Feature September-October 2004
PricewaterhouseCoopers' Project Ulysses - Linking global leadership training to community development
Following the merger that created the global services giant PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in 1998, the company began a quest for a new model of leadership training that would build a worldwide network of executives able to capitalize on the diversity and transnational nature of the firm's operations.
"It was clear that it was not going to be a standard business model with a standard leader. We needed to take people outside of that box," recalls Ralf Schneider, a PwC partner based in Frankfort who is head of the firm's global talent development efforts.
What emerged was Project Ulysses, a challenging voyage of discovery for promising young PwC talent that explicitly links executive development to community development and channels the resulting learning back to help the company meet its strategic goals.
Under the program, launched in 2001, the company sends small teams of PwC employees into developing countries to apply their business expertise to complex social and economic challenges. The cross-cultural PwC teams work on a pro bono basis in field assignments for eight weeks with NGOs, community-based organizations and intergovernmental agencies in communities struggling with the effects of poverty, conflict and environmental degradation.
Two-way learning in communities in need worldwide
In 2004, for example, 18 young partners from 17 different PwC territory firms around the globe will be deployed in projects as diverse as landmine mitigation in Eritrea, reintegration of ex-combatants in East Timor, small enterprise development in Ecuador and strengthening community responses to HIV/AIDS in Uganda, a project in partnership with the Alliance of Mayors and Municipal Leaders on HIV/AIDS in Africa. This partnership, which began with a Ulysses project in Swaziland in 2001, has been so successful that it has been replicated in Namibia and now Uganda.
Learning in Project Ulysses is designed to take place at multiple levels: at the individual, team, and organizational level, according to Schneider. Knowledge gained is transferred back to the organization and its clients once returning team members resume their jobs, and in their formal debriefing sessions with PwC's global board. These sessions provide a feedback loop that permits PwC to continuously refine the Ulysses model to better meet the requirements of leadership in a dynamic global organization.
Schneider acknowledged, for example, that when Ulysses was launched, participants were heavily weighted toward partners from the US and Europe. To address that imbalance, PwC now tries to ensure the geographic and cultural diversity of each team-a task made easier by the global pool it draws from: nearly 8,000 partners in member firms in 768 cities in 139 countries. Candidates for participation in Project Ulysses are nominated by the head of each of the company's territorial offices around the globe based on the partner's leadership potential.
Last year, 14 PwC partners worldwide were selected to take part in four teams assigned to projects in Belize, Zambia, Namibia and Moldova. Participation, which typically involves a commitment of up to three months, including training, fieldwork and debriefing, is a serious responsibility, on the part of both the employee and the company.
Applying global business expertise in Southern Belize
For Brian McCann, a PwC client service partner from Boston who specializes in mergers and acquisitions, the rewards-both personal and professional-of taking part in Project Ulysses were profound. McCann found himself the only US member of the 2003 Belize team, which included PwC colleagues from Malaysia, Sweden and Germany.
The mission of the team was to work with the Ya'axche Conservation Trust (YCT), an NGO based in southern Belize, the local government, and the private sector in evaluating the growth and income-generating potential of the eco-tourism market in the region. Priorities for the team included building capacity in YCT, to better serve the needs of the local indigenous Mayan residents. Economic conditions in southern Belize are bleak, with 50% of the population unemployed and 75% earning less than $200 a month.
On a personal level, McCann had to contend with unfamiliar and challenging living conditions including an abundance of insects, barking dogs, getting around by bicycle, and no air conditioning to temper the intense heat of his adopted home, Punta Gorda (population 4,000), the largest town in the southern part of the country.
Despite challenging circumstances, and with only eight weeks to make an impact, McCann says he and his colleagues "persevered and, as a team, delivered an outstanding work product for our client." They located an international microgrant program seeking a local partner in Belize, and wrote a proposal for YCT that would provide microfunding for 100 new and existing small businesses in the region over the next two years.
The Ulysses team also initiated a business training workshop for members of a Mayan women's craft center, developed a business plan for YCT and its woodworking training center, set up computerized accounting systems for the Trust, and evaluated revenue generating opportunities for the Belize Forestry Department, according to McCann.
A Romanian partner gains insights from Zambia
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, in rural northern Zambia, the main assignment for another PwC team in 2003 was to help a struggling agricultural youth training facility run by the Catholic Church in Kasama to build capacity to generate income and maintain stakeholder support.
Along with his teammates from Thailand, Australia and UK, Dinu Bumbacea, a PwC partner from Romania, worked with the Elias Mutale Youth Training Centre in Kasama, its funding partner, the United Nations Development Programme, and project manager, Africare. The team also spent two weeks in the Copperbelt area of Western Zambia, assisting the UN Global Compact on a strategy for economic diversification of the region. Bumbacea said the experience gave him new insights into operating in a multicultural environment and team and dealing with the public sector.
"So far, in my entire career with PwC, I have worked extensively in the private sector. Well, working with the public sector is different. Their drivers and perceptions are different. The lesson I've learned, even though I thought I was aware of that before my Zambia experience, is that knowing what drives your client is key for a consultant," said Bumbacea.
At a project debriefing in London last September, McCann, Bumbacea and other Ulysses colleagues shared their experiences in a two-hour session with the PwC Global Board that McCann described as "highly interactive and well-received by the board." (See box on lessons learned at left.)
Building on new models of leadership training
Schneider said that PwC availed itself of the latest theory and methodology in leadership training in the development of Project Ulysses. For example, the initiative was informed by the work of Generon (www.generonconsulting.com), an international consulting firm that is forging innovative methods for solving complex, cross-sector problems. Through its Global Leadership Initiative, Generon works to develop new approaches to leadership education. With The Synergos Institute, Generon is exploring solutions to large-scale societal problems such as malnutrition and sustainable food supply, according to Generon partner Adam Kahane.
Cari Caldwell, a London-based consultant on cultural diversity who also helped design and implement Project Ulysses for PwC, emphasized "the need to really support the participants throughout the process by helping them to make sense of the experience personally and professionally."
Such support is built into the program in the debriefing process and during several weeks of cross-cultural training and coaching before Ulysses team members go into the field. "Without giving participants new frames of reference, they may risk being ';development tourists,' or experience traditional development attitudes of being there to ';show NGOs the way,'" Caldwell said. Alternatively, Ulysses promotes a "co-learning environment and explicitly works with participants on their personal development plans of what they want to learn from NGO partners."
Moving CSR in a new direction
With its conscious linkage between community development and executive leadership training, PwC's Project Ulysses is helping to move the debate on corporate social responsibility in a new direction.
"Most business leaders today don't have a mental model of how their company's operations affect international development," said Sharath Jeevan, director of London-based Development Horizons (www.developmenthorizons.com), a new breed of firm specializing in designing and facilitating programs for companies that want to link corporate voluntarism and CSR to leadership development.
Nevertheless, many companies are recognizing the value of corporate voluntarism as a way to develop managers, particularly at the local level, said Jeevan. Firms such as Development Horizons are seeking to help corporations take this to the next level by creating opportunities that stretch management and business skills, such as placement in an unfamiliar setting of a developing country field project.
Development Horizons also provides a formal leadership curriculum that helps participants integrate their learnings into a normal business environment and uses the experience to stimulate debate among managers about how their own companies can contribute to international development and poverty alleviation.
The Development Horizons team recently benefited from the addition of Cari Caldwell and another Project Ulysses veteran, Marco Villa. The firm has identified 12 potential NGO field projects on four continents, and discussions are currently underway with multinationals in all the major business sectors, according to Jeevan.
"We want to make companies aware of how they can both contribute to their bottom line and make life better for the poorest in society. This requires an understanding of how the world's poorest people live," said Jeevan.
If the testimony of PwC partners such as Brian McCall and Dinu Bumbacea can be used as a guide, programs such as Project Ulysses hold promise for providing such an understanding for the coming generation of business leaders.
"We so often filter things through our own value system," said Bumbacea, reflecting on his experiences in Zambia. "Africa is different ... we can't force our way of living just because we do things differently at home. This is what makes the world such an interesting place to live-diversity."
Goals of Project Ulysses
Identify and develop future leaders of PwC to take on senior leadership responsibilities at national and international levels within 5-10 years
Build a global network of PwC leadership talent
Increase PwC's capacity to capitalize on its diversity and transnational nature of operation
Prepare leaders to guide the firm in a global world of ambiguity and tension between diverse interests and stakeholder groups
Encourage the business sector to move towards a more responsible and sustainable business model
Lessons learned from Project Ulysses: one team-member's view
For PwC partner Brian McCann, several key learning points emerged from his Project Ulysses experience in Belize:
Cultural differences should be an enabler, not an inhibitor. "The cultural differences of our team added to the quality, innovation and acceptance of our work. This learning point needs to continue to be a part of the PwC culture."
Four partners without a defined leader came together as a team and delivered. "In Belize, our experience was that where there was collaboration, there was usually success."
Leadership is about building sustained relationships. "What made our project successful was building relationships as a team, with our clients and with the other stakeholders."
Helio Mattar -- A catalyst for corporate social responsibility in Brazil
Over the course of his distinguished career, Brazil's Helio Mattar has been a prominent force for social and economic equity at home and abroad. A former corporate CEO and government minister, Mattar now serves as president of two Brazilian NGOs: the Abrinq Foundation for the Rights of Children (www.fundacaoabrinq.org.br), and the Akatu Institute for Conscious Consumption (www.akatu.net). He is also a founder of the Ethos Institute for Business and Social Responsibility (www.ethos.org.br).
Mattar is a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Foundation Leaders Advisory Group, and has been a featured participant in Synergos events such as University for a Night, the Global Philanthropists Circle annual meeting in 2003 and GPC country visits to Brazil. In the Schwab Foundation's upcoming global summit on the future of social entrepreneurship November 4-6 in São Paulo, he will take part in a panel on the impact of government policies on social innovation and entrepreneurship (www.schwabfound.org/global.htm).
Mattar recently spoke to Global Giving Matters about the growing corporate social responsibility movement in Brazil, and the key role being played by the Ethos and Akatu Institutes in moving that agenda forward.
Global Giving Matters: What was the state of corporate social responsibility when you founded Ethos Institute?
Helio Mattar: Ethos was founded in February 1998 by a group of five businessmen with the leadership of Oded Grajew, now President of Ethos and a founder of the World Social Forum. Corporate social responsibility was not known as such at that time.
The most responsible companies were investing their private resources to support work in the social arena, either through their own efforts, or through some NGO, and already had a perception that, in order to have any socially transforming impact, it was necessary to invest with a long-term vision. Others, were investing on a case-by-case basis, with no long-term vision. There was no unifying vision of their relationship to stakeholders and the question of a code of conduct, and values and principles were still very rare at that point in time.
GGM: Has the movement caught on since then? What are some of the highlights in this regard?
Mattar: The movement has certainly caught on since then. When Ethos started, we had only 11 companies associated. Nowadays, Ethos is an association of about 850 companies, with sales that correspond to the value of 35% of the Brazilian National Product.
In my view, it was essential for the movement to catch the interest of the media to give positive visibility to the early leaders of CSR. The most important business magazine in Brazil, for instance, started a special issue on "good corporate citizenship" and gave visibility to the best companies. Ethos also developed a mechanism called Indicators of Social Responsibility (available on the Ethos website -- www.ethos.org.br), that could be used to evaluate the performance of companies in this regard.
GGM: What are the greatest challenges to effective CSR in Brazil right now?
Mattar: In my view, the greatest challenge is to involve consumers and investors in the process of valuing companies, taking social responsibility into consideration. In Brazil, both groups are already very sensitive to the role of companies not only as productive agents, but also as important social agents.
For instance, when asked about the role of large companies, 44% of Brazilian consumers say that in addition to producing goods and services, generating employment, and paying taxes, companies should be guided by higher ethical standards, going beyond what is demanded by law, and actively contributing to the development of society.
This suggests that consumers already have a perception that the enormous power of companies carries enormous responsibility. And, according to research of the Akatu Institute, consumers are willing to punish or to reward companies based on their social responsibility activities.
In order to deepen consumers and investors perceptions, Akatu was started within Ethos three years ago. Akatu's mission is to educate and mobilize people to be more conscious in their consumption -- to recognize that they have the power to choose which companies to buy from on the basis of demonstrations of corporate social responsibility.
More recently, another institution was started by Ethos, called UniEthos, to build capacity for social responsibility. UniEthos works with managers in the corporate sector on the concept and practice of CSR. The aim is to develop methods and technologies that may be transferred to universities and consulting firms in order to help promote CSR in Brazil.
GGM: Your work with Akatu seems very complementary with the work of Ethos Institute. By raising consumer consciousness of the value of sustainable goods and services, for example, you can help keep the pressure on the business community to respond to the demand. Was this deliberate on your part in founding Akatu and Ethos?
Mattar: Indeed, it was deliberate that the same group of businessmen who co-founded Ethos three years ago decided to found Akatu. My perception was that there would be a limit in the investment of time, energy and money in CSR on the part of companies, if the consumers and investors did not consider CSR as important as price, quality, distribution, innovation and service in their purchase and investment decisions.
Akatu is working on a system that will enable companies to show what they are doing in the area of corporate social responsibility, using the present state of CSR in Brazil as a reference point. In this way, the best companies will have an opportunity to demonstrate to consumers that they have a higher than average CSR and be rewarded for that.
As a follow up to this work, we are doing research to identify what issues in CSR are most important to consumers and create a scale that would allow companies to be categorized in four or five different groups according to their performance in CSR. The aim is to provide a mechanism for consumers to compare companies and to take CSR into consideration in their acts of consumption and investment.
GGM: Ethos Institute took part in the Global Compact Leaders Summit in New York in June 2004. Can you describe the Institute's involvement in this effort?
Mattar: Ethos became active early on in the Global Compact as part of a strategy to involve Brazilian companies on a global basis in CSR. There will be no corporate social responsibility movement if it is not a global movement. Toward this end, Ethos was able to have more than 200 Brazilian companies committed to the Global Compact in the first year of its operation. In June, Ethos participated in the New York summit, reported on developments in Brazil, and helped establish the Global Compact's tenth commitment in the area of corruption (www.unglobalcompact.org).
Microfinance plus: Unitus partnership to aid urban poor in Kenya
Unitus (www.unitus.com), a nonprofit organization that helps microfinance institutions (MFIs) grow to scale, has announced a $1.2 million investment in an innovative partnership with Jamii Bora, an MFI that serves some of Kenyas poore'st populations. "Jamii Bora is one of the most exciting MFIs we've seen on any continent. They offer microcredit loans, extremely low-cost healthcare insurance, alcoholism rehabilitation, and even housing mortgages for former slum dwellers," said Geoff Davis, Unitus CEO. Unitus, co-founded by Mike Murray, a former Microsoft executive and member of the Synergos Global Philanthropists Circle, carefully selects the highest potential MFIs in developing countries and partners with them to accelerate their growth and help them become self-sustaining banks for the poor. Unitus estimates that Kenyan MFIs currently reach only about 5 percent of the potential market, leaving four million prospective clients without access to financial services. The partnership, which aims to help Jamii Bora grow from 70,000 to over 500,000 clients, includes a $1 million line of credit and a $200,000 grant for staff training, and advanced computer systems to support their planned expansion. Jamii Bora was launched when 50 street beggars pleaded with Ingrid Munro, an African-based UN housing expert, to help them improve their lives. Many of those helped by Jamii Bora come from Nairobi's Mathare and Soweto slums; the Kenyan MFI is unusual in that its staff is composed almost exclusively of previous borrowers with a firm understanding of clients' needs. Unitus has partnered with MFIs in India and Mexico, helping them double the number of families they serve. Mike Murray and Unitus were profiled by Global Giving Matters in our February-March 2003 issue.
CSR gains a platform in the Asia Pacific region
The newly formed Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility (www.centreforcsr.org.sg) and the Social Venture Network Asia (www.geocities.com/svnasia/) organized the First Asia Pacific CSR Series in Singapore in July. The conference brought together delegates from Singapore and across the region from business, academia, government and civil society. The event featured sessions on socially responsible investing, benchmarking and communicating CSR, diversity in the workplace and cross-sector partnerships, and provided a rare opportunity for leaders in CSR in Asia to network. A highlight of the conference was the launch of the Asia Pacific CSR group, comprised of nonprofit CSR organizations in Australia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Thailand. The objective of the group is to share knowledge and enhance awareness of CSR in the region. One of the outcomes of the conference was the establishment of the Singapore Country Network for the United Nations Global Compact, which aims to encourage local companies to sign on to the 10 principles of the compact. The Centre for CSR's membership includes SingTel, SGX, ST Engineering, Deloitte & Touche, British Petroleum, Readers' Digest and Microsoft.
Philanthropist's $10 million gift to provide safe haven for persecuted scholars
The Institute of International Education (IIE -- www.iie.org) has announced a $10 million gift from philanthropist and economist Henry Kaufman to support the organization's scholar rescue fund, which aids persecuted scholars around the world. The fund provides life- and career-saving assistance to scholars who are persecuted in their home countries, offering grants for them to continue their work at other institutions. The program, launched in 2002, has awarded grants to more than 50 scholars from 27 different countries. The gift is the largest single donation from an individual in IIE's history. Kaufman, who attributes his commitment to international education to his experiences growing up in post-World War I Germany, will present the award at IIE's 85th anniversary dinner in New York, where he will be honored with the institute's Stephen P. Duggan Award for International Understanding. "Recent world events demonstrate how urgent it still is today to protect scholars who are the focus of attack and persecution, and to defend scholarship and freedom of thought around the globe," Kaufman said. (Institute of International Education, September 15, 2004)
Focus on fundraising in India
Indian fundraisers moved a step closer to the formation of a nationwide association at a recent conference in Madurai, Tamil Nadu. The conference, held at the Meenakshi Hospital and Research Centre (S.R. Trust) in Madurai, was cosponsored by the hospital and the Centre for the Advancement of Philanthropy in Mumbai, New Delhi's Sampradaan Indian Cenre for Philanthropy, and the South Asian Fund Raising Group of New Delhi. The two-day conference in July attracted more than 100 fundraisers, who discussed the current status of philanthropy and fundraising in India. Case studies included presentations on in-kind donations by the Bangalore Hospice Trust and the fundraising model of the National Kidney Foundation of Singapore. Other topics included an assessment of civil society in India, corporate social responsibility and corporate giving in India. Representatives of several of the sponsoring organizations left the conference with a plan to spur the formation of a nationwide association of fundraisers to advance understanding of fundraising principles and methods among the subcontinent's practitioners. More details on the conference can be obtained by contacting mmmhrc@sancharnet.in, or bala@mmhrc.com.
Heifer Project International tapped for 2004 Hilton Prize
Heifer Project International (www.heifer.org) is the recipient of the $1 million Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize, the world's largest humanitarian award, presented annually since 1996 to a nonprofit that has made significant contributions to eliminate human suffering. The award, named for the hotel entrepreneur, will be presented at the Hilton humanitarian conference in New York on October 28. Heifer Project, based in Arkansas, provides livestock to needy families worldwide to help them feed and support themselves. With assets in excess of $2 billion, the Hilton Foundation (www.hiltonfoundation.org) has distributed more than $400 million for philanthropic projects through the world. Approximately 50% of its grants fund international projects. Past winners include Doctors Without Borders and the International Rescue Committee. (Associated Press, September 24, 2004)
Gleitsman Foundation in search of international social activists
The Gleitsman Foundation (www.gleitsman.org) is seeking nominations for its 2005 International Activist Award, which honors individuals in the international community who have inspired change and motivated others in the realm of social activism. The California-based foundation was established by former business executive Alan L. Gleitsman in 1989. The $100,000 International Activist Award is presented every other year, alternating with the Citizen Activist Award, presented in the United States. Past recipients of the International Activist Award include Nelson Mandela, Fazle Abed and Muhammad Yunus. The deadline for nominations is November 5, 2004.
Partnership to test anti-HIV therapies for use in developing countries
The pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) plans to work with the nonprofit International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM) to test several anti-HIV compounds developed by GSK in topical form for possible use as microbicides. Microbicides are considered a promising prevention tool in developing countries, where women's socioeconomic status and dependence on men make them particularly vulnerable to unsafe sex practices. "This is precisely the kind of collaboration needed between the public and private sectors to develop innovative ways to prevent HIV," said Richard Klausner, executive director of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Global Health program. The Gates Foundation is a major contributor to IPM, which has also garnered contributions from the governments of Norway, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, as well as The Rockefeller Foundation, World Bank and the UN Populatoin Fund. Established in 2001, IPM seeks to deliver a safe and effective microbicide for women in developing countries as soon as possible. (International Partnership for Microbicides/GlaxoSmithKline, September 24, 2004)
Taking blended value investing to the next step
The challenges and rewards of "blended value" investing -- a new approach that seeks financial, social and environmental returns -- were discussed in depth at a conference at World Economic Forum headquarters in Geneva in September. The workshop attracted more than 80 practitioners from academia, multi-lateral aid agencies, civil society and foundations, who gathered to explore ways to scale up the growing movement toward blended value investing. The amount of capital available for such investment -- estimated at $2.3 trillion in the US alone -- is increasing, but remains a small portion of the $17 trillion total capital market.
Participants included a diverse array of practitioners, representing large institutions as well as individuals who have created microcredit funds at the local level. Whatever their background, most agreed that making successful blended value investments is even more challenging than investing solely for profit. The workshop focused on investments that are not publicly traded and served to clarify the needs and interests of different types of investors within this field. Participants shared their own experiences with blended value investing, exploring topics such as the value for donors of "smart subsidies" as a way to build capacity to help emerging institutions become profitable; difficulties in packaging blended value investments; the challenges of matching capital with a particular project; the role of government regulations; and the task of measuring performance. The event was sponsored by The Rockefeller Foundation, the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group and the World Economic Forum; a conference report will be available on the Forum's website (www.weforum.org) in December. In the meantime, additional background on blended value can be found at www.blendedvalue.org.
Global leaders to examine new approaches to global problems at University for a Night 2004
The Synergos Institute will convene more than 400 world leaders from all sectors of society -- business, government and civil society -- at its annual University for a Night (www.universityforanight.org) event in New York on November 16, 2004. In an evening of strategic and substantive discussion, participants will debate how best to address the multiple and interconnected social and economic challenges that threaten peace and prosperity. Participants will meet over dinner for focused discussions on specific topics under the theme Innovative Approaches to Complex Global Problems. These dinner discussions are led by over 50 "Distinguished Faculty" -- leaders from around the world with particular knowledge and experience to share.
Plenary speakers will include Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Magne Bondevik; Mario Conejo Maldonado, Mayor of Otavalo, Ecuador; Louis Willem "Tex" Gunning, President of Unilever Bestfoods, Asia; and Noeleen Heyzer, the first Executive Director from the South to head the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).
David Rockefeller and Richard Gere will present the Synergos 2004 Bridging Leadership Awards: the honor for individual leadership will go to John C. Whitehead, Chair of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and former US Secretary of State. For organizational leadership, the award will go to the Foundation for Community Development (FDC) of Mozambique, and will be accepted by FDC Chairperson and former First Lady of Mozambique and of South Africa, Graça Machel.
International conference to explore private sector solutions to poverty
Eradicating Poverty through Profit: Making Business Work for the Poor is the theme of a major international conference on private sector approaches to development, to be held in San Francisco, December 12-14, 2004. The event, organized by the World Resources Institute with support from the World Economic Forum and a range of other partners, will bring together leading corporations from North and South; international agencies working on pro-poor policies and projects; and entrepreneurs-business and social-who are alleviating poverty through innovative approaches. Featured speakers will include C.K. Prahalad, whose research and writing have generated wide debate on marketing to the "bottom of the pyramid." For more information on the conference, visit povertyprofit.wri.org. A four-week virtual conference, conducted by dot-ORG and hosted by Global Knowledge for Development will permit a broad range of stakeholders from around the globe to learn about the proceedings in San Francisco and to exchange ideas and views on this important topic.
Women's funds in the spotlight in September issue of Alliance
The September 2004 issue of Alliance magazine takes an in-depth look at women's funds. Kavita Ramdas, President and CEO of the Global Fund for Women, sets out to challenge the status quo with her vision of feminist philanthropy, and the Sigrid Rausing Trust's Jo Andrews weighs in on the limited options available for funders wishing to help women. Also in the September issue, Nichole Etchart examines how the NESst Venture Fund, originally developed in Central Europe, has been adapted for replication in Chile, and Louise Fréchette, the UN Deputy Secretary-General, assesses progress in meeting the Millenium Development Goals. Alliance is a publication of Allavida (www.allavida.org), an international development organization that works to enable local action
Forbes names top donors on its list of 400 wealthiest
Forbes magazine's annual ranking of the 400 wealthiest people includes a report on America's biggest donors and how much they have given to philanthropic causes. Forbes reports that Richard Goldman -- who, along with his late wife Rhoda, founded the Goldman Environmental Prize (www.goldmanprize.org) -- could have made the list this year, but extensive philanthropic giving reduced his income. The Goldman Prize, founded in 1990, is the world's largest award honoring grassroots environmentalists.
October is International Philanthropy Month at Foundation Center
The Foundation Center has declared October 2004 International Philanthropy Month, with a corresponding focus on this topic in its programs. Highlights will include expanded content on the Center's website (www.fdncenter.org/focus/international), including a new area on US funding for international causes; international news from the Center's Philanthropy News Digest; research and statistics on international funding and links to organizations and resources in the field. The Center will also offer online highlights from International Grantmaking III, to be issued in November, its latest update on international giving by foundations. A special section on international philanthropy and youth will provide information on study-abroad programs, scholarships and volunteer opportunities.
© 2004 The Synergos Institute/World Economic Forum
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