WASHINGTON, D.C. – Yesterday, at the Global Impact Economy Forum, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced a $44.5 million Global Development Alliance (GDA) between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Skoll Foundation.

The partnership pairs USAID’s expertise in scaling sustainable development innovations with Skoll’s decade-long experience cultivating the world’s most successful social entrepreneurs. Through the new partnership, Skoll and USAID will identify and co-invest in high-impact social entrepreneurs and support them in scaling up innovative business models that demonstrate the ability to deliver sustainable development impact in areas such as education, water, and food security. By demonstrating impact through cutting edge evaluation techniques, the partners will encourage increased public and private investment in the most effective innovations.

“We are thrilled to join forces with the Skoll Foundation, a giant in the social entrepreneurship space. Together we will support impact enterprises that are breaking new ground to bring life-changing services to their clients around the world,” said Maura O'Neill, USAID's Chief Innovation Officer.

The GDA builds on existing work by USAID’s Development Innovation Ventures (DIV). Inspired by venture capital models, DIV invests in game-changing innovations in development with the potential to improve the daily lives of millions of people at a fraction of the usual cost. The GDA will model the DIV approach emphasizing evidence, scalable, cost effective proposals through social entrepreneur networks.

“Investors serious about scaling up development innovations need to scale up their own capabilities, and that’s what we’ve set out to do with this partnership,” said Sally Osberg, CEO and President of the Skoll Foundation. “Together, the Skoll Foundation and USAID are prepared to back and grow entrepreneurial solutions to many of the world’s most pressing problems. Along the way, we expect to deliver value well beyond what either of us can accomplish individually.”