Bio
Sally Osberg
As CEO and President of the Skoll Foundation, Sally Osberg leads the organization's team in advancing systemic change to benefit communities around the world by investing in, connecting and celebrating social entrepreneurs.
A leader in the social sector for more than 20 years, she was formerly Executive Director of the Children's Discovery Museum (CDM) of San Jose, which she guided from its inception to national recognition. She sits on the boards of CDM, the John Gardner Center and the Oracle Education Foundation.
Ms. Osberg earned her M.A. in literature from the Claremont Graduate School and her B.A. in English from Scripps College, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. The American Leadership Forum has awarded her the John Gardner Leadership Award, and the San Jose Mercury News has recognized her as one of the individuals who have shaped and led Silicon Valley.
Encyclopædia Britannica Article
- philanthropy
Voluntary, organized efforts intended for socially useful purposes. Philanthropic groups existed in the ancient civilizations of the Middle East, Greece, and Rome: an endowment supported Plato's Academy (c. 387 BC) for some 900 years; the Islamic waqf (religious endowment) dates to the 7th century AD; and the medieval Christian church administered trusts for benevolent purposes. Merchants in 17th- and 18th-century western Europe founded organizations for worthy causes. Starting in the late 19th century, large personal fortunes led to the creation of private foundations that bequeathed gifts totaling millions and then billions in support of the arts, education, medical research, public policy, social services, environmental causes, and other special interests. See Andrew Carnegie; B'nai B'rith; Bill Gates; George Peabody; Rockefeller Foundation; Straus family.
- philanthropy on britannica.com
© 2010 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.