Clinton Global Initiative

CDC Development Solutions (CDS) President and CEO Deirdre White recently returned from the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative Summit, where she made two Commitments to Action in areas in which CDS is a recognized leader: International Corporate Volunteerism (ICV) and Supply Chain Development. "We are honored to be joining what President Clinton refers to as 'the greatest How network in the world,'" said White. "And we look forward to collaborating with our CGI partners to implement programs that will deliver on the promise of this important global effort: turning ideas into action to create a more just and prosperous world."

CDS' two Commitments to Action capitalize on the organization's depth of experience and innovation in two sectors vital to the growth of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in emerging and frontier markets. With 10,000 Days of Service from the New Global Citizens, CDS will help companies to launch ICV programs, fielding a minimum of 500 volunteers who will provide 10,000 days of service to support social enterprises, governments, and nonprofits in emerging markets over a three-year period. Full release

The Footprints Network, an online philanthropy program for eBusinesses, has just hit the one-million-dollar mark in micro-donations to help fund select worldwide charity projects.

The Footprints Network is comprised of an alliance of online e-commerce companies collaborating to help bridge the gap between individual donors and various charity projects. Using web technologies, Footprints aggregates thousands of micro-donations made through online transactions to fund community development projects that help end poverty.

The Footprints Network also proudly supports the UN's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a global action plan to achieve eight anti-poverty goals by 2015. The recognition of MDGs and their global importance has been given a recent boost by the MDG summit in NYC and the Clinton Global Initiative, which representatives at Footprints feel will serve to further increase awareness and support for the underlying charities. Full release

At the Clinton Global Initiative's Annual Meeting, Goodwill Industries International made a commitment to expand its sustainable business model in Latin America and the Caribbean, with a specific focus on Brazil and Mexico. Goodwill® will collect and sell gently used items in six areas throughout these countries to fund job training programs and career services for people facing challenges to finding employment.

Brazil and Mexico have growing economies as well as a growing middle class, and the demand for skilled workers is increasing. The job training that Goodwill currently provides throughout the United States and Canada and abroad will help people in these areas learn the skills needed to be successful in the workplace. Full release

At the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting held this week in New York City, Durabilis announced its US$ 10 million commitment to support the development of sustainable and integrated agro-business supply chains in West Africa.

Agriculture has been identified by the World Bank, the FAO and other international organisations as having the highest leverage on both sustainability and development. Integration in the chain is key to ensure that each link provides products or services that could fit the market needs of the end consumers. Sustainable development therefore demands integrated agro-business supply chain models. Durabilis is convinced of the need for larger scale agro-businesses in West Africa, as the numerous smaller scale projects can not satisfy the market needs or the high interest from numerous international donors looking to address this issue. Full release

In the past year, Ruchira Gupta, President of Apne Aap Women Worldwide and recipient of the 2009 Clinton Global Citizen Award, has made significant strides in the battle to end sex trafficking in India and around the world. Apne Aap has used the increased visibility brought by the Clinton Global Initiative's honor to dramatically expand its programmatic reach on the ground, while spearheading cutting-edge, survivor-led strategies in the global movement to end sex trafficking.

Apne Aap's work is based around organizing the victims and survivors of sex trafficking into "self-help groups" and transforming those groups into small business collectives. Full release

Women's Funding Network announced during the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative its commitment to fund $3 million in "shovel ready" projects for job creation, placement, and retention to improve the lives of thousands of women and girls and their families, especially single female heads of households with vulnerable children, while also contributing to the recovery of the U.S. economy.

The program, Women Moving Jobs, is being carried out in partnership with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and five women's foundations that are members of Women's Funding Network, which connects and strengthens more than 165 women's and girls' foundations around the world. Full release

TrustAfrica's commitment to strengthening private enterprise and fostering pro-poor growth throughout Africa was featured on stage today at the Clinton Global Initiative's annual meeting. Over the next three years, TrustAfrica will provide $2.7 million for pioneering research on ways to stimulate the development of small and medium-sized enterprises and ensure that prosperity is broadly shared.

"Africa has achieved remarkable economic growth over the last two decades, outpacing most other regions in the world," said Dr. Akwasi Aidoo, TrustAfrica's executive director. "But the benefits of greater investment and higher returns have not been reaching large segments of the population." Full release

Vittana is pleased to announce its Commitment To Action in the Education category, which will bring student-lending programs to Africa. The announcement was made at this week's annual meeting.

Through its initiative, Vittana/Africa: Bringing Student Loans to Africa, Vittana will partner with some of Africa's finest microfinance institutions to launch one of the first lending programs to specifically target young people, helping fund their post-secondary education. These loans will help 10,000 students complete the "last mile" of their education by the year 2015. With about $1,000, within one year these students can gain real, employable skills in fields such as nursing, law enforcement, and IT, changing the entire trajectory of their lives. Full release

Bpeace (Business Council for Peace), the nonprofit that works with entrepreneurs in conflict-affected countries, today announced that it will create One Million Jobs for peace. One Million Jobs is a new partnership to develop sustainable businesses and employment in conflict-affected countries including Afghanistan, Rwanda and El Salvador. The partnership between Bpeace and partner corporations was announced as a commitment at the Clinton Global Initiative's (CGI) 2010 annual meeting in New York City. Full Release

Today Face to Faith, the Tony Blair Faith Foundation US's global schools program, became part of the "Partners for a New Beginning" commitment at the Clinton Global Initiative joining 8 others: Cisco, Coca-Cola, Intel, ExxonMobil, Brown University, Interfaith Youth Core, Care and ImagineNations.

Just over a year ago in Cairo, Egypt, President Obama set out a vision for a new beginning between the United States and the Muslim World. Partners for a New Beginning are putting this vision into practice.

The Tony Blair Faith Foundation commits to expanding its global schools program, Face to Faith, into the US and build strong links between young people in the USA and in a number of Muslim-majority countries including Pakistan, Jordan, the Palestinian Territories, Lebanon and Indonesia. Full Release

Barbara Bush spoke this afternoon at the Clinton Global Initiative's session on Harnessing Human Potential about engaging and empowering young people from around the world to help solve today's global health challenges. "The lack of access to good health care is a barrier to growth and opportunity in too many countries around the world," Bush said. She was joined by her mother, former First Lady Laura Bush and her sister, Jenna Bush in discussing health, education and women's empowerment. Global Health Corps just launched the second class of fellows working in Rwanda, Burundi, Malawi, Uganda, and in the United States in Boston and Newark. Every team includes one fellow from their home country partnered with an international fellow. Full Release

Circle of Blue, the international network of leading journalists and scientists, today published Choke Point: U.S., a comprehensive report that is part of its commitment to produce news and actionable information about international water issues that was featured Wednesday at the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting in New York. The report finds an emerging and critical conflict in the United States between the rising demand for new sources of energy and the nation's diminishing supplies of fresh water.

These findings, part of the worldwide reporting project that Circle of Blue will pursue as part of its CGI commitment, represent a new way to look at the economically essential and ecologically damaging accord between energy and water. Choke Point: U.S. is among the first to bring that conflict into sharp national focus. Full Release

Access (accessnow.org), the new global digital rights network, which emerged out of the 2009 Iranian election, is committing to building a new, one million person strong Global Movement for Digital Freedom. Access aims to allow citizens across the globe can engage freely in an integrated online world, enjoying their right to actively participate and share in an open Internet. Through the provision of the world's first humanitarian digital relief team, technical education for at-risk civil society, and policy input at key Internet governance decision-making moments, this new movement will mobilize to keep the Internet open for future generations. Access is committing to work tirelessly to dissolve the censorship firewalls that prevent hundreds of millions from freely accessing the Internet. Full Release

Habitat for Humanity International is establishing the MicroBuild Fund to help provide funding and technical assistance for housing improvements around the world. One of the most effective ways to improve housing conditions for millions of families in developing countries is to provide access to financial services to build or upgrade their homes. These improvements may include installing concrete flooring in the place of dirt floors, adding a room to a house that is being built in stages or upgrading roofs to create adequate shelter from the elements. Habitat for Humanity's MicroBuild Fund will provide capital to microfinance institutions that in turn will make small loans available that combine with low-income families' savings for housing improvements. In addition, Habitat will provide technical assistance to these microfinance institutions in developing their housing product offerings. Full Release

At the opening Plenary Session of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), President William Jefferson Clinton recognized the commitment of ACS Energy Advisors, in partnership with WorldWater & Solar Technologies, Inc. [WWST], to bring clean water and reliable power to survivors of the 2010 Pakistan floods. President Clinton emphasized how the technology and project proposed by ACS Energy Advisors and WWST embodies the goals of CGI; devising and implementing innovative, technological, and green solutions to the world's most pressing challenges. Full Release

The creation of the "Global Impact 50" - the first ever index of the top 50 impact investment fund managers that deliver social and environmental value in addition to financial returns (including leaders from microfinance, community development, fair trade, and other strategies) -- was announced today at The Clinton Global Initiative. The index is the first step in a new partnership between The Cordes Foundation, Calvert Foundation and Giving Assets to formally convene a consortium of philanthropic and financial services leaders to create a comprehensive impact investment platform. The objective will be to unleash $2 billion of new capital by 2016 to help address urgent global challenges, an initiative supported by The Rockefeller Foundation. Full Release

Feeding Your Kids is proud to announce its participation in the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting taking place from September 20-23 in New York City, and bringing together Initiative members from around the world to address a variety of global problems through tangible Commitments to Action. In honor of the annual meeting and Childhood Obesity Awareness Month, Feeding Your Kids is challenging families nationwide to take its 42-day program and change the way they feed their families. Full Release

Points of Light Institute has announced it will mobilize 500,000 volunteer leaders as its contribution toward the goals of the Clinton Global Initiative. As part of the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting, Bigfish Bikes, LLC today is announcing two initiatives to incorporate folding bikes into the alternative transportation continuum, giving mass transit commuters an easy solution for traveling "the first/last mile" between transit stations and their start/end point. Full Release

Points of Light Institute has announced it will mobilize 500,000 volunteer leaders as its contribution toward the goals of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI). Points of Light's commitment, to be announced at the CGI annual meeting this week, will be in the form of the Get HandsOn Campaign, a 3-year effort to inspire and mobilize 500,000 volunteer leaders to create positive change in their communities, particularly in the areas of education, the environment, the economy, and emergency preparedness and recovery. The innovative campaign uses the power and reach of mobile, digital and social media. Its community driven campaign website, www.gethandson.com, connects service minded individuals and highlights projects being completed around the country. Full Release

Transnational human rights organization Breakthrough launches its global campaign on domestic violence at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) this week. Building on the award-winning Bell Bajao campaign ('Ring the Bell' in Hindi) in India, Breakthrough's powerful PSAs, media tools, and training efforts will encourage men and boys to interrupt domestic violence by ringing the doorbell of homes where they hear abuse.

United Nations Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki Moon has joined the campaign as the inaugural global "champion," and Breakthrough will join forces with his UNiTE to End Violence Against Women campaign as its first global partner. Mallika Dutt, President and CEO of Breakthrough, will announce this partnership, as well as the organization's global commitment, during CGI's "Empowering Girls and Women" plenary on Tuesday, September 21, 2010. Full Release

Josie Noah, Commitments Senior Associate, Environment & Energy for the Clinton Global Initiative announced that The Paradigm Project was selected as representing "an exemplary approach to addressing challenges in Environment and Energy." Paradigm, a first year member of the Clinton Global Initiative, was selected from a large pool of contenders in the their category. Neil Bellefeuille, CEO of The Paradigm Project will represent The Paradigm Project on-stage during the Clean Technology and Smart Energy: Deploying the Green Economy session during the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting on Tuesday, September 21 in New York. Full Release

For a third consecutive year, APCO Worldwide is providing communications support to the Clinton Global Initiative's (CGI) Annual Meeting, helping CGI and its more than 1,000 members from around the globe announce the social and environmental impact of their wide-ranging efforts, APCO Founder and CEO Margery Kraus announced today. The 2010 CGI Annual Meeting will take place September 20-23 in New York City and will bring together leaders from around the world. This year, focus areas are Harnessing Human Potential, Enhancing Access to Modern Technology, Strengthening Market-based Solutions and Empowering Girls and Women. Full Release

2010 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting Will Take Place September 20-23 In New York City

Former President Bill Clinton will make his sixth appearance as a guest on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" to discuss the Clinton Global Initiative on Thursday, September 16 at 11:00 p.m. (ET/PT). President Clinton, who will preside over the 2010 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting, which takes place next week (September 20-23) in New York City, previously appeared as a guest on the Emmy® and Peabody® Award-winning show on September 17, 2009, September 23, 2008, September 20, 2007, September 18, 2006 and August 9, 2004.

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