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Spring 2010
Global Giving Round-Up
Overviews of best-practices around the world and links to learn more about them
Greg Carr’s work in Mozambique profiled in The New Yorker
The New Yorker recently covered the efforts of Greg Carr, a member of the Global Philanthropists Circle, to promote conservation and sustainable development in Gorongosa National Park, a wilderness the size of Rhode Island at the southern tip of the Great Rift Valley in central Mozambique. The park was the scene of some of the heaviest fighting during Mozambique´s sixteen-year civil war, and many of the wildlife species in the park were severely depleted. Carr is using his philanthropy to create conditions that will attract ecotourism to the park, insuring its economic self-sufficiency, creating hundreds of jobs in and around the park, and helping protect the environment. The article explores the difficulties of balancing economic development and ecosystem preservation with respect for the traditions and authority of the local peoples. As Carr puts it: “I’m a human-rights guy and a conservation guy trying to do both at the same time.” (The New Yorker, December 28, 2009)
José Ignacio Avalos’ Mi Tienda project receives World Bank funding
The International Finance Corporation, part of the World Bank Group, has committed $2.5 million to development in Mexico through Mi Tienda, a distribution company historically engaged in the rural distribution of food and other basic products in Mexico. With funding from IFC, Mi Tienda will be able to expand its operations to provide owners of micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises with microcredit, insurance, and other financial services. Founded by GPC Member José Ignacio Avalos, Mi Tienda will use the IFC investment to “generate systemic change in Mexican retailing,” targeting rural retail owners, most of whom are women, to provide services such as business training and branchless banking.(Microfinance Focus, January 29, 2010)
GPC Members recognized among Slate magazine’s largest givers
GPC members John Stryker and Theodore and Vada Stanley count among the Slate 60, a list of the sixty largest American charitable contributions of 2009. With the economy having a harsh impact on charitable giving, overall contributions were down and 2009 was an especially bad year for mega-gifts. Still, the donors of the Slate 60 managed to direct over $4 billion in commitments to philanthropic causes. Stanley and Fiona Druckenmiller top the list, with John M. Templeton at number two. Bill and Melinda Gates, Michael Bloomberg, George Soros, plus Eli and Edythe Broad, are also included. In the accompanying article, Patty Stonesifer, former CEO of the Gates Foundation, makes a distinction between those 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)
Eye-care group in India wins $1.5 million Hilton Humanitarian Prize
The 2010 Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize of $1.5 million, which annually recognizes an organization that is working to alleviate human suffering was awarded to Aravind Eye Care System, a group in Madurai, India that aids the blind. Aravind, the world’s largest eye care provider, performs more than 300,000 eye surgeries annually at its facilities across the country – 70% subsidized or free for the poor. The organization, founded by the late Dr. Govindappa Venkataswamy in 1976, is now expanding its model globally, establishing seven eye hospitals in Bangladesh with Grameen Bank and training all the staffs. It has also helped to establish eye care plans in Rwanda and Eritrea. Venkataswamy, who died in 2006 at age 87, was inspired by the U.S. fast-food chain McDonald’s and its ability to replicate the same quality and efficiency anywhere in the world. He adapted the concept to eye care, with at Aravind, from systems and equipment to training, being standardized. While a typical ophthalmologist might perform 250 to 400 surgeries annually, an Aravind doctor will average 2,000. (Philanthropy New Digest, March 9, 2010)
Forbes features prominent Asian philanthropists
Forbes Asia magazines’ Heroes of Philanthropy list features 48 prominent givers to society in the Asia Pacific region, whose causes range from disaster recovery, health, science, culture and education – with the last being the most popular choice among the featured philanthropists. Among the celebrities, businesspeople and full-time philanthropists working on that issue is Dhanin Chearavanont of Thailand, a member of the Global Philanthropists Circle. His family’s Buddharaksa Foundation, run by daughters Varnnee and Tipaporn, works with schools and other institutions helping orphans and other vulnerable children and is run by. According to Forbes, those listed are not always the biggest givers. “Instead we aim to highlight a varied group of generous people, some holdovers from last year but mostly new names who deserve recognition. By calling attention to these 48 (givers) we hope to encourage more giving.” Moreover, donors are having an impact on nonprofit groups in the region in ways beyond money. For example Allen Choate of the Asia Foundation attributes growing financial transparency by nonprofits to donor demands. Candidates for Forbes’ list were chosen from 11 geographies in the region – Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand. (Forbes, March 8, 2010)
King Khalid Foundation partners with Acumen Fund to support social entrepreneurship
The King Khalid Foundation (www.kkf.org.sa), an independent Royal Foundation established in 2001 by the family of the late King Khalid bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia, and the venture capital Acumen Fund (www.acumenfund.org) have joined hands to strengthen the development sector and promote social entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia. The partnership, announced at the World Congress of Muslim Philanthropists in Doha in March, will support the fund’s fellows program and enable one Saudi national to join the next class of Acumen Fund Fellows, a cadre of young professionals dedicated to serving the poor in the developing world. “By building a network of strong leaders with financial and operational skills who will create opportunities that support the social enterprise sector, we will contribute to finding solution to poverty, says Natasha Matic, stratgic advisor to the King Khalid Foundation. The Acumen Fund, directed by Synergos Senior Fellow Jacqueline Novogratz, is a global nonprofit venture capital fund, focused on supporting the delivery of critical services – water, health, housing, energy, agriculture – at affordable prices to the poor who lack access in India, Pakistan, and East Africa. (MENAFN Press, March 31, 2010)
Global social entrepreneurial leaders to be honored at Skoll World Forum
The California-based Skoll Foundation (www.skollfoundation.org) has announced awards totaling more than $3.8 million to five recipients of the 2010 Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship. The 2010 awardees include Forest Trend, Imazon and Telepak which work to tackle climate change by preserving tropical forests in the Amazon, Indonesia, and elsewhere; the One Acre Fund that works to empower rural farmers by providing farming input, training and capacity building, and market access for rural farmers in Kenya and Rwanda; and Tostan, which runs three-year, non-formal education programs for adults and adolescents to pave the way for community-led shifts in social norms. “As we’ve grown the cadre of global social entrepreneurial leaders in the Skoll Foundation family, we’re seeing increasing opportunities for cooperation and leverage among groups tackling similar challenges,” said Skoll Foundation CEO Sally Osberg. (PRNewswire, March 31, 2010)
Richard Branson, Zainab Salbi honored at University for a Night
On May 5, Synergos held its annual University for a Night gala in New York City. The event brought together leaders from business, civil society, and government to discuss innovative approaches to addressing some of the most pressing global problems. Sir Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Unite, and Zainab Salbi, Founder and CEO of Women for Women International, received the David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Awards and shared their thoughts on collaboration and leadership with Peggy Dulany, Synergos’ Founder and Chair. For more information, visit www.universityforanight.org.
© 2010 The Synergos Institute
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