Calling all Social Entrepreneurs! Skoll Scholarships at the Said School of Business, Oxford University

Did you know that the Said School of Business at Oxford University offers the Skoll Scholarship? It is a competitive scholarship for incoming MBA students who pursue entrepreneurial solutions for urgent social and environmental challenges. The scholarship provides full tuition funding and exclusive opportunities to meet with world-renowned entrepreneurs, thought-leaders and investors. No more than five scholarships are awarded in any year; they are awarded on a rolling basis so it makes sense to apply as early as possible.

How do you apply?

1. In the application form, state your interest in the “Scholarships” section of the MBA. You do this by checking the box next to “Skoll”.

2. If you are accepted onto the MBA programme, the admissions committee will send you an essay question that needs to be completed.

3. The Skoll Centre will then consider your candidacy for the scholarship. If they are interested in pursuing your candidacy further, we will request a phone interview. A final decision will be made shortly thereafter.

What criteria do you need to satisfy to be considered?

1. You must have started or worked in a social venture for 12 months or longer.

2. You must demonstrate evidence of personal qualities strongly resonating with social entrepreneurship leadership, and illustrate how these have influenced their career path thus far. These qualities include:

• Single-mindedness and persistence in pursuit of a social benefit goal, including a willingness to face failure and start again
• A bias towards action rather than reflection
• A tendency to explore the environment for opportunities and resources
• A willingness to take personal, and sometimes financial, risks
• A habit of developing a network and subtly or unsubtly exploiting its members.

3. You must demonstrate how a business education can contribute to the wider development of the community you work with in the social entrepreneurship movement. You will need to illustrate why a business degree at this stage of your career can help you amplify your impact.

4. Candidates must demonstrate some evidence of your need for the scholarship; you need to indicate how/why self-funding the MBA will be a significant financial burden to you.