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Winter 2010
Global Giving Round-Up
Overviews of best-practices around the world and links to learn more about them
Activist philanthropist
Ever since founding the American Himalayan Foundation in 1981, philanthropist and private-equity veteran Richard Blum has raised $45 million to benefit the people of the remote and impoverished Himalayan region. Projects so far include a hospital rehabilitation center for disabled children in Nepal, the Namche Dental Clinic on a trail on Mount Everest, and funding for the education of more than 7,000 Nepalese girls through a partnership with Nepal’s Rural Health Education Services Trust, established to combat sex-trafficking. In 2006, Blum created the Center for Developing Economies to improve conditions in developing countries through water filtration and sanitation systems, energy-efficient cooking products, and mobile-service technologies. (The Deal Magazine, December 11, 2009)
Change Philanthropy highlights 10 funders engaged in social justice philanthropy
Change Philanthropy: Candid Stories of Foundations Maximizing Results through Social Justice is a guide book for developing effective long-term strategies that address the causes of critical social problems written by nonprofit and foundation consultant Alicia Epstein Korsten and sponsored by the Center for Community Change. Filled with illustrative stories and interviews, the book showcases ten philanthropic foundations, including the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the Global Fund for Women, the Ford Foundation, and the Open Society Institute, and examines how they have moved beyond providing services to build awareness and self-actualization. Korsten concludes that their success results from emphasizing strategic deployment of funds in order to achieve the greatest impact. To purchase a copy of Change Philanthropy, visit www.josseybass.com. (Huffington Post, December 21, 2009)
Registration for Global Philanthropy Forum opens
The 9th Annual Global Philanthropy Forum, “Defy Barriers, Effect Change: Access to Health, Food, and Water,” will be held from April 19-21 in Redwood City, California. The forum, aimed at bringing committed donors and social investors together to learn from one another and share best practices, will benefit from confirmed speakers including Patrick Awuah Jr. of Ashesi University, Paul Brest of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Sally Osberg of the Skoll Foundation, Megan Smith of Google.org, Mark Van Ameringen of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition-GAIN, and Chris West of Shell Foundation. Attendees include individuals who have made significant philanthropic commitments as well as executives from private, public, and corporate foundations. More information is available on the conference website www.philanthropyforum.org.
Guma Aguiar honored as “Builder of Jerusalem”
Guma Aguiar, the Brazilian-born billionaire and founder and CEO of Leor Energy, was named “Builder of Jerusalem” by Aish HaTorah Yeshiva at their 2009 Boneh Yerushalayim Awards dinner. According to yeshiva officials, Aguiar’s philanthropic works have benefited the Jewish people and the State of Israel. Aguiar was honored along with fellow businessmen Shai Agassi, founder and CEO of Better Place, producer of Israel’s first electric car, and Arnold J. Goldman, chairman and founder of BrightSource Energy, a solar-power company. (Israel National News, December 31, 2009)
In the business of doing good
In Business World Online, SGV & Co. managing partner Cirilo P. Noel highlights the opportunity for a change in corporate culture and philanthropy in the aftermath of the recent global financial crisis. According to Noel, companies in this new economy must appeal to consumers through doing good and sustainable work, thus leveraging a competitive advantage against other companies. Noel’s ideas were echoed at the 2009 World Economic Forum, where “value-based” business as a response to the financial crisis was a continuous theme. Noel highlights various SGV & Co. initiatives, such as its partnership with the Schwab Foundation to work with social entrepreneurs through the Entrepreneur of the Year Philippines program. (Business World Online, December 20, 2009)
New report on Chinese philanthropy in Southeast Asia: Between Continuity and Change
A new report by professor Thomas Menkhoff, Chinese Philanthropy in Southeast Asia: Between Continuity and Change, examines the philanthropic patterns of ethnic Chinese throughout Southeast Asia. Menkhoff, a professor at Singapore Management University, refutes stereotypes that ethnic Chinese are overly clannish and thus reluctant to engange in philanthropy. The report lists a number of ethnic Chinese philanthropists, such as Indonesian Chinese tycoon Putera Sampoerna and Singapore’s Dr. Lien Ying Chow. Menkhoff asserts that as more ethnic Chinese become high-net-worth individuals, the trend of increasing philanthropic participation will continue. (Social Space 2009 from Singapore Management University)
Li Ka-shing Foundation and Chinese Government launch pediatric hernia program
The Li Ka-shing Foundation is partnering with China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs to launch the Pediatric Hernia Rehabilitation Program in the western provinces of Qinghai, Gansu, and Ningxia. The RMB 50 million ($7.3 million) program will provide free hernia surgeries for children, with a projected six thousand children benefiting in the program’s first year. The foundation will cover the cost of operation for each patient, while the Ministry of Civil Affairs will implement and manage the projects. The initiative will eventually be introduced to other provinces in western China. (Li Ka-shing Foundation Press Release, November 5, 2009)
Food for thought: How corporate social responsibility programs are reshaping business and development in Latin America
AMGlobal Consulting’s Felipe Custer, a member of Synergos’ Global Philanthropists Circle, and Andrew Mack designed a corporate social responsibility (CSR) program for Peruvian corporation Comercia. Called Comedad (“Comercia en la Comunidad”), the program will include staff training, an internal feedback system, and a social-outreach program to provide nutrition education for mothers and children in marginalized populations. Custer and Mack say that they have learned that smaller companies are capable of implementing CSR programs and are often better-suited to establishing connections between local communities and commerce, and they believe that such community-driven programs are the future of CSR in Latin America. (Poder 360, January 8, 2010)
Mexican billionaire partners with Eli Broad to fund genomic medicine project
Mexican philanthropist and business leader Carlos Slim, in partnership with American philanthropist and real estate magnate Eli Broad, announced a $65 million pledge to fund a major research project in genomic medicine to study cancer, kidney disease and Type 2 diabetes in Latin American populations. Slim will increase his donations to to his foundation from a current $4 billion to $10 billion in 2010.The gift will be directed toward the Carlos Slim Health Institue founded by Mr. Slim in 2007 to address health problems in Latin America and the Caribbean. The so-called Initiative for Genomic Medicine will partner with Mexican health officials and the Broad Institute, which was founded by Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Eli and Edythe Broad in 2003 to use DNA sequencing to pursue medical advancements. Slim’s further interest in medical research follows the lead of other rich philanthropists such as Bill Gates, Michael Milken and Mort Zuckerman who are increasingly interested in investing in the study of diseases such as cancer, malaria, tuberculosis and HIV. (Wall Street Journal, January 21, 2010)
$38 million grant awarded to microfinance institution across Latin America, Africa, and Asia
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded $38 million to credit groups designed to provide better ways for 11m of the world’s poorest people to save. The grants to 18 microfinance institutions in 12 countries across Latin America, Africa and Asia, follow a year-long review by the philanthropic organization to expand its innovative development work into “micro-savings”. The support for credit groups is a new activity for the Gates Foundation, alongside its work in agricultural, global health and US education reform. Recipients of the grants, which will provide support over five years, include ShoreBank International, which will send staff on motorbikes with hand-held devices to rural clients in India. Accion International in Bolivia and Colombia will provide savings through agents, mobile banks and mobile telephones. Women’s World Banking will launch a TV drama in the Dominican Republic to highlight the benefits of savings. Other micro-finance groups benefiting from the Gates grant are the Grameen Foundation, Finca International, and World Vision. (Reuters, January 13, 2010)
GPC Members among Slate magazine’s largest givers
Global Philanthropists Circle members Jon Stryker and Theodore and Vada Stanley count among the Slate 60, a list of the sixty largest American charitable contributions of 2009. Strker, through his Arcus Foundation, focuses his giving on tolerance, gay and lesbian issues, and great apes; Global Giving Matters covered his approach to philanthropy in our Summer 2008 issue. The Stanley’s giving helps address issues including mental health, education and the arts.
In the accompanying article, Patty Stonesifer, former CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, makes a distinction between those are who are “merely wealthy and generous” and those who are “Great Givers”: “[T]he best Great Givers don’t just give big, give now, and give for great social impact – they measure success as well as failure and they learn from their giving and continue to improve their investing year after year.” (Slate, February 8, 2010)
© 2010 The Synergos Institute
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