Uncommon Heroes

About this original series

In addition to leveraging media partners to create and distribute social entrepreneurship content, the foundation has produced several seven-minute films profiling Skoll entrepreneurs. These Uncommon Heroes films are premiered each year at the Skoll World Forum in Oxford as part of our annual award ceremony and also distributed via select web channels. The purpose of these films is to provide a practical tool for our social entrepreneurs, offer compelling examples of social entrepreneurship for the field and inspire others with stories of how one person can change the world at scale.

  • # Episodes

    13 episodes

  • Rating

    TV-UN

Episodes of Uncommon Heroes

    • Play Dorothy Stoneman, creating alternative futures for youth - Uncommon Heroes on Blip Uncommon Heroes episodes on Blip

      Dorothy Stoneman, creating alternative futures f...

      Meet Dorothy Stoneman. After graduating from Harvard, Dorothy Stoneman joined the civil rights movement and lived in Harlem for 20 years. Seeing abandoned buildings, homeless people and idle youths moved her to start YouthBuild to create a positive future for low-income young people. YouthBuild re-enrolls them in alternative YouthBuild schools where they complete high school and build affordable homes for their neighbors while transforming their own lives. Each year YouthBuild programs engage ...

      • Release date
        Oct 13, 2009
      • Runtime
        08:35
    • Play Blaise Judja-Sato, an uncommon hero delivers health to poor - Uncommon Heroes on Blip Uncommon Heroes episodes on Blip

      Blaise Judja-Sato, an uncommon hero delivers hea...

      Meet Blaise Judja-Sato. Born in Cameroon, Blaise Judja-Sato was a successful U.S. businessman when a devastating flood in Mozambique prompted his return to Africa. While helping with relief efforts, he saw how difficult it was to get medicines across the "last mile" to those in need. He founded VillageReach to solve infrastructure gaps in remote areas, including locating quality suppliers and providing reliable transport and training in vaccine management and safe waste disposal. VillageReach ...

      • Release date
        Oct 13, 2009
      • Runtime
        07:45
    • Play Willy Foote, an uncommon hero bridging the microloan gap for farmers across the world - Uncommon Heroes on Blip Uncommon Heroes episodes on Blip

      Willy Foote, an uncommon hero bridging the micro...

      Meet Willy Foote. William Foote was an investment banker during the Latin American growth years of the early 1990s. After the peso was devalued in 1994, he spent two years in rural Mexico studying and writing about the financial crisis and its effects on rural people and the environment. He founded EcoLogic Finance (now Root Capital) to provide loans of between $25,000 and $500,000 to small and medium-sized enterprises working in sustainable agriculture and fisheries, wild-harvested products, ...

      • Release date
        Oct 13, 2009
      • Runtime
        08:17
    • Play Vera Cordeiro, builiding networks for health care in Brazil - Uncommon Heroes on Blip Uncommon Heroes episodes on Blip

      Vera Cordeiro, builiding networks for health car...

      Meet Vera Cordeiro. Working in a public hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Vera Cordeiro felt helpless and frustrated when children who were successfully treated for an infectious disease returned to the hospital and died from the same disease after becoming reinfected at home. Realizing that she needed to treat whole families, she raffled off her belongings and started Renascer Child Health Association in 1991 to work intensively with poor families. Renascer serves approximately 350 families per yea...

      • Release date
        Oct 13, 2009
      • Runtime
        08:17
    • Play Rupert Howes an uncommon hero ensuring sustainable fisheries - Uncommon Heroes on Blip Uncommon Heroes episodes on Blip

      Rupert Howes an uncommon hero ensuring sustainab...

      Meet Rupert Howes. Influenced by conservationists like David Attenborough, Rupert Howes was determined to make the world more sustainable. His financial training and experience with nonprofit organizations convinced him "we must work with the grain of the market to shift our economic system to a more sustainable footing" to create a world that operates within ecological limits. As CEO of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), he focuses on reversing the decline in global fish stocks through MSC's m...

      • Release date
        Oct 13, 2009
      • Runtime
        08:06
    • Play Amitabha Sadangi, an uncommon hero tackling poverty in India - Uncommon Heroes on Blip Uncommon Heroes episodes on Blip

      Amitabha Sadangi, an uncommon hero tackling pove...

      Meet Amitabha Sadangi, a businessman who gave up wealth and fortune to tackle irrigation and poverty in India. Amitabha Sadangi's vision is to empower the rural poor with affordable, sustainable agricultural technologies. He has been a leader in creating an Indian strategy and organization to disseminate technologies developed by International Development Enterprises (India). Foot treadle irrigation pumps and low-cost drip systems introduced by IDE (India) have helped 400,000 families double t...

      • Release date
        Oct 12, 2009
      • Runtime
        08:48
    • Play Karen Tse, an uncommon hero bringing human rights to Asia - Uncommon Heroes on Blip Uncommon Heroes episodes on Blip

      Karen Tse, an uncommon hero bringing human right...

      Meet Karen Tse. A former public defender and ordained minister, Karen Tse moved to Cambodia in 1994 to train public defenders. After witnessing many violations of the rights of citizens, she founded International Bridges to Justice to promote systemic global change in the administration of criminal justice. The organization has dramatically improved and even saved the lives of everyday citizens by training and supporting criminal defense lawyers and establishing a network of Defender Resource ...

      • Release date
        Oct 12, 2009
      • Runtime
        07:51
    • Play Gary Cohen, an uncommon hero makes the healthcare industry "healthy" for the environment - Uncommon Heroes on Blip Uncommon Heroes episodes on Blip

      Gary Cohen, an uncommon hero makes the healthcar...

      Meet Gary Cohen. While writing a book on toxic chemicals, Gary Cohen felt compassion for families who were living near waste sites and were struggling to protect their children. He cofounded Health Care Without Harm in 1996 to inspire health care providers to adopt healthier products and practices. The organization has built a collaborative network of 450 groups in 52 countries. It has helped close more than 90 percent of medical waste incinerators in the U.S. and has virtually eliminated merc...

      • Release date
        Oct 12, 2009
      • Runtime
        08:11
    • Play Martin Burt, an uncommon hero starts microcredit in Paraguay - Uncommon Heroes on Blip Uncommon Heroes episodes on Blip

      Martin Burt, an uncommon hero starts microcredit...

      Meet Martin Burt. After studying in Spain and the United States, Martin Burt returned to Paraguay in 1985 and started an innovative microcredit program. Fundación Paraguaya has supported 30,000 microentrepreneurs who have created 19,000 new jobs. Its Junior Achievement program has helped build the entrepreneurial skills of more than 50,000 young people. Two years ago, the organization took over a bankrupt agricultural school and turned it into a model enterprise that helps young people learn t...

      • Release date
        Oct 12, 2009
      • Runtime
        09:39
    • Play Taddy Blecher, an uncommon hero trains africa's youths - Uncommon Heroes on Blip Uncommon Heroes episodes on Blip

      Taddy Blecher, an uncommon hero trains africa's ...

      Meet Taddy Blecher. Taddy Blecher was ready to emigrate from South Africa when he took a second look at his native country. "I saw aching poverty," he said, and he made a life-changing decision to do something about it. In 1999 he and his colleagues opened CIDA City Campus to provide disadvantaged youths a chance to earn a four-year business administration degree. At a cost of just $9,500 per student, CIDA has produced 1,800 graduates with potential lifetime earnings of $635,000 to $1.5 millio...

      • Release date
        Oct 12, 2009
      • Runtime
        08:55
Discover the best in original web series.© 2012 Blip Networks, Inc. All Rights Reserved.