Prize For Philanthropy: And The Winners Are…
The 9th BNP Paribas Prize for Individual Philanthropy goes to... Edward Scott and Yann Borgstedt! These two inspiring philanthropists received their prizes yesterday evening, during a gala ceremony in Paris.
EDWARD SCOTT, GRAND PRIZE 2016
"A lot of people jokingly call me a serial NGOs founder"
Ed Scott been called Silicon Valley's most effective giver and his catalytic approach to philanthropy has had a transformative impact on poverty and disease on a global scale. After a successful career in the United States government civil service culminating with a position as Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Administration, Ed left Washington, DC to work in the emerging field of computer technology. In 1995, he co-founded a software company called BEA Systems. BEA soon became one of the fastest companies ever to reach $1 billion in sales and Oracle purchased the company in 2008. Ed later became a primary funder behind StubHub, the online ticketing service later purchased by eBay.
Having started his philanthropic work on a small scale, Ed soon turned his attention to how governments could help make an impact on development. Ed created the Center for Global Development to help carry out research towards formulating solutions for how government policies can help fight poverty and disease. He created Friends of the Global Fight against AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria in order to help support and lobby for the funding of the Global Fund. Together with Bill Gates and George Soros he created DATA (Debt, AIDS, Trade, Africa) to provide a platform for Bono and other celebrities to advocate that the U.S. Government and public support development efforts. Meanwhile Ed has extended his philanthropy beyond global development to other realms, including founding the innovative Scott Center for Autism Treatment at the Florida Institute of Technology.
YANN BORGSTEDT, JURY’S SPECIAL PRIZE
“It is not about me, it is about the progam, it is about the people who are trying to help and it is about my team trying to create a better world”
Entrepreneur Yann Borgstedt is the founder and president of the Womanity Foundation, which aims to create lasting and positive change for women and girls. Operating all over the world, the foundation seeks to improve education, for example by providing quality teaching to more than 33,000 girls in Afghanistan, and to give women a voice through various media projects throughout the Middle East and North Africa, including the first commercial radio station run solely by women – Palestine-based Radio Nisaa.
The foundation also supports social entrepreneurs working for women’s empowerment in Brazil and in India, notably Rede Asta – a Brazilian organisation that links dozens of fair trade and artisanal cooperatives, giving them access to a global market. Womanity also works with organisations working to prevent violence against women, through the Womanity Award whose purpose is to encourage replication of efficient solutions in new contexts.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/the.womanity.foundation/
Linkedin: http://bit.ly/Linkedin-Womanity
Twitter: @forWomanity