| m2m Joins prestigious network of social entrepreneurs |
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Little did m2m founder, Dr. Mitch Besser, and m2m executive director,
Gene Falk, know that 6 years after the "birth" of
mothers2mothers, they would be sitting next to the likes of Jimmy Carter and Al Gore, representing it as an international
NGO that is impacting the lives of thousands of women and children all
over the African continent.
Yet on the night of March 27th, they attended the 5th annual Skoll Award Ceremonies in Oxford as one of the 11 winners of the prestigious Skoll Award. “The funny thing for all of us was that we were sitting there in amazement,” observed Mitch. “No one could believe they were there, especially when you look around and see what everyone else has done.” The Skoll Foundation, created in 1999 by eBay entrepreneur, Jeffrey Skoll, set about to do something different. “Instead of just focusing on the issues and the organizations, Jeff Skoll wanted to promote the movement of social entrepreneurship by seeking out, celebrating, and investing in those that are creating lasting systemic change in the community”, explains Gene. The Skoll Foundations’ investment comes from it’s creation of ventures such as the Skoll Centre of Social Entrepreneurship at the University of Oxford Said Business School, its organization of the annual Skoll World Forum, and the Special Edge online community, all platforms allowing social entrepreneurs to connect, work together, and learn from each other. But it is the Skoll Foundation Award that really recognizes and celebrates the movements and innovations made towards social change. The award is bestowed upon organizations that have a proven track record of implementing new, large-scale approaches and are creating what the foundation calls “equilibrium change”- a change that gets to the roots of an issue and addresses it in an innovative way that creates sustainable results and alters the way the issue is dealt with. And this is exactly what mothers2mothers does. Gene & Mitch’s vision combined “grass root simplicity with the strategic thinking and planning of the private sector”, to create a universally replicable model that could empower and transform the lives of pregnant HIV-positive women and mothers all over the world. “It just makes sense. We take a simple concept of mothers talking to mothers and create a model that empowers everyone involved while also helping save babies and lives from HIV,” states Gene. It is the strategic planning and widespread success of that model that makes mothers2mothers so different and what captured the Skoll Foundations’ attention. The intense and comprehensive Skoll Award application process resulted in over 160 nominees. The winners are then feted in a week-long series of high level seminars and workshops in the halls of Oxford University, culminating in an awards gala attended by hundreds of luminaries from throughout the world. “What an extraordinary event. To sit in a 500 year old theatre in Oxford, in a room filled some of the most innovative minds, it was way beyond anything we could have anticipated,” exclaims Gene. “I mean it is always great to get recognition for your work, but this was extraordinary.” The Skoll foundation also bestowed a generous financial award in a three- year grant of $1 million the will prove instrumental in mothers2mothers international expansion efforts and its ultimate plan to bring the program to continents outside of Africa where mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS is sill at crisis levels. The Skoll Award recognizes that mothers2mothers has the primary elements, sustainability, and scalability necessary to adapt everywhere it is needed and this support will help make that goal a reality. As gratifying as the Skoll recognition is, Mitch also points out that the true testament of success for m2m is seeing the impact on the mothers. After 6 years of service, he still finds it amazing to witness the transformation of so many women into empowered, positive-living mothers with HIV-negative babies. “It’s extraordinary to see the transformation of these women into professional roles,” he says. “That is the fabulous stuff.” |