Jeff Skoll, Chairman

Jeff Skoll is a philanthropist and social entrepreneur. As founder and chairman of the Skoll Foundation, Participant Media and the Skoll Global Threats Fund, he is bringing life to his vision of a sustainable, peaceful and prosperous world.

Jeff received a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Toronto. He later earned his MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and then harnessed his skills as the first President of eBay, developing the company's inaugural business plan and leading its successful initial public offering.He also pioneered creation of the eBay Foundation through the allocation of pre-IPO shares.

In 1999, Jeff launched the Skoll Foundation. It quickly became the world’s largest foundation for social entrepreneurship, driving large-scale change by investing in, connecting, and celebrating social entrepreneurs and other innovators dedicated to solving the world’s most pressing problems. Its flagship program, the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship, currently honors and supports 74 leading social entrepreneurs representing 61 organizations from around the world. The Skoll Foundation also co-produces with the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at the Saïd Business School at Oxford the annual Skoll World Forum on Social Entrepreneurship.

Jeff founded Participant Media in 2004 with the belief that a story well told has the power to inspire and compel social change. In addition to entertaining audiences, Participant’s films are accompanied by social action and advocacy campaigns to engage people on the issues addressed in the films. Jeff has served as Executive Producer on 25 films to date, which have collectively received a total of 3 Academy Awards® and 15 nominations. Participant's films include, among others, Good Night, and Good Luck, North Country, Syriana, An Inconvenient Truth, The Kite Runner, Charlie Wilson's War, The Visitor, The Informant!, The Soloist, The Cove and Food, Inc. In 2008, Participant launched TakePart.com to create an on-line community for people to learn, inspire, connect and get involved in the very issues which shape our world.

Jeff’s recent honors include Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People (2006), Wired Magazine's Rave Award (2006), Business Week’s list of most innovative philanthropists, and, in 2009, the Producers Guild of America’s Visionary Award and Global Green USA’s Entertainment Industry Environmental Leadership Award. Jeff also holds two honorary doctorates.

Larry Brilliant, President

Larry Brilliant comes to Skoll Global Threats after a three-year stint as Google VP and the first executive director of Google.org, the company’s philanthropic arm.

Larry is an MD and MPH, board-certified in preventive medicine. He lived and worked in India for ten years and was one of a four-person UN team that led the successful World Health Organization smallpox eradication program in India and South Asia. He later founded the Seva Foundation, whose projects have given back sight to nearly 3 million people worldwide through their work to eliminate preventable and curable blindness.

In 1985, Larry co-founded The Well, a pioneering digital community and he holds a telecom systems patent. He was a professor of international policy and epidemiology at the University of Michigan and has authored two books and dozens of scientific articles on infectious diseases, blindness and international health policy. He volunteered as a physician during several disasters, including the Asian Tsunami in Sri Lanka and Indonesia and the Bihar Floods. After the anthrax attacks in the U.S. in 2001, he volunteered as a first responder for CDC’s bio-terrorism effort.

Larry chairs the National Bio-Surveillance Advisory Subcommittee, created by Presidential directive, and is a member of the World Economic Forum Global Advisory Council on Catastrophic Risks. He was elected to the Council on Foreign Relations in 2008. He sits on the boards of the Skoll Foundation and several other nonprofits.

Recent awards include Time Magazine 100 Most Influential People and top 20 Scientists and Thinkers (2008), UN Global Leadership Award (2008), TED Prize (2006), Peacemaker Award (2005) and International Public Health Hero (2004) and two honorary doctorates. In 2009, The Final Inch, the documentary about polio eradication which Larry inspired and was funded by Google.org, was nominated for an Oscar.

Eric Nonacs, Vice President, Alliances and Partnerships

Throughout his career, Eric has developed and implemented partnerships and programs supporting sustainable economic and social development, conflict resolution, and reconciliation in Africa, Europe, and Latin America.

Prior to joining the Skoll Global Threats Fund, Eric was Managing Director for Global Affairs at Endeavour Financial, a merchant bank based in Vancouver, Canada. Concurrently, he served as a Senior Advisor to the William J. Clinton Foundation. From 2002 to 2007, he served as Foreign Policy Advisor to President Bill Clinton and the Clinton Foundation.

Prior to joining President Clinton’s staff, Eric was the Executive Director of The Coexistence Initiative, which focused on bringing together policymakers, researchers, advocates and organizations to promote cooperation at national and global levels. Previously, Eric served as the U.S. Executive Director of Co-operation Ireland, and, from 1992 until 1995, he was the inaugural Director of The Project on Justice in Times of Transition.

Eric holds an AB from the University of Chicago, an MA from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and an MBA from New York University. Eric is a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations.