Global Philanthropy Forum as a “do-gooders’ shindig”

The Economist published an article yesterday on the effects of the credit crunch on philanthropy – both from rich to poor countries, and within rich countries themselves.  The author seems optimistic about the ability of US foundations to continue to give at the levels of past years, and highlights discussions on this subject at GPF [...]

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Jane’s Blog: Day 3, 8th Annual Global Philanthropy Forum

In opening the Annual Conference three days ago, Her Majesty Queen Rania eloquently noted, “when the sky is darkest, that’s when we see the stars.” We ended our three-day engagement in conversation with one of the brightest stars in economic development: Muhammad Yunus, the “father of microfinance,” the founder of the Grameen Bank.
Yunus urged GPF [...]

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Philanthrocapitalism at GPF

Matthew Bishop and Michael Green put up a great post yesterday on Obama’s plans for philanthropy that came out during GPF last week.  Looking at Sonal Shah and Secretary Clinton’s remarks, they discuss the administration’s attitude toward philanthropy and what this might mean going forward for joint government-philanthropic initiatives.  They applaud most of Secretary Clinton’s [...]

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Jane’s Blog: Day 2, 8th Annual Global Philanthropy Forum

We were lifted by a live musical performance by Peter Buffet, Co-Chair of NoVo Foundation – whose music seemed to reach out and embrace the room. He performed pieces that were inspired by his work in promoting the lives of adolescent girls, by his observations of tremendous environmental waste, and by philanthropy, which – he [...]

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Inside the Global Philanthropy Forum

Yesterday marked the opening of our Global Philanthropy Forum conference here in Washington DC.  We heard from Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as well as others in a series of smaller breakouts.  Each session dove deeply into the daunting challenges we face as a nation, and as a [...]

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Global Philanthropy Forum is a “conference that matters”

Lucy Bernholz, in her blog Philanthropy 2173, has listed our GPF conference as one of three still worth attending in this difficult economic climate.  She writes,
“GPF… is rooted in the pervasive global realities of our social economy. Donors, social investors, nonprofits, public agencies, multilateral organizations, social entrepreneurs, elected and appointed officials – these are the [...]

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Skoll creates new Urgent Threat Fund

Jeff Skoll, the first President of Ebay, has given $100 million dollars to start a new foundation called the Skoll Urgent Threats Fund.  According to a NY Times article yesterday, the organization will address urgent crises such as water shortages, pandemics and the Middle East conflict.  The Urgent Threats Fund will be led by former [...]

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Gareth Evans and Jane Wales on R2P

Gareth Evans, a former Australian Foreign Minister and President of International Crisis Group, joined us yesterday for a noontime program to explore why the world has stood by so many times while governments failed to protect their own people from genocide, ethnic cleansing, and other crimes against humanity.
As the co-chair of the international commission [...]

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Jane Wales, President and Co-Founder, Global Philanthropy Forum Recognized as Newsmaker

The Philanthropy News Digest spoke with Jane Wales, the co-founder of the Global Philanthropy Forum and president and CEO of the World Affairs Council about the world’s poor, the global economic crisis, its effect on philanthropy, and the Obama administration’s interest in social innovation.
Read the full interview: Jane Wales, President and Co-Founder, Global Philanthropy Forum: Philanthropy [...]

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Working to lift the burden of Malaria through Philanthropy

The Center for High Impact Philanthropy released a report this month titled “Lifting the Burden of Malaria: An Investment Guide for Impact Driven Philanthropy.”  In it, the authors synthesize data on effective malaria control strategies, consider funding trends and nonprofit performance data, and interview malaria specialists and public health practitioners to help you get to [...]

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Obama and the Non-Profit world

At this year’s Global Philanthropy Forum annual conference, we will be exploring ways that foundations and the non-profit sector can work with government and the Obama administration to address domestic and international crises. Rick Cohen, at The Cohen Report, recently provided an excellent summary of existing proposals from some leading organizations and thinkers in [...]

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Uncertain Steps: Power-sharing deal signed today in Zimbabwe

Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of Zimbabwe’s opposition party MDC, announced today that he will join President Mugabe in a power-sharing deal drafted in September. This comes after months of deadlock, and while there is much celebration, many are worried that the deal was signed too hastily without sufficient certainty in its terms. An AllAfrica article [...]

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