Do local not for profits truly benefit from convenings of big global foundations?

The convening of big global foundations can inspire local action on social issues, argues author Ryan Ginard.

Recently a convening of the world’s top corporate, foundation and individual donors met over 16,000 kilometres away in New York City to ideate and commit to a range of multi-million programs and projects to break through political gridlock to make a difference in lives around the world. The questions we may ask ourselves here on the frontlines of change here in Australia is whether or not these conversations and actions have the power to reverberate globally to inspire and support our work or are part of a growing disconnect between big philanthropy and those they seek to support.

I had the opportunity to attend the recent Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) meeting and speak with the Clinton Foundation CEO Kevin Thurm to see whether big philanthropy can still convene, cultivate, and connect a community of doers to seed the solutions of tomorrow and what lessons we might learn from their approaches here in Australia.

Since the CGI last convened in 2016, the world has dramatically changed. More frequent natural disasters caused by climate change, the largest number of refugees since World War II, and rising inequality in global health and economic systems are just some of the urgent challenges we face as an international community. Even worse, as challenges continue to mount, it feels increasingly harder to break through the gridlock and realise solutions nationally or globally. But for community-based organisations, entrepreneurs, and a new generation of leaders from the frontlines of these challenges, they’ve had no choice but to rise to the moment to creatively forge solutions and demonstrate that progress is possible. 

CGI is, and always will be an important template for collaborative philanthropy. Putting aside the large $500+ million USD that is brought to the table, this convening over the years has fostered more than 3,700 commitments affecting approximately 435 million lives worldwide. It was indeed missed, but has come back with a bang, and to the earlier point, its impact definitely echoes across the globe. If we take anything away from large convenings like this, it isn’t to marvel in the work being done, it should be inspiration that we can leverage our resources to solve some of the defining social issues of our time. After all innovation doesn’t have to be new, just new to you and applied in a localised context. The time for this innovation is now and Australia has a terrific opportunity to step up and be part of a unified change, and sometimes it’s that collective spark from elsewhere that ignites it.

Here is how my discussion with Thurm played out.

Ryan Ginard (RG): CGI brings together a global community of doers. How can folks ‘not in the room’ feel part of this important convening? How can they plug in to the solutions generated from it?

Kevin Thurm (KT): There are multiple ways in which people can participate. If you go to clintonglobal.org/2022, you’ll be able to livestream all of our large plenary discussions as well as our entire range of Spotlight Sessions that focus on specific challenges and solutions. People can sign up on the website to receive updates from CGI, including more details on the Commitments to Action we announce and materials from the meeting. We hope that for those who aren’t able to be at the meeting, they’ll find ways to be inspired, identify areas to potentially plug in, and join our community moving forward. 

RG: CGI is widely lauded for exploring effective models for making lasting positive change. With all of the advances in tech and the funding/impact vehicles that philanthropy is now able to deploy, what has you excited for this next chapter? 

KT: The idea that the possibilities for making lasting positive change have been significantly expanded by advances in technology, evolution in funding/impact vehicles, and other enhancements in the field, creating opportunities for broader, deeper and sustained collaboration and wider impact. I’m excited for CGI to leverage these advances with both our established network and new partners. 

RG: If the commitments generated at CGI are unsuccessful from an initial ROI perspective, how do you ensure that the ideas, efforts and results continue to help create positive change in the communities partnered with/served? 

KT: That’s a critical question. First and foremost, while we promote accountability by posting commitments and updates on our website, we also encourage people to share lessons learned when goals can’t be fully achieved, and to be transparent about the challenges they face. In 2014 we put out a report jointly with Palantir that examined our entire portfolio of commitments in detail, specifically on what lessons we can learn from commitments that don’t end up successful. We’ve learned lessons – for example, that commitments that are partnership-based, cross-sectional, and community-led are more likely to be successful – that we’re working to apply to new commitments as well.  

RG: The next CGI has been dubbed a new chapter of cooperation, progress and action. Is this chapter an evolution of past work or a reimagination of what is possible? 

KT: Through this year’s meeting, more than 3,800 Commitments to Action have been launched, making a difference in the lives of more than 435 million people in over 180 countries. We’re applying that tested model of creative cooperation to a set of challenges that have deepened and become increasingly intertwined over the past few years. 

Since 2016, the trendlines on many of the most urgent challenges have gotten worse. As President Clinton shared in his letter to the CGI community in March, the COVID-19 pandemic ripped the cover off longstanding inequities and vulnerabilities across our global community, the existential threat of climate change grows every day, and the number of displaced people and refugees worldwide is higher than it has ever been. 

We think now is the right time to both apply our model and reimagine what is possible by focusing on the question of “how” – to turn ideas into action, to scale or replicate proven approaches, and to highlight those approaches that need some additional investment or support to succeed. 

RG: Not all solutions scale. How does the Foundation approach replication efforts after initial (and sustained) periods of success?  

KT: This is what works best about the CGI model – when you bring such a diverse group of people and organisations together, you bring together not only diverse talents and resources but also organisations from the private, public and not-for-profit sectors across geographies, substantive areas of focus, and capacities. As you know, we don’t implement or fund the Commitments ourselves – we serve as a force multiplier. We connect the dots between those who have ideas and those who have resources; and we connect the dots on approaches and models that have worked well, and those that haven’t worked as well and why they haven’t. We’re here to support this dynamic, diverse community and set these Commitments up for long-term, sustainable success by making connections and sharing knowledge. 

RG: What makes CGI so special? Why could nobody fill the vacuum left when the conference went on hiatus in 2016? 

KT: President Clinton has a unique power to convene unlikely partners, inspire people to work together, and promote the realisation that we all share responsibility to take action. This focus on action – whether big or small, global or focused on an individual community – is at the core of CGI. From the start, a defining feature of CGI has been the Commitments to Action model with partners creating new, specific and measurable projects. These projects range in scale from community-based efforts at the local level to ones that involve cross-sectoral and regional collaboration. We’ve seen a lot of truly wonderful organisations step up in different ways since 2016 and make an incredible difference. At the same time, there’s so much to do; we’ve continued to engage with the CGI community and realise there’s something unique about what President Clinton calls this “community of doers.” 

RG: What has you most excited about the CGI coming back? 

KT: I’m truly impressed by the breadth and diversity of this year’s Commitments to Action. These Commitments are part of our organisation’s DNA (essentially, “turning ideas into action”) but, more importantly, are a credit to the determination and ingenuity of the CGI community. I hope our audience at the meeting and those watching around the world will be inspired by the breadth of Commitments being announced and find ways to take action in their own ways, through CGI or on their own. And, beyond the Commitments, that we’re conducting our annual meeting in person for the first time in a while is, in and of itself, quite exciting.