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December 2009

UN Envoy Visits Africa as Part of CGI Commitment to Encourage Action on HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis
Stop TB Partnership
Tuesday, December 1, 2009

The United Nations Secretary General's Special Envoy to Stop Tuberculosis (TB) is visiting two African countries in a bold initiative to fight the spread of one of the biggest killer diseases on the continent. The mission is organized by the Stop TB Partnership in close collaboration with UNAIDS.

Clinton Foundation, CEOs Call on Private Sector to Develop Corporate Solutions to Global Challenges
Philanthropy News Digest
Monday, May 18, 2009

During a recent forum hosted by the Clinton Global Initiative, former President Bill Clinton and CEOs of major corporations called on the private sector to develop ways to integrate corporate social responsibility and sustainability programs into their core businesses in ways that enhance their bottom lines.

Panelists including Clinton, Archer Daniels Midland chair and CEO Patricia Woertz, and Coca-Cola chair and CEO Muhtar Kent discussed various ways in which major multinational companies are using innovative practices to increase profits and reduce their costs while fighting climate change, increasing educational opportunities, and reducing poverty. During the discussion, Woertz announced the launch of ADM Cares, a social investment program that targets up to 1 percent of pretax earnings to initiatives that advance societal improvements in areas that are related to the company's business.

President Bill Clinton, CSR, and New Business Models for Economic Success
Fast Company
National
By FC Expert Blogger Alice Korngold
Thursday May 14, 2009

“My daughter, who is studying healthcare policy in graduate school, is schooling me that the biggest financial burden on our healthcare system will not be the aging baby boomer population; it will be the outdated healthcare delivery system.” President Bill Clinton used this as one of the examples of delivery systems and financial models that need to be reinvented – healthcare, energy, financial services, and product distribution.

President Clinton also talked about the increasing popularity of corporate social responsibility (CSR) as it proves its merits to the financial bottom line for businesses and the social good. "The perception that businesses must choose between turning a profit and improving the communities where they operate is outdated and irrelevant in our interdependent world," said President Clinton. He noted the expanding success of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) now in its fifth year.

Bill Clinton in call for 'strong' climate change bill
Financial Times
London, England
By Edward Luce in Washington
Thursday May 14, 2009

The US Congress must pass a "strong" climate change bill before the global warming summit in Copenhagen this December if it is to have a chance of persuading China and India to sign up to a new treaty, says Bill Clinton.

"First of all if we don't adopt a workable but a strong [cap and trade] bill then we can't get them to sign up because we won't have any credibility," Mr Clinton told the Financial Times in an interview yesterday.

"They will dodge - they won't play in that arena unless we are clearly there."

The former US president, whose administration negotiated the Kyoto protocol in 1997, which failed to be passed by Congress because it largely spared the big developing countries from obligations, said China was in some respects ahead of the US on clean energy.

Former President Clinton Sees Gains From Going Green
Dow Jones Newswires
Washington, DC
By Judith Burns
Wednesday May 13,2009

President Bill Clinton offered some advice Wednesday for climate change activists: scrap the fear-mongering and focus on potential gains from creating new "green" jobs.

"We've got to stop all this Chicken Little talk and get the show on the road, and let's talk about the positive stuff," the former U.S. president said at a panel discussion sponsored by the Brookings Institution and the Clinton Global Initiative.

Climate change legislation could yield big benefits for the U.S., according to Clinton, who predicted that if it is done right, "it could be the salvation of Detroit."

March 2009

The Power of Collaboration
Huffington Post
By Jeffrey B. Swartz
Thursday, March 26, 2009

Collaboration is a familiar concept to anyone in the business arena; you have a problem, need a plan, your best bet is often to throw together a group of disparate but talented individuals and let their collective creative energy go to work. The reason collaboration works so well is a combination of passion and purpose; for best results, your pool should be full of people who deeply care about the issue and have a vested interest in solving it.

The same logic should - does - apply to the issue of global warming. Where singular efforts fall short, collaboration can take ideas farther, faster - creating a more powerful positive outcome. There are lots of examples of organizations working in partnership in the name of environmental sustainability, successfully - but there needs to be more. There's no shortage of businesses that are passionate about the issue of climate change, most of them are well-versed in the concept of collaboration and its effectiveness - so why are we still feeling a void?

I contend the passion is there, but the sense of purpose - or perhaps "value" is a better word - might be lacking. As much as we all agree in principle with corporate responsibility as a legitimate function of a for-profit enterprise, I believe there's a lingering sense that doing good is the right thing to do but doesn't - indeed shouldn't - provide any sort of bottom-line benefit. In this day and age of corporate mismanagement, bailouts, greenwashing and the like, it would be despicable for a for-profit business to expect to gain anything beyond a warm, fuzzy feeling from its efforts to be a good corporate citizen... right?

A few years back, Dow Chemical teamed up with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to develop a portable method for identifying environmentally improved manufacturing methods. The project resulted in a 43% reduction in polluting emissions from Dow's Midland, Michigan plant. And at the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting last fall, retail giant Wal-Mart and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) announced their partnership on an initiative to reduce the use of plastic bags in Wal-Mart's stores by an average of one-third per store by 2013 - potentially eliminating 9 million plastic shopping bags per year.

CGI Member the Hashoo Foundation Wins World Challenge Award

The Hashoo Foundation’s 2007 CGI commitment, Women Empowerment through Honey Bee Farming, won the 2008 World Challenge Prize, granted by BBC World News and Newsweek, in association with Shell. The Pakistani-based initiative teaches female entrepreneurs how to start and scale up beekeeping enterprises, granting them a stable income for themselves and their dependents. The award, which includes a $20,000 grant from Shell, was announced in December as part of a BBC World News Broadcast.

Read more about the Hashoo Foundation’s award-winning CGI Commitment here. To learn about the World Challenge Awards, click here.

Obama taps former Clinton official, BP scientist for DOE
The New York Times
New York, New York
By Ben Geman
Monday, March 23, 2009

President Obama plans to nominate David Sandalow, who held several environmental positions in the Clinton administration, to be the Energy Department's assistant secretary for Policy and International Affairs, the White House announced Friday.

Obama also plans to nominate BP chief scientist Steven Koonin to be undersecretary for Science. The pick reunites him with Energy Secretary Steven Chu after both helped form a major biosciences energy research partnership when Chu headed the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Newly-rich Asomugha setting the pace for NFL on, off field
USA Today
National
By Jim Corbett
Friday, March 20, 2009

The face of the Oakland Raiders is not third-year quarterback JaMarcus Russell's. It actually is Nnamdi Asomugha, the 27-year-old Pro Bowl cornerback with shutdown cover skills and an older soul's community conscience.

Asomugha is as comfortable locking down elite receivers as he will be looking up Bill Clinton at the former president's Harlem, N.Y., office next month as he leads a recruiting trip of 10 disadvantaged East Oakland high school students seeking college scholarships they might otherwise never receive.

Bill Clinton to visit Haiti with U.N. chief
From Associated Press, reprinted in South Florida Sun Sentinel
Miami, Florida
By Edith M. Lederer
Wednesday, March 4, 2009

UNITED NATIONS - Representatives from the U.N. Security Council, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and former President Bill Clinton are heading to Haiti next week, officials said Tuesday.

Ban and Clinton will travel together to Haiti on March 9-10 "to bring a strong message of hope that Haiti is still 'winnable,'" U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe said Tuesday.

Their trip "will help to focus attention on the importance for new partnerships and new efforts to assist the people and government of Haiti as they continue to 'build for better' from recent storm damage and create a more stable and prosperous future for the children of Haiti," Okabe said.

Libya's acting U.N. representative Ibrahim Dabbashi, the current council president, announced that representatives from the 15 countries on the U.N.'s most powerful body will visit the Caribbean nation, where the U.N. has an 8,000-member peacekeeping mission, from March 11 to 14.

Haiti was devastated by four hurricanes last year and is preparing for Senate elections on April 19.

UN chief to visit Haiti next week
Xinhua News Agency
Beijing, China
Tuesday, March 3, 2009

MEXICO CITY, March 2 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is to make an official visit to Haiti next week, hoping to encourage international assistance to the Caribbean country, local reports said on Monday.

Ban will visit Haiti from March 9 to 10 in company with former US president Bill Clinton, creator of charity organization Clinton Global Initiative, according to Alain Le Roy, chief of United Nations peacekeeping operations.

More Than 200 Risk Management and Security Executives Attended the Third Annual GlobalOptions Group Executive Forum
President Bill Clinton and Former Bush Press Secretary Ari Fleischer Stressed the Importance of Disaster Preparedness and Risk Assessment
BusinessWire
Tuesday, March 3, 2009

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Leading risk, insurance and security executives from a wide array of industries from insurance and telecommunications to manufacturing and security attended a three-day event hosted by GlobalOptions Group (Nasdaq: GLOI) in Orlando last week. The risk management firm held its Third Annual Executive Forum February 25-27 at the Rosen Shingle Creek Golf Resort, featuring speakers – including the 42nd President of the United States, William Jefferson Clinton and former George W. Bush press secretary Ari Fleischer – who outlined the scope of risk management and security challenges, and proposed potential solutions. The event followed two discussion tracks, one that outlined innovation in the insurance and fraud industry – one of the mainstays of GlobalOptions’ business and the industry that comprised the bulk of the attendees – and the other in security and disaster preparedness.

Ban, former US President Clinton to join forces to help Haiti
UN News Centre
Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has invited former United States President Bill Clinton to join him on an upcoming trip to Haiti to raise awareness of efforts to help the Caribbean nation’s people and government bolster their economic security.

According to a statement issued by his spokesperson, Mr. Ban’s decision was spurred by the former American leader’s attention to Haiti while in office, his work as a United Nations Special Envoy for Tsunami Recovery after the devastating 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and his September 2008 call to help Haiti as part of his Clinton Global Initiative (CGI).

Next week’s visit builds on Mr. Ban’s continuing work with Haitian President René Préval to find a way to create jobs and improve food security, reforestation and the provision of basic services, including health care.

February 2009

How to Succeed in the Networked Century
The Huffington Post
By Bradley W. Bloch
Friday, February 20, 2009

A large part of the reason Barack Obama defeated Hillary Clinton in last year's Democratic primary can be reduced to the fact that he mobilized his bottom-up network better than she mobilized her top-down one. So it was notable that even before formally taking over the State Department, Clinton named Anne-Marie Slaughter, Dean of Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School, to lead the department's internal think tank, the Policy Planning Staff. Slaughter has been a vocal advocate of viewing the world through a network lens. Most recently, her article in the current issue of Foreign Affairs, "America's Edge: Power in the Networked Century," argues that America's best future lies in positioning itself as the world's most networked nation, the hub of information, ideas, and resources flowing though the global economy.

I couldn't agree more, having argued here that the White House, rather than focusing on illusory conflicts of interest involving the Clinton Foundation, should be encouraging the State Department to steal what they can from the Clinton Global Initiative and similar groups -- organizations that facilitate innovation by acting as the network broker between innovators, governments, and private enterprise. Slaughter's article extends this argument to important policy arenas, but in the process raises an important issue that will need to be addressed if networks are to play a substantial role in securing America's place in the world.

Sway Talks Grammys And Obamas With President Clinton
MTV Newsroom
By Sway
Thursday, February 19, 2009

I had a chance to sit down with another president — Bill Clinton. When I walked into his Harlem office, Bill said, “Hey, man, how are you doing?” It was like we were old pals!

The former commander in chief was in great spirits. He always seems to be in storytelling mode if you can spark his interest. He’s very aware, very warm, very jovial and very genuine, all at the same time.

We had actually met before, in 2008 at the MTV/ Clinton Global Initiative event at the Apollo along with Shakira, Alicia Keys, Chris Rock and Bono. This time, the purpose of the interview was to talk about a film that MTV made about “Real World” star Pedro Zamora and his courageous fight to make the world more aware of HIV and AIDS.

January 2009

Former president to host global initiative at UT
Bill Clinton, screen stars, students, university presidents to brainstorm on repairing the world.
Austin American-Statesman
By Ralph K.M. Haurwitz
Thursday, January 29, 2009

Greenhouse gas emissions. Inequities in education. Rape, forced labor and other human rights abuses.

These are some of the issues that nearly 1,000 students and about 100 college and university presidents will be challenged to address with practical, innovative solutions at a three-day session next month hosted by former President Bill Clinton at the University of Texas.

The Feb. 13 to 15 meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative University, as the project is known, is intended to inspire students and campus administrators to improve the world locally and internationally. Attendees will collaborate with UT students on the final day in various community service activities at the Rosewood Park and Recreation Center in East Austin.

"We are honored to host the second annual Clinton Global Initiative University," said UT President William Powers Jr. "This program, with its goal to engage people in making commitments to address global problems and issues, is of particular interest to our university because our motto is, 'What Starts Here Changes the World,' and we believe in that purpose. I anticipate an inspirational three days of big ideas and high energy."

Clinton Global Initiative aims to weave into fabric of community
News 8 Austin
By Jennifer Borget
January 29, 2009

A special initiative is bringing former President Bill Clinton to town, along with some changes to the Rosewood area of East Austin.

The Clinton Global Initiative is headed to Austin. Students, university presidents, and philanthropists alike will gather to brainstorm and map out various ways to improve their communities.

Perilous Times for Philanthropy Travel?
Condé Nast Traveler
By Dinda Elliott
January 28, 2009

So here's the $64 million question: How much do you, as travelers, care about whether your hotel is trying to improve surrounding communities?...The general consensus among top CSR honchos was that travelers care about hotels giving back to the community--but not enough to pay more to stay. The luncheon was part of a broad initiative on the part of Condé Nast Traveler, a commitment we made to the Clinton Global Initiative to engage the travel industry in a dialogue about social responsibility. We gathered top CSR officers from leading travel companies for a first-ever meeting on the topic. The executives stressed that their social responsibility projects will continue despite the economic crisis. Still, we wonder how the downturn will affect community outreach and poverty alleviation. Energy efficiency is one thing--wonderful for the environment and the bottom line. But what about community educational or water projects, for example? The travel industry has been slower to launch those types of initiatives. Will they be funded now, when hotels are struggling just to fill their beds?

Yum! Joins Fight Against Global Hunger
The Wall Street Journal
January 5, 2009

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