Just arrived in Oxford in time for the opening Monday night dinner of the Skoll Forum. The Skoll social entrepreneurs get a day together before the big opening on Tuesday afternoon. The location is Exeter College, whose dining hall was the prototype for Hogwarts in the Harry Potter film.
Exeter dining room

It was a time to meet old friends and new social entrepreneurs. There are a handful of new Skoll staffers so this was a time to meet the team. It was also a chance to meet Jeff Skoll in person.
Jeff Skoll (in the middle) and guests at Exeter College, Oxford

Each of the new social entrepreneurs spoke for several minutes about what drew them to do this work. The funniest guy as usual was Joe Madiath. Long-time Beneblog followers know Joe as the guy who didn't fully recognize Al Gore when he bumped into him at Davos. Joe talked about organizing his father's workers while a teenagers and getting elected president of the union (he was quickly bundled off to boarding school!).

Joe Madiath in the wood paneled Exeter College dining room.

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