Clinton Global Initiative
Scott and his team at FiveCurrents have produced the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) annual meeting since its inception in 2005. CGI is a non-partisan catalyst for action bringing together a community of global leaders including heads of state, non-profit organizations, charities, and business leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges. The initiative culminates in an annual conference, at which each invited guest, as a condition of attendance, must make a specific commitment to address one of the focus areas discussed. CGI staff then monitors the progress and success of these commitments throughout the year. To date CGI members have made more than 2,100 commitments, which are already improving the lives of nearly 400 million people in more than 180 countries. When fully funded and implemented, these commitments will be valued at $69.2 billion.
Envisioned by President Clinton as a conference about action, FiveCurrents sculpted an event where action is the core activity. FiveCurrents' work on this project involves everything from designing the staging to printing collaterals to webcasting the event.
“It’s an effort to bring people together and then do something most of these conferences don’t do; to ask every participant here to make a personal commitment to do something. If we do it every year for a decade, every single year, people know they have to commit to do something and do it.” —William J. Clinton, 42nd President of the United States
In 2008, the William Jefferson Clinton Foundation held the inaugural CGI U conference at Tulane University in New Orleans. More than 700 students attended the first annual CGI U. In order to attend, student members were required to make a public service commitment, with the goal of bringing about positive social change. Commitments range from installing energy-efficient light bulbs to establishing campus bike share programs, from distributing life-saving water filtration kits to designing medical backpacks for nomadic doctors in Africa. Since the inaugural meeting in 2008, nearly 4,000 commitments have been made.
Read more about this topic: Scott Givens
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