The Editor's Post: Richard Gere gets political at the Skoll World Forum

The Skoll World Forum loves a sprinkling of stardust – past editions of the annual social entrepreneurship conference have boasted George Clooney, Malala Yousafzai and Bono. This year Richard Gere was on stage in Oxford, promoting a film he has executive produced about the Dalai Lama. The Pretty Woman actor and practising Buddhist spoke about meditating towards compassion, and said everyone in the audience understood “that the purpose of our life is to help others”.  

His film, Wisdom of Happiness, is billed as a heart-to-heart with the Tibetan leader that shows that “happiness is still possible” amid global chaos. Gere briefly got political in his comments yesterday, saying he was “deeply ashamed” and, presumably referencing Donald Trump, apologising for what his home country “has given to the rest of the world, and this person who’s leading us – I put in quotes, ‘leading us’... this is a very dark time”. The hope, he said, was that the film would be “a corrective of who we really are as human beings… who embrace each other as fellow creatures of love and compassion, of joy and bliss”.

It was an apt audience for that message: optimism is practically the currency at this gathering, seen by many systems-change fans as essential networking. This time last year, attendees were still reeling from the shock of a second Trump term, while insisting that the breakages could be repaired. This year, with mid-term elections looming, one main-stage discussion on “leading change in fragile times” was dominated by concerns about the future of US democracy. But the new Ford Foundation president Heather Gerken – a leading expert in constitutional law and election law, whose legal chops are being put to good use in the foundation’s work in the US – was quick to point to lessons from elsewhere.

“Anyone from the US who is whining [about democratic weakening] should stop, and go abroad,” said Gerken, adding that Ford Foundation teams and grantees in other countries were “unfailingly optimistic. They are unfailingly strategic. They are finding ways to do good work, even in systems which are even more challenging”. 

And in a side event on local humanitarian action, panellists lamented the inability of some large funders to get money out fast, but agreed there were at least “chinks of light”, including pooled funds, evidence of private sector impact, and opportunities to partner with local governments. 

You might argue that speakers have to sound upbeat – many of them come here to find new funders or connect with existing ones. Some may have little choice but to be philosophical, like exiled Afghan activist Jamila Afghani, whose mantra is “the dark night will not last forever”.

Optimism may be easily squandered, warned George Tsiatis, CEO of The Resolution Project, which backs young social entrepreneurs. Young founders are often seen as risky, but if we don’t trust them with capital and opportunities we risk losing their “optimism and energy” to other sectors or more structured career paths. 

“If a young person raises their hand and says, ‘I want to do something for my community’, and as a society, we don't rally around them and say, ‘How can we help?’... then we deserve the leaders we get,” he told me. “Because we're not doing anything different to encourage leadership and agency and commitment from the beginning.”

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The Impact World this Week: 24 April 2026

Top image: Richard Gere speaks at the Skoll World Forum 2026 in Oxford. Courtesy of Skoll World Forum.