiNative has developed relationships with every major film and TV streaming service to ensure Native people are consulted about Native stories. The organization drove successful campaigns to change the racist names of national sports teams, and galvanized support for the first Native American U.S. Cabinet Secretary. In this key election year, their research is spotlighting the power of the Native vote to inspire a wave of civic engagement in key states.
Food for Education (Kenya) designed and manages a scalable system to feed children at schools in Kenya, with aims to expand across Africa, supporting local farmers and parents in the process. Food for Education currently delivers one million meals a week in Kenya, and children receiving their support have higher attendance and better outcomes at school. About 90 percent of children in Africa don’t get enough to eat, and children facing malnutrition are far less likely to keep attending school, which risks reinforcing a cycle of poverty and inequality. Food for Education is scaling rapidly quadrupling its operation in the last two years to help end child hunger and help communities thrive.
Meedan (U.S.) prevents the spread of misinformation with technology that helps news organizations collaborate and quickly verify information for an informed populace. Their work takes on particular importance this year, as half of humanity lives in a country holding a nationwide election in 2024. In recent years, surging misinformation and disinformation has destabilized elections, hampered public health responses, and fomented civil unrest and violence. Over 50 newsrooms and fact-checking organizations have used Meedan’s tools to halt the spread of misinformation. Meedan has supported 18 election and public health coalitions worldwide and is partnering with organizations covering everything from disaster response to the 2024 elections in Mexico, India, and the United States.
SaveLIFE Foundation (India) is driving down one of the world’s leading preventable causes of death: motor vehicle fatalities. Globally, the most fatalities occur in India, and half of those who die could have been saved with medical intervention. SaveLIFE is markedly reducing traffic injuries and deaths with a systems-based approach that both improves road safety and boosts access to lifesaving emergency care. SaveLIFE is currently working with the Indian government to scale its solutions across the country, and advocating for a new policy on the right to emergency care as the country expands its highway infrastructure.
The Skoll Foundation catalyzes transformational social change by investing in, connecting, and championing social entrepreneurs and innovators who together advance bold and equitable solutions to the world’s most pressing problems. Click here to register to attend the Skoll World Forum online.
