ReportWire

Tag: Philanthropy

  • Benefunder Acquires Impactly

    Benefunder Acquires Impactly

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    Benefunder adds Impactly to its suite of services to help private funders manage all aspects of philanthropy and impact investing in one place.


    SAN DIEGO, October 5, 2023 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Benefunder has acquired Impactly, an industry-leading family office and foundation management system. We are happy to share that the transaction is final, the team and platform are now part of Benefunder, and the technology and services are being fully integrated.

    About Impactly

    Impactly was developed as a single true ledger for family offices and foundations that want to align their full capital stack along mission. Impactly’s first client was the Sobrato Organization, a large multi-generational family office in Silicon Valley, as a way to streamline workflows, deployment, and management of impact capital. It consolidates multiple systems into one and provides visibility across the organization, actionable insights, and the ability to collaborate across common areas of interest among family members.

    The Sobrato Org’s primary focus areas are Economic Mobility & Development, Sustainable Agriculture, Oceans, Methane Abatement, Deforestation, Healthcare as well as other areas in which they are open to collaborating with other funders.

    Impactly was developed by Eric Brisson, an accomplished entrepreneur, data scientist, philanthropist, impact investor, and member of the Sobrato family, along with his colleague and co-founder, Nick Foster, MBA. In a matter of two years, Nick and Eric were able to solve some of the most complex, pervasive problems facing family offices, helping their first client deploy more capital, faster, while uncovering critical insights into existing portfolios, and replacing multiple tools, saving time and costs. 

    What’s Next?

    Benefunder will be commercializing and expanding Impactly’s user base in order to accelerate resource deployment among private funders. The Sobrato Org will continue to use Impactly as a founding client; Eric Brisson will be joining Benefunder’s board and will be deeply involved in the strategic development of the platform. Nick will be joining the team as a Director, leading Client Success, Support, and Product Development going forward. Impactly will operate as a stand-alone business unit within Benefunder, as well as part of an end-to-end client solution for resource deployment in tandem with Mandate Services and Capital Markets. Impactly will also become the reporting and management tools for Benefunder’s existing services.

    We are also excited to share that the BQuest Foundation in San Diego has joined as the second user of the platform. Their primary focus is around climate, education and economic development, with an emphasis around solar power proliferation and CO2 reduction. They have been very innovative in pushing the envelope around deploying across various funding structures, including grants, loans, as well as program and mission-related investments, all of which are seamlessly managed on Impactly.

    Big Picture

    We’ve seen and heard from some of the largest and most sophisticated family offices and foundations who struggle with knowing whom to deploy capital to, how to properly evaluate opportunities, structuring transactions, managing them, and identifying other like-minded partners to work with. This is estimated to have left $10+ billion sidelined annually in philanthropy alone and does not include a likely much larger amount for impact investing. There is a growing trend of funders seeking to align their full capital stack along mission and Impactly is the first tool that allows them to manage both sides seamlessly. That’s why we’re incredibly excited about the opportunity to offer an end-to-end solution to support private funders and their impact objectives and to connect with other funders in a secure, discreet environment in order to solve major societal challenges. Impactly closes the loop for us in providing support during every step of the deployment process and we believe it will be the perfect compliment to our existing Mandate and Capital Markets services.  Starting with stalwarts in the impact space like The Sobrato Org and BQuest Foundation will help us grow our capabilities, networks, and reach exponentially.

    About Benefunder 

    Benefunder is an end-to-end solution for family offices and private foundations that want to deploy philanthropic and impact investment capital more efficiently. We offer the Impactly platform, Mandate Services, and Capital Markets as a la carte services to funders to address complexities that otherwise drive expenses, prolong timelines, and reduce the likelihood of intended outcomes.

    For more information, please visit www.benefunder.com.

    Source: Benefunder

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  • Wag’n Tails Launches ‘Mobile Grooming for a Cause’ Campaign

    Wag’n Tails Launches ‘Mobile Grooming for a Cause’ Campaign

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    Press Release
    •

    Oct 2, 2023

    By combining their love of animals with a competitive spirit, the initiative offers participating groomers the chance to win exclusive rewards


    GRANGER, Ind., October 2, 2023 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Wag’n Tails, the industry leader in mobile grooming vans and veterinarian clinics, launched its “Mobile Grooming for a Cause” initiative on October 1. This initiative is poised to create a substantial impact in communities around the country by urging mobile groomers to donate their services at nearby animal shelters.

    By combining the love for animals with a competitive spirit, the initiative offers participating groomers the chance to win exclusive rewards, ensuring that their charitable efforts don’t go unnoticed.

    Wag’n Tails first introduced Mobile Grooming for a Cause in response to the challenges faced by animal shelters after the 2008 recession. The campaign, held in October to align with the ASPCA’s Adopt a Shelter Dog Month, encourages Wag’n Tails customers to donate grooms to shelter dogs because a well-groomed appearance increases the chances of pets finding their forever homes. 

    With the resurgence of similar challenges – such as inflation, economic shifts, and a pandemic-related surge in animal shelter numbers – Wag’n Tails has once again challenged their customers to donate their expertise at local animal shelters because a professionally groomed shelter dog stands a better chance of capturing the hearts of potential adopters.

    “At Wag’n Tails, we believe that every pet deserves a loving family,” said Dennis Gnetz, CEO of Wag’n Tails Mobile Conversions. “Our hope is that this campaign will give these animals a chance to find their forever homes because I truly believe our customers are the best groomers in the world.”

    Groomers eager to join this cause can visit www.wagntails.com/MGFAC.

    About Wag’n Tails: Wag’n Tails is the Nation’s leading manufacturer of mobile grooming vans and mobile veterinarian clinics, committed to improving the lives of animals and their caretakers through innovative solutions. The “Mobile Grooming for a Cause” campaign is an embodiment of their dedication to pet well-being and adoption awareness. 

    ### 

    Source: Wag’n Tails

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  • Federal student loan payments are starting again. Here’s what you need to know

    Federal student loan payments are starting again. Here’s what you need to know

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    NEW YORK — Federal student loan borrowers will need to start making payments again this month after a three-year-plus pause due to the pandemic.

    You should expect a bill that lays out how much you have to pay each month at least 21 days before your due date. It’s likely that most borrowers have received their bill already but if you have not, visit your loan servicer account. Interest started accruing again in September.

    If you have student loans and haven’t made a payment in the last three years, don’t panic. Here’s what experts recommend:

    The first step is to log in to your StudentAid.gov account and check who your loan servicer is. Many loan servicers changed during the pandemic, so you might have a different one than you did back in March 2020, said Amy Czulada, outreach and advocacy manager at the Student Borrower Protection Center.

    Once you know your loan servicer, you’ll log into your account with them to access your student loan balance, monthly payment amount and interest rate. Czulada also recommended that you look at which type of student loan you have, so you know which income-driven repayment plans you might qualify for.

    Lastly, update your personal information in your account with your loan servicer to make sure you receive all important correspondence.

    Borrowers can find out what their monthly student loan payment will be on their account with their loan servicer. If you don’t know who your servicer is, you can find it by logging in your studentaid.gov account.

    If you think you’ll have a hard time making payments once they resume, you have several options.

    This summer, President Joe Biden announced a 12-month grace period to help borrowers who struggle after payments restart. You can and should make payments during the first 12 months after payments resume, but if you don’t, you won’t be at risk of default and it won’t hurt your credit score. Interest will accrue whether you make payments or not.

    Betsy Mayotte, president of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors, recommends that you research if you qualify for an income-driven repayment plan. Borrowers can use the loan-simulator tool at StudentAid.gov or the one on TISLA’s website to find a payment plan that best fits their needs. The calculators tell you what your monthly payment would be under each available plan, as well as your long-term costs.

    An income-driven repayment plan sets your monthly student loan payment at an amount that is intended to be affordable based on your income and family size. It takes into account different expenses in your budget, and most federal student loans are eligible for at least one of these types of plans.

    Generally, your payment amount under an income-driven repayment plan is a percentage of your discretionary income. If your income is low enough, your payment could be $0 per month.

    Last year, the Biden administration announced a new income-driven repayment plan. The SAVE plan offers some of the most lenient terms ever. On this plan, interest won’t pile up as long as borrowers make regular payments.

    It’s still possible that the SAVE plan could face legal challenges similar to the one that led the Supreme Court to strike down Biden’s proposal for mass student loan cancellation.

    If you’ve worked for a government agency or a nonprofit, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program offers cancellation after 10 years of regular payments, and some income-driven repayment plans cancel the remainder of a borrower’s debt after 20 to 25 years.

    Borrowers should make sure they’re signed up for the best possible income-driven repayment plan to qualify for these programs.

    Borrowers who have been defrauded by for-profit colleges may also apply for borrower defense and receive relief.

    If you’d like to repay your federal student loans under an income-driven plan, the first step is to fill out an application through the Federal Student Aid website.

    If you sign up for automatic payments, the servicer takes a quarter of a percent off your interest rate.

    You can enroll in automatic payments through your loan servicer’s account. Borrowers who were enrolled in automatic payments prior to the payment pause need to re-enroll again, said Czulada.

    Czulada recommends staying vigilant about scams. You should never have to pay to get help with your loans or to apply for any programs.

    “The Department of Education will never call you on the phone. So, if you’re getting a phone call that says ‘Hey, pay $100 now and you’ll get your debt canceled,’ that’s a red flag that it’s a scammer,” said Czulada.

    To protect yourself from scams, the Department of Education recommends that you know their official email addresses, check for typos in advertisement and never share your log-in information.

    ___

    The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism.

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  • Federal student loan payments are starting again. Here’s what you need to know

    Federal student loan payments are starting again. Here’s what you need to know

    [ad_1]

    NEW YORK — Federal student loan borrowers will need to start making payments again this month after a three-year-plus pause due to the pandemic.

    You should expect a bill that lays out how much you have to pay each month at least 21 days before your due date. It’s likely that most borrowers have received their bill already but if you have not, visit your loan servicer account. Interest started accruing again in September.

    If you have student loans and haven’t made a payment in the last three years, don’t panic. Here’s what experts recommend:

    The first step is to log in to your StudentAid.gov account and check who your loan servicer is. Many loan servicers changed during the pandemic, so you might have a different one than you did back in March 2020, said Amy Czulada, outreach and advocacy manager at the Student Borrower Protection Center.

    Once you know your loan servicer, you’ll log into your account with them to access your student loan balance, monthly payment amount and interest rate. Czulada also recommended that you look at which type of student loan you have, so you know which income-driven repayment plans you might qualify for.

    Lastly, update your personal information in your account with your loan servicer to make sure you receive all important correspondence.

    Borrowers can find out what their monthly student loan payment will be on their account with their loan servicer. If you don’t know who your servicer is, you can find it by logging in your studentaid.gov account.

    If you think you’ll have a hard time making payments once they resume, you have several options.

    This summer, President Joe Biden announced a 12-month grace period to help borrowers who struggle after payments restart. You can and should make payments during the first 12 months after payments resume, but if you don’t, you won’t be at risk of default and it won’t hurt your credit score. Interest will accrue whether you make payments or not.

    Betsy Mayotte, president of The Institute of Student Loan Advisors, recommends that you research if you qualify for an income-driven repayment plan. Borrowers can use the loan-simulator tool at StudentAid.gov or the one on TISLA’s website to find a payment plan that best fits their needs. The calculators tell you what your monthly payment would be under each available plan, as well as your long-term costs.

    An income-driven repayment plan sets your monthly student loan payment at an amount that is intended to be affordable based on your income and family size. It takes into account different expenses in your budget, and most federal student loans are eligible for at least one of these types of plans.

    Generally, your payment amount under an income-driven repayment plan is a percentage of your discretionary income. If your income is low enough, your payment could be $0 per month.

    Last year, the Biden administration announced a new income-driven repayment plan. The SAVE plan offers some of the most lenient terms ever. On this plan, interest won’t pile up as long as borrowers make regular payments.

    It’s still possible that the SAVE plan could face legal challenges similar to the one that led the Supreme Court to strike down Biden’s proposal for mass student loan cancellation.

    If you’ve worked for a government agency or a nonprofit, the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program offers cancellation after 10 years of regular payments, and some income-driven repayment plans cancel the remainder of a borrower’s debt after 20 to 25 years.

    Borrowers should make sure they’re signed up for the best possible income-driven repayment plan to qualify for these programs.

    Borrowers who have been defrauded by for-profit colleges may also apply for borrower defense and receive relief.

    If you’d like to repay your federal student loans under an income-driven plan, the first step is to fill out an application through the Federal Student Aid website.

    If you sign up for automatic payments, the servicer takes a quarter of a percent off your interest rate.

    You can enroll in automatic payments through your loan servicer’s account. Borrowers who were enrolled in automatic payments prior to the payment pause need to re-enroll again, said Czulada.

    Czulada recommends staying vigilant about scams. You should never have to pay to get help with your loans or to apply for any programs.

    “The Department of Education will never call you on the phone. So, if you’re getting a phone call that says ‘Hey, pay $100 now and you’ll get your debt canceled,’ that’s a red flag that it’s a scammer,” said Czulada.

    To protect yourself from scams, the Department of Education recommends that you know their official email addresses, check for typos in advertisement and never share your log-in information.

    ___

    The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism.

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  • University of the People founder and Arizona State professor win Yidan Prize for education work

    University of the People founder and Arizona State professor win Yidan Prize for education work

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    NEW YORK — Shai Reshef, president and founder of the online, tuition-free University of the People, and Arizona State professor and researcher Michelene Chi, who has developed a framework to improve how students learn, are the 2023 winners of The Yidan Prize, the biggest award in education.

    Reshef and Chi will each receive 15 million Hong Kong dollars ($1.9 million) from The Hong Kong-based Yidan Prize Foundation, as well as another 15 million Hong Kong dollars ($1.9 million) in unrestricted funds to further their work, the foundation announced Wednesday.

    Edward Ma, the Yidan Prize Foundation’s secretary-general, said both Reshef and Chi will become Yidan laureates and join the winners from the previous seven years to work together to improve education on the local level and the global level.

    “We see it as strategic philanthropy that achieves greater impact by calling together this all-star team of educators from different parts of the world together,” Ma told The Associated Press. “We have people who are very familiar with the international space, like the World Bank, or the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), but they rarely sit at the same table and all discuss the same topic and try to come to a consensus.”

    Reshef and Chi will join the other laureates at a summit in December to receive their awards and discuss potential advancements in education.

    Reshef hopes that winning the Yidan Prize for education development will help the University of the People – UoPeople, for short – with its biggest problem, which is helping more people learn about it. Though UoPeople currently has about 137,000 students from more than 200 countries, including more than 16,500 refugees, Reshef hopes to offer tuition-free, online higher education to millions more who need it.

    “Winning the most important award in education means that someone checked you out and thought you deserved it, which is so nice,” Reshef told The AP in an interview. “On a personal level – for the last 15 years, for 16 hours a day, I have been doing nothing but working on University of the People – to get this recognition, it pretty much says that I was probably right thinking this was the right thing to do.”

    Currently, UoPeople only teaches students in English and, more recently, Arabic, due to the large number of Syrian refugees enrolled. Reshef wants to use the financial support from the prize to offer classes in Spanish to help Venezuelan refugees, as well as offer job placement services for graduates. He also hopes the prize will encourage others to replicate the UoPeople model, where students pay no tuition, only a reduced fee for each class that they take toward their degrees.

    Chi, who is the director of Arizona State’s Learning and Cognition Lab, as well as a professor of science and teaching, won the Yidan Prize for education research for her ICAP theory that helps teachers design lesson plans and activities that are more engaging for students and improve their comprehension of complicated topics, including STEM subjects.

    “What makes this award so exciting is that it means I can now do the translation work,” she said. “I’m actually going to translate the evidence-based findings into things practitioners can actually use.”

    Through her research, Chi has identified many concrete changes teachers can make to increase their students’ understanding of their lessons. Some are as simple as changing the words used in assignments – “explain” or “justify” are better than “review” or “match” – or taking breaks in a lecture every few minutes so students can reset their attention on a topic. Other teaching alterations may be slightly more complex – asking students to find an error rather than a solution or using one of their questions as the center of a lesson.

    Chi hopes to use the prize to offer training based on her findings to teachers around the world. She also hopes to explore ways to design lesson plans and perhaps write a practitioner’s manual incorporating her research.

    “Translating research and work in the classroom is much harder than people think,” Chi said. “I think this is a really novel avenue that the Yidan Foundation is using, which is really awesome.”

    Ma said he hopes the Yidan Prize will lead to more philanthropic donations for Chi and Reshef to continue and expand their work. He said the award selection committees are meticulous in their due diligence, helping future donors feel more confident in the strength of the new laureates’ work.

    “We want to make it known to a wider audience, cutting across international organizations, philanthropic foundations, schools, universities and also policymakers,” Ma said. “There is a sweet spot where everyone can find the benefits of these ideas.”

    _____

    Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

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  • Chinese government sentences a famed Uyghur scholar to life in prison, foundation says

    Chinese government sentences a famed Uyghur scholar to life in prison, foundation says

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    BEIJING — A prominent Uyghur scholar specializing in the study of her people’s folklore and traditions has been sentenced to life in prison, according to a U.S.-based foundation that works on human rights cases in China.

    Rahile Dawut was convicted on charges of endangering state security in December 2018 in a secret trial, the San Francisco-based Dui Hua Foundation said in a statement Thursday. Dawut appealed but her conviction was upheld, the foundation said.

    “The sentencing of Professor Rahile Dawut to life in prison is a cruel tragedy, a great loss for the Uyghur people, and for all who treasure academic freedom,” John Kamm, executive director of the Dui Hua Foundation, said in a statement.

    Dawut was a professor at Xinjiang University and founder of the school’s Ethnic Minorities Folklore Research Center. She disappeared in late 2017 amid a brutal government crackdown aimed at the Uyghurs, a Turkic, predominately Muslim ethnicity native to China’s northwest Xinjiang region.

    For years, her exact status was unknown, as Chinese authorities didn’t disclose her whereabouts or the nature of the charges against her. That changed this month when the Dui Hua Foundation saw a Chinese government document disclosing that Dawut was sentenced to life in prison.

    Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning said she had “no information” on Dawut’s case at a regular press briefing Friday, but added that China would “handle cases in accordance with the law.”

    Dawut was internationally renowned for her work studying sacred Islamic sites and Uyghur cultural practices in Xinjiang and across Central Asia, authoring many articles and books and lecturing as a visiting scholar abroad, including at Cambridge and the University of Pennsylvania.

    She is one of over 400 prominent academics, writers, performers and artists detained in Xinjiang, advocacy groups say. Critics say the government has targeted intellectuals as a way to dilute, or even erase, Uyghur culture, language and identity.

    “Most prominent Uyghur intellectuals have been arrested. They’ve been indiscriminate,” said Joshua Freeman, an Academia Sinica researcher who used to work as a translator for Dawut. “I don’t think it is anything about her work that got her in trouble. I think what got her in trouble was that she was born a Uyghur.”

    News of her life sentence shocked Freeman and other academics in Uyghur studies, as Dawut didn’t engage in activities opposing the Chinese government. Dawut was a member of the Chinese Communist Party and received grants and awards from the Chinese Ministry of Culture before her arrest.

    Dawut’s daughter, Akeda Pulati, said she was stunned by the news and called on the Chinese authorities to release her mother.

    “I know the Chinese government is torturing and persecuting the Uyghurs. But I didn’t expect them to be that cruel, to give my innocent mother a life sentence,” Pulati said. “Their cruelty is beyond my imagination.”

    Pulati called Dawut “the hardest working person I’ve ever met,” saying that since she was a child, she had been inspired by her mother’s dedication to her career.

    “She’s a very simple person — all she wants in her life is just to find enjoyment in her work and her career and do something good for society, for the people around her,” Pulati said.

    Mukaddas Mijit, a Uyghur ethnomusicologist based in Brussels, said Dawut had been an important advisor to her and many other scholars early in their careers. Dawut was a critical bridge between global academia and Uyghur culture, Mijit said, mentoring a generation of prominent Uyghur scholars across the world.

    “She was a guardian of Uyghur identity, and that’s something the Chinese government is after,” Mijit said. “They want to erase everything, and they want Uyghurs to forget how beautiful and colorful a culture they had.”

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  • Gates Foundation commits $200 million to pay for medical supplies and contraception

    Gates Foundation commits $200 million to pay for medical supplies and contraception

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    NEW YORK — The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pledged $200 million to help save the lives of mothers and children during child birth, as the largest American philanthropic donor throws its weight behind the issue during the nonprofit’s annual Goalkeepers conference on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

    Melinda French Gates, who says the issue is personal to her, smiled broadly as she introduced herself not just as the co-founder and co-chair of the foundation but as “Nona,” or grandmother, gesturing to her oldest daughter, Jennifer, who was seated in the audience in New York on Wednesday.

    The foundation pledged $100 million each to health products manufacturer Unitaid, and UNFPA, the U.N. agency for reproductive health, to fund access to health care and contraceptive supplies and information in low- and middle-income countries. The Gates Foundation has been a major supporter of Unitaid, donating $50 million in each 2012 and 2017, according to the foundation’s grant database.

    Founded in 2017, the Goalkeepers initiative is how the foundation tracks progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals, which U.N. member countries agreed in 2015 to meet by 2030. The goals set lofty targets to reduce poverty, improve health and education and protect the environment, though progress toward achieving them has fallen significantly off track, especially following the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

    In an effort to reach an audience outside of government officials, experts and policy circles, the foundation hosted an award ceremony in New York Tuesday evening and recruited social media influencers to cover it, said Blessing Omakwu, who leads the Goalkeepers initiative.

    “My goal is they go back and take these things that we said in a very policy way and make it accessible to their followings and say, ‘Look, this matters. You should care about maternal health,’” she said.

    French Gates recognized former President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter with a lifetime achievement award, pointing in part Carter’s long commitment to the elimination of guinea worm disease. Singer Bono also received a special award for his work advocating over many years for access to health care in developing countries and for the role he played in launching the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR.

    The program to combat HIV/AIDS was created by President George W. Bush and the U.S. Congress two decades ago and is credited with saving 25 million lives. The fate of the program, set to expire at the end of September, is uncertain because of a demand from Republican lawmakers to bar nongovernmental organizations that used any funding from providing or promoting abortion services.

    Bill Gates was absent from the award ceremony Tuesday because he had been invited to attend an event with President Joe Biden, French Gates said on stage. The two announced their divorce in 2021 but committed to continuing to work together at the foundation.

    Speaking of the future of PEPFAR on Wednesday, Bill Gates said the idea the program would not continue is quite scary, given that it continues to provide life saving medications for millions of people around the world.

    “It’s a shame that, at least temporarily, this is caught up in sort of a, ‘Does the U.S. reach out to the world and help the world?’ — some of those controversies. I think we will overcome that because the U.S. has a lot to be proud on this one,” Gates said.

    Gates also made the case for a suite of interventions to prevent the deaths of children in the year after they are born, which he said was one of the first priorities of the foundation. He spoke with emotion about a visit he made to a South African clinic, where doctors asked the mother of a child who had died that day if she would allow them to try to determine more specifically the cause of the baby’s death as a part of a larger study. Cumulatively, the results of that study, which the foundation funded, has advanced knowledge about the causes of infant mortality.

    The foundation also recognized the leaders of projects they said exemplified the aims of the development goals, including Eden Tadesse from Ethiopia, who designed a platform to provide job opportunities to refugees, and Aidan Reilly, Ben Collier, and James Kanoff, who started a project that delivers vegetables and produce that otherwise would be thrown out to food banks in the U.S.

    Award winner Ashu Martha Agbornyenty, a midwife from Cameroon, called the foundation’s recognition of her work a victory for those who study to become midwives and for the health of women in her country.

    “Everyone around me was like, ‘There’s nothing for midwifery. Midwifery is just a layman’s profession. There’s no future for midwifery.’ But me being here in New York today, it’s victory,” she said standing on a red carpet.

    The Gates Foundation was not alone in announcing new commitments to support progress toward the development goals. On Tuesday, the IKEA Foundation pledged $20 million to help workers and communities who may lose jobs in the transition to renewal energy sources in Vietnam, South Africa and Indonesia. The Rockefeller Foundation announced last week that it will focus 75% of its resources over five years on what it calls climate solutions in energy, health, agriculture and finance, committing $1 billion in granted funds. And the Clinton Global Initiative announced that gender equity would now be a pillar of its work.

    Last year, the Gates Foundation put the spotlight on hunger and promoted its support for crops engineered to adapt to climate change and resist agricultural pests, which have been criticized by farming groups and researchers who say that conflicts with worldwide efforts to protect the environment.

    ___

    Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

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  • Chelsea Clinton hopes new donations and ideas can help women and girls face increasing challenges

    Chelsea Clinton hopes new donations and ideas can help women and girls face increasing challenges

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    NEW YORK — The Clinton Global Initiative added gender equity as a pillar of the nonprofit’s work to sound the alarm about the increasing challenges women and girls currently face, Clinton Foundation Vice Chair Chelsea Clinton told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday.

    The conference addressed numerous pressing global issues before wrapping up Tuesday evening – from food insecurity, which World Food Programme Executive Director Cindy McCain called “desperation,” to climate change – with 160 new monetary commitments announced that could total billions of dollars in new funding.

    “Whatever the issue — it’s connected to women and it falls more heavily on women,” Chelsea Clinton said. “It also requires us to center women in how we think about what our collective response should be.”

    She echoed the famous line, “Human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights,” from then First Lady Hillary Clinton’s speech to the United Nations Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. However, Chelsea Clinton said that while there has been progress for gender equality since then, “we’ve stalled out in some areas and we’ve regressed in others.”

    “I think that it’s important to acknowledge all of that,” she said. “We have to secure the progress that we’ve made and keep pushing forward.”

    That also applies to Ukraine. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced the new CGI Ukraine Action Network, which is “committed to sustaining a deliberate international focus on Ukraine and supporting new commitments to action.”

    CGI announced numerous new programs for Ukraine — from actor Orlando Bloom’s plan to raise $20 million to provide new laptops to 50,000 students to So-Light Design’s pledge to provide 30,000 SoLights, individual solar-powered light sources, to Ukrainians who lack consistent access to electricity.

    “We are in this for the long haul for Ukraine, Ukrainians, and for democracy everywhere,” Hillary Clinton said. “Their fight is our fight. Don’t let anybody tell you differently.”

    She also presented First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska with this year’s Clinton Global Citizen Award for “extraordinary leadership amid unimaginable, difficult circumstances, and who has been a forceful advocate for peace and a relentless champion of her determined people.”

    Zelenska, who worked with Hillary Clinton for the past year designing the Ukraine Action Network, accepted the award on behalf of all Ukrainians who she said keep the country going each day in the face of attacks from Russia. “All of them are my compatriots and I am grateful to them,” she said. “A leader is the one who comes to help, who stands by those who need help. I’m grateful to the American people and their friends and family for being such leaders.”

    Cindy McCain was looking to CGI for similar leaders to help address the growing problem of food insecurity.

    “From the World Food Programme’s perspective, the world on fire,” she told former President Bill Clinton. “This is nothing to play with now… We have hundreds of millions of people who don’t know where their next meal is going to come from.”

    McCain said recent disasters in Africa could plunge the region into chaos due to a lack of food. “I am scared for the first time in this job,” she said. “I’m scared about what will happen next.”

    Chef Jose Andres, founder of World Central Kitchen, agreed with McCain that food insecurity should be seen as a national security issue. He said that the war in Ukraine is as much a war about feeding the world, since Ukraine normally feeds about 500 million people annually, as it is a war about them keeping their freedom.

    Andres said he was proud to be part of the Ukraine Action Network to help out through World Central Kitchen.

    “Over the past almost two years, I’ve spent a lot of time in Ukraine and with the World Central Kitchen Ukrainian team members,” he told The Associated Press. “WCK has served over 240 million meals since the invasion of Ukraine began, by mobilizing a network of local cooks, community organizers, and volunteer organizations to provide food, when, where, and how it’s most needed. We have been filling gaps by listening to and following the Ukrainians – Ukrainians feeding Ukrainians – and we constantly adapt to meet the need.”

    Chelsea Clinton said the new gender equity pillar and the Ukraine Action Network provide a structure for expanding CGI’s work that allows it to be more effective.

    “This work has to be coherent and it also has to be bold and ambitious, but with clear underlying targets to kind of hold ourselves accountable,” she said. “It is so that we are very clear about what we’re driving toward.”

    _____

    Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

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  • Groups say philanthropists trying to boost local news shouldn’t leave minorities behind

    Groups say philanthropists trying to boost local news shouldn’t leave minorities behind

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    Organizations representing minority journalists say they’re worried that a recently-announced $500 million initiative designed to boost local news would leave them behind

    ByDAVID BAUDER AP media writer

    September 19, 2023, 5:26 PM

    NEW YORK — Some organizations representing minority journalists say they’re worried that outlets reporting on their communities will be left behind in a recently-announced $500 million initiative aimed at boosting the struggling local news industry.

    They urged that Press Forward Initiative, a group of 20 funders led by the Knight and MacArthur Foundations, to more explicitly commit to funding these outlets, particularly those run by minorities.

    “They’re sort of skirting around it,” said Martin Reynolds, co-executive director of the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education, on Tuesday.

    There was no immediate comment from the funders. In announcing the $500 million pledge two weeks ago, the funders said they wanted to “move resources to newsrooms and organizations that are improving diversity of experience and thought,” as well as into underserved communities.

    Reynolds pointed to research showing that philanthropists tended to favor organizations run by whites for funding, more than minorities, and are more apt to put restrictions on the use of grants given to non-whites.

    He said he’s also concerned that the U.S. Supreme Court decision in June striking down affirmative action in college admissions will make funders less willing to make racial equity a priority in decisions about where to spend.

    A recent survey by the National Trust for Local News found that 53% of leaders at community media outlets that serve specific racial or ethnic communities said their organizations were likely to go out of business within five years based on how things were going for them financially.

    The letter to Press Forward sent on Tuesday was signed by the Asian American Journalists Association, the Indigenous Journalists Association, the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

    Local news in the U.S. has been decimated over the past two decades by a collapse in advertising, leading many newspapers to close or operate in a “ghost” state. Some philanthropies have stepped up in recent years to try and fill the gaps.

    The organizations that spoke out on Tuesday said they “didn’t hesitate to applaud” when the latest funding initiative was announced, and pleased that “improving diversity of experience and thought” was set as part of the mission.

    “As this initiative unfolds and decisions are made about where support is directed, we want to be clear: racial and ethnic diversity, equity and belonging must be among the pillars of its foundation,” the letter said.

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  • Clinton Global Initiative will launch network to provide new humanitarian aid to Ukrainians

    Clinton Global Initiative will launch network to provide new humanitarian aid to Ukrainians

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    NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — The Clinton Global Initiative will announce the launch of the CGI Ukraine Action Network, as well as numerous financial pledges, to support nonprofits working in the country, as the annual conference opens in New York on Monday morning.

    The CGI Ukraine Action Network is the result of a collaboration between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Olena Zelenska, first lady of Ukraine, that began last year. The new organization, which will be formally announced Tuesday, is designed to mobilize existing CGI partners, as well as new leaders from around the world, to create and finance new commitments for Ukrainians, according to CGI. Numerous monetary commitments for Ukraine are also set to be announced Tuesday,

    Continuing support is part of the Clinton Global Initiative, or CGI, theme of “Keep Going” this year, as Hillary Clinton, former President Bill Clinton and Clinton Foundation Vice Chair Chelsea Clinton say they will convene political, business and philanthropic leaders to build on the momentum of the conference’s return last year after a six-year hiatus.

    “The focus will be on what we can do, not what we can’t,” wrote the Clintons in a letter to the conference community, “and will highlight how even seemingly small actions, when taken together, can turn the tide on even our most stubborn challenges.”

    Pope Francis and Bill Clinton will discuss climate change, the refugee crisis, caused in part by the war in Ukraine, and other pressing issues to open the conference on Monday morning.

    In 2022, CGI announced more than 140 commitments, including a $1 billion plan from Water.org, co-founded by actor Matt Damon, to help 100 million people in Africa, Asia and Latin America get lasting access to water and sanitation. This year, leaders including World Bank President Ajay Banga, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres and Ford Foundation CEO Darren Walker, will attend and make their own commitments, which are required for attendance at the conference.

    However, for nonprofits working in Ukraine, the spotlight CGI is offering them, 18 months after Russia’s invasion of the country, may be just as important as the monetary commitments.

    The nonprofit Save Ukraine, which has opened community centers across the country to help families and especially children traumatized by the war and works to rescue Ukrainian children who have been detained in Russia, is set to receive commitments of support during CGI that it plans to use to open more centers, said Olga Yerokhina, spokeswoman for the charity.

    “We know that we have no choice — we must work hard and we are ready for that,” said Yerokhina, who is based in Kyiv. “But we also have this feeling of, ‘Guys, please don’t leave us because we want to be with you.’ If we are not with you, Russia is going to just erase us from the map of the world.”

    Actor Liev Schreiber, co-founder of BlueCheck Ukraine, which vets small Ukrainian nonprofits doing humanitarian work in their communities so that donors can learn about these smaller organizations and feel comfortable funding them, said reminding people about what Ukrainians are still going through may be the most important part of CGI.

    “The best possible outcome is keeping people aware that they are still an existential situation,” Schreiber said. “Democracies are designed to push back against impossible odds. And it’s worked. It’s been a miracle in many respects. .. It really is a David and Goliath story. It’s extraordinary. And it’s not just them. It’s us supporting them. How can we give that up now?”

    Schreiber will speak on a panel Monday morning about Ukraine’s short-term and long-term needs, along with Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Fran Katsoudas, Cisco’s Chief People, Policy & Purpose Officer, and actor Orlando Bloom, who serves as UNICEF’s Goodwill Ambassador. Bloom is expected to announce a commitment for new technology for Ukrainian schoolchildren on Monday, organizers say.

    “I’m super proud of the global community,” Schreiber said. “This is a test for us. Do we really care? I think so far we’ve had remarkable success so far in supporting them. So many countries did something extraordinary to help. That’s significant. We can’t forget that.”

    _____

    Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

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  • Clinton Global Initiative to launch network to provide humanitarian aid to Ukrainians

    Clinton Global Initiative to launch network to provide humanitarian aid to Ukrainians

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    NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — The Clinton Global Initiative will announce the launch of the CGI Ukraine Action Network, as well as numerous financial pledges, to support nonprofits working in the country, as the annual conference opens in New York on Monday morning.

    The CGI Ukraine Action Network is the result of a collaboration between former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Olena Zelenska, first lady of Ukraine, that began last year. The new organization, which will be formally announced Tuesday, is designed to mobilize existing CGI partners, as well as new leaders from around the world, to create and finance new commitments for Ukrainians, according to CGI. Numerous monetary commitments for Ukraine are also set to be announced Tuesday,

    Continuing support is part of the Clinton Global Initiative, or CGI, theme of “Keep Going” this year, as Hillary Clinton, former President Bill Clinton and Clinton Foundation Vice Chair Chelsea Clinton say they will convene political, business and philanthropic leaders to build on the momentum of the conference’s return last year after a six-year hiatus.

    “The focus will be on what we can do, not what we can’t,” wrote the Clintons in a letter to the conference community, “and will highlight how even seemingly small actions, when taken together, can turn the tide on even our most stubborn challenges.”

    Pope Francis and Bill Clinton will discuss climate change, the refugee crisis, caused in part by the war in Ukraine, and other pressing issues to open the conference on Monday morning.

    In 2022, CGI announced more than 140 commitments, including a $1 billion plan from Water.org, co-founded by actor Matt Damon, to help 100 million people in Africa, Asia and Latin America get lasting access to water and sanitation. This year, leaders including World Bank President Ajay Banga, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres and Ford Foundation CEO Darren Walker, will attend and make their own commitments, which are required for attendance at the conference.

    However, for nonprofits working in Ukraine, the spotlight CGI is offering them, 18 months after Russia’s invasion of the country, may be just as important as the monetary commitments.

    The nonprofit Save Ukraine, which has opened community centers across the country to help families and especially children traumatized by the war and works to rescue Ukrainian children who have been detained in Russia, is set to receive commitments of support during CGI that it plans to use to open more centers, said Olga Yerokhina, spokeswoman for the charity.

    “We know that we have no choice — we must work hard and we are ready for that,” said Yerokhina, who is based in Kyiv. “But we also have this feeling of, ‘Guys, please don’t leave us because we want to be with you.’ If we are not with you, Russia is going to just erase us from the map of the world.”

    Actor Liev Schreiber, co-founder of BlueCheck Ukraine, which vets small Ukrainian nonprofits doing humanitarian work in their communities so that donors can learn about these smaller organizations and feel comfortable funding them, said reminding people about what Ukrainians are still going through may be the most important part of CGI.

    “The best possible outcome is keeping people aware that they are still an existential situation,” Schreiber said. “Democracies are designed to push back against impossible odds. And it’s worked. It’s been a miracle in many respects. .. It really is a David and Goliath story. It’s extraordinary. And it’s not just them. It’s us supporting them. How can we give that up now?”

    Schreiber will speak on a panel Monday morning about Ukraine’s short-term and long-term needs, along with Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Fran Katsoudas, Cisco’s Chief People, Policy & Purpose Officer, and actor Orlando Bloom, who serves as UNICEF’s Goodwill Ambassador. Bloom is expected to announce a commitment for new technology for Ukrainian schoolchildren on Monday, organizers say.

    “I’m super proud of the global community,” Schreiber said. “This is a test for us. Do we really care? I think so far we’ve had remarkable success so far in supporting them. So many countries did something extraordinary to help. That’s significant. We can’t forget that.”

    _____

    Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

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  • Afghan NGO says it’s working with the UN for the quick release of 18 staff detained by the Taliban

    Afghan NGO says it’s working with the UN for the quick release of 18 staff detained by the Taliban

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    An Afghanistan-based nonprofit says it is working with the U.N. to free 18 of its staff, including a foreigner, from Taliban detention

    ByThe Associated Press

    September 16, 2023, 4:22 AM

    ISLAMABAD — An Afghanistan-based nonprofit said Saturday it is working with the United Nations and others for the swift release of 18 staffers, including a foreigner, detained by the Taliban.

    The International Assistance Mission said the 18 people were detained on two separate occasions this month from its office in central Ghor province and taken to the capital, Kabul.

    Local media reported that a U.S. national is among those detained and that staff members were detained for preaching about Christianity. The nonprofit said it still has no information about the nature of the allegations.

    “IAM has written to the Ministry of Economy, where we are legally registered as an international NGO, about these extremely concerning developments,” the nonprofit said. “We are also working with the U.N. and ACBAR, the coordinating body for NGOs in Afghanistan, to deepen our understanding of the situation and to work for the quick release of our 18 colleagues.”

    The mission said it values and respects Afghanistan’s customs and cultures, standing by the principle that aid will not be used to further a “particular political or religious” point of view. It said all its staff agree to abide by the country’s laws.

    Afghan officials were not immediately available for comment on the detentions.

    The nonprofit said two Afghan nationals and one international team member were taken from its Ghor office on September 3. A further 15 Afghan national staff members were taken from the same office on September 13.

    NGOs have come under greater scrutiny since the Taliban seized control of the country two years ago. They have introduced harsh measures, including banning Afghan women from education beyond sixth grade and barring them from public life and work, including jobs at NGOs.

    A U.S. watchdog reported earlier this year that the Taliban are harassing NGOs operating in the country.

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  • Top Charlotte bank executive named new president of Foundation for the Carolinas

    Top Charlotte bank executive named new president of Foundation for the Carolinas

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    After 40 years at Bank of America, Cathy Bessant will succeed Michael Marsicano as the president and CEO of the Foundation for the Carolinas.

    After 40 years at Bank of America, Cathy Bessant will succeed Michael Marsicano as the president and CEO of the Foundation for the Carolinas.


    Deborah Triplett

    The Foundation for the Carolinas — the Charlotte-based nonprofit organization with more than $4 billion in assets — will enter its fourth generation of leadership in 2024.

    Veteran Bank of America executive Cathy Bessant will take over the nation’s fifth largest community foundation as its president and CEO in the new year, leaders told reporters Wednesday.

    Bessant, who in July announced plans to retire from Bank of America after 40 years, succeeds Michael Marsicano, who grew the foundation’s assets from $245 million in 1999 to nearly $4 billion as its third president.

    Bessant, a former chair and longtime FFTC board member, will be tasked with taking over several initiatives — and some controversy — that began under Marsicano’s leadership.

    “I don’t think of this as chapter two,” Bessant said. “I think of this as a return to chapter one. I never intended to be a banker for 40 years.”

    Bessant said she got a job at the bank to make money before going to law school. She wanted to be a lawyer for the ACLU.

    “This is yet another expression of, I think, the person that I’ve always been,” she said.

    Bessant will inherit several programs that began under Marsicano, including the Mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative, the Greater Charlotte Cultural Trust, the Charlotte Housing Opportunity Fund and the Carolina Theatre.

    The foundation originally planned to replace Marsicano before he retired in January, but interim CEO Laura Smith helmed the organization throughout this year.

    The search for a new president was “no easy task,” said Jada Grandy-Mock, who sits on the Board of Directors and search committee.

    “It was a long search that was done with intent, as well as a whole lot of focus,” she said. “We didn’t want to rush in identifying the best candidate for this foundation, for this community.”

    Smith’s staff gave the search committee the flexibility to spend time looking for the best candidate, Board of Directors Chair Arrington Mixon added.

    Bessant, the daughter of a public-school teacher and nonprofit leader, graduated from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. She is a breast cancer survivor and earned the “Most Powerful Woman in Banking” designation from American Banker magazine three times in a row.

    At Bank of America, Bessant served as the president of Global Corporate Banking, chief marketing officer and, most recently, as vice chair of Global Strategy in Paris. She said she looks forward to returning to Charlotte and the Carolinas, which will always be her home.

    “There isn’t a better job in a better city at a better time,” Marsicano said in 2019 when asked what advice he’d give his successor.

    Bessant will also manage the foundation’s partnerships and donor-directed funds, $20 million of which were funneled to anti-immigration groups from 2006 to 2018, a 2019 Charlotte Observer investigation found.

    With the foundation’s long-standing donations to area nonprofits that support asylum-seekers and refugees, its pass-through donation in the Center for Immigration Studies and Federation for American Immigration Reform — designated hate groups — boggled and upset some.

    While charitable grants from the foundation did not go to anti-immigration groups, “donor-advised” funds did, the Observer previously reported. In most cases, donors determine where money goes, and the foundation can channel it to any organization recognized as a nonprofit by the federal government.

    “Philanthropy is a form of freedom of speech,” Marsicano previously told the Observer, “and I don’t think any institution should be cutting off freedom of speech on fund holders.”

    Bessant said deliberating funds and partnerships is “an incredibly important part of the mission of the CEO” but did not say if the foundation would change the way it funds groups.

    With four months until Bessant assumes her position, there are things about the foundation’s work she does not yet know, she said.

    This story was originally published September 7, 2023, 11:30 AM.

    Related stories from Charlotte Observer

    Charlotte Observer breaking news reporter Julia Coin has covered local and statewide topics, including illegal gambling, school systems, infectious diseases and air quality. She previously covered sexual assault near the University of Florida, Hurricane Ian damage and Florida legislature. She also led one of the largest student-run newsrooms as the Independent Florida Alligator’s editor-in-chief.
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  • Nonprofits Candid and Council on Foundations make a rare deal the way corporations do

    Nonprofits Candid and Council on Foundations make a rare deal the way corporations do

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    NEW YORK — It’s a transaction that would be commonplace for a corporation or a sports team, but it’s the kind of deal that is practically unheard of in the nonprofit sector.

    The philanthropy research organization Candid will send control of its CF Insights website and the staff that gathered information about community foundations to the Council on Foundations, the association of nearly 900 nonprofit members, on Friday.

    Candid CEO Ann Mei Chang says the shift will allow her nonprofit to focus more sharply on priority areas – including diversity, transparency and effectiveness in the sector – while providing its CF Insights information a larger audience and the potential to expand at the Council on Foundations.

    “That was our No. 1 criteria about whether to move forward with this,” Chang said. “We believe more community foundations would be able to benefit from this tool at the Council than from Candid.”

    Council on Foundations CEO Kathleen Enright said community foundations are unique civic institutions because they meet so many different needs depending on the area that they serve. Some focus on bringing federal and local money into the community, especially in the wake of disasters, like the way the Hawaii Community Foundation has helped focus donations for those affected by the Maui wildfires. Others aggregate philanthropic donations for a community. Many also serve as homes for the increasingly popular donor-advised funds. Some provide all of these services and more.

    “They’re often the only community foundation in their region,” Enright said. “So being able to network with and benchmark against peers at the national level is incredibly important. It helps them make better decisions.”

    Chang said CF Insights can help community foundations see how its peers handled expansion or compensation. And that information pairs well with the Council on Foundations annual surveys on compensation and benefits among community foundations.

    In the corporate world, that would be called synergy.

    However, nonprofits don’t generally go looking for synergy through mergers and acquisitions or restructuring.

    “We don’t have the financial incentive,” Chang said. “In business, the way that you incentivize somebody to give up something that they have that’s good is that you give them a lot of money, right? That doesn’t happen in the nonprofit sector. We’re not buying things from each other.”

    However, both Chang and Enright say that more nonprofits should look for more effective ways to use resources, including potentially sending some to other nonprofits.

    “We are really trying to take a field first approach, thinking about what’s best for the field,” Chang said. “There’s no financial upside for us in making these deals. And there is a cost, so it’s a hard equation to square for organizations.”

    Enright said even though both Candid and the Council on Foundations were interested in the deal, it still required resources from both nonprofits, as well as an external consultant, to get completed. She said she understands that smaller organizations may not have been able to complete it.

    “It starts with putting the needs of those that we serve before ours,” Enright said. “That is really core to what we did here.”

    Even though it was difficult, Chang said she hopes more nonprofits will consider it – perhaps with more support from donors looking to make nonprofits work better together. Candid recently donated some of its data to the new initiative led by The Aspen Institute, Charity Navigator, CitizenAudit, GivingTuesday, and The Urban Institute to create a clearinghouse for forms nonprofits file with the Internal Revenue Service.

    “I’d love to see more of this happen,” Chang said. “I think investments like this can really help us create a much more robust sector that will be in a stronger position to, over time, be able to serve the needs of more people.”

    _____

    Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

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  • Francis opens clinic on 1st papal visit to Mongolia. He says it’s about charity not conversion

    Francis opens clinic on 1st papal visit to Mongolia. He says it’s about charity not conversion

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    ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia — Pope Francis wrapped up the first-ever papal visit to Mongolia on Monday by inaugurating a church-run homeless clinic and shelter, insisting that such initiatives aren’t aimed at winning converts but are simply exercises in Christian charity.

    Francis toured the House of Mercy, a three-story structure housed in an old school, which the local church has opened as an expression of the roots that it has taken in the three decades that the Catholic Church has had an official presence in Mongolia. It was the final event of an historic four-day visit to a region where the Holy See has long sought to make inroads.

    Several of the foreign-staffed Catholic religious orders in Mongolia run shelters, orphanages and nursing homes to care for a population of 3.3 million where one in three people lives in poverty. But the new clinic for homeless people, people with disabilities and victims of domestic violence is aimed at showing the outreach of the Mongolian Catholic Church as a whole to its local community.

    “The true progress of a nation is not gauged by economic wealth, much less by investment in the illusory power of armaments, but by its ability to provide for the health, education and integral development of its people,” Francis said at the shelter, urging Mongolians rich and poor to volunteer to help their fellow citizens.

    Currently, some 77 missionaries minister to Mongolia’s Catholics, who with around 1,450 people constitute one of the tiniest Catholic flocks in the world. But only two Mongolian men have been ordained priests, and no Mongolian women have decided to join religious congregations as nuns.

    These foreign missionaries say the biggest challenge facing them is to cultivate a truly local Mongolian church, with trained lay people who are well inserted into the fabric of society. That, they hope, will eventually lead to more religious vocations so that foreign missionaries become less and less necessary.

    “We have to make this a church of Mongolia, one that has the flavor of this land, of its steppes, of its sheep, goats, of its ger,” said the Rev. Ernesto Viscardi, an Italian priest of the Consolata missionary order who has been based in Mongolia for 19 years.

    “There are 77 of us missionaries. We’re all great, all saints, everyone works well,” he said laughing. “But we have to think about making the local church grow, so that the (Mongolian) people take their church in hand. Otherwise we colonize Mongolia anew, and that makes no sense.”

    In urging everyday Mongolians to volunteer to help the poor, Francis said charity work wasn’t just for the idle rich but for everyone. And he denied that Catholic charity was about winning new converts.

    “Another myth needing to be dispelled is that the Catholic Church, distinguished throughout the world for its great commitment to works of social promotion, does all this to proselytize, as if caring for others were a way of enticing people to ‘join up,’” Francis said. “No! Christians do whatever they can to alleviate the suffering of the needy, because in the person of the poor they acknowledge Jesus, the Son of God, and in him the dignity of each person.”

    Francis’ comment was a tacit acknowledgement of the competition for souls in places like Mongolia, which banned religious observation during decades of Soviet-allied communist government. Now, religious freedom is enshrined in the Mongolian constitution, and a variety of Christian and evangelical churches have taken root here.

    Some, such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, boast a much bigger presence in Mongolia and claim far more members than the Catholic Church. But in a sign that Catholics weren’t competing with the Mormons or other Christian churches, Francis invited their leaders to an interfaith meeting on Saturday in Ulaanbaatar to show their common concern for promoting a more peaceful and harmonious world.

    In seeking to encourage Mongolia’s tiny Catholic flock, Francis has insisted that their small size doesn’t matter and that their success shouldn’t be measured in numbers. “God loves littleness, and through it he loves to accomplish great things,” Francis told priests, nuns and bishops from around the region during a Saturday encounter in the cathedral.

    Francis came to Mongolia to give a word of hope to the young church, but also to make a geopolitically important foray into a troubled region for the Holy See, particularly given neighboring China’s crackdown on religious observance.

    On Sunday, Francis gave a special shout-out to Chinese Catholics, issuing a warm word of greeting from the altar of Mass at the Steppe Arena.

    On Monday, Oyunchimeg Tserendolgo, a social worker at a public school, brought a group of her students to see Francis outside the shelter. She said she felt she had to come see the pope even though she herself isn’t Catholic.

    “I wish for Roman pope to live a long life and to bring more goodness not only to Mongolia, but to the rest of the world,” she said as she held a photo of the pontiff. “When I heard that pope is leaving today, I had to come here to pay my respects. I am so glad I got a glimpse of him. Just so happy.”

    ___

    Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

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  • Nobel Foundation withdraws invitation to Russia, Belarus and Iran to attend ceremonies

    Nobel Foundation withdraws invitation to Russia, Belarus and Iran to attend ceremonies

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    The Nobel Foundation has withdrawn its invitation for representatives of Russia, Belarus and Iran to attend this year’s Nobel Prize award ceremonies after the decision to invite them provoked strong reactions

    ByThe Associated Press

    September 2, 2023, 7:52 AM

    FILE – The Nobel laureates and the royal family of Sweden during the Nobel Prize award ceremony at the Concert Hall in Stockholm, Saturday Dec. 10 2022. The Nobel Foundation has withdrawn its invitation for representatives of Russia, Belarus and Iran to attend this year’s Nobel Prize award ceremonies after the decision to invite them “provoked strong reactions.” Saturday’s U-turn came after several Swedish lawmakers said they would boycott this year’s Nobel Prize award ceremonies. (Pontus Lundahl/TT via AP, File)

    The Associated Press

    STOCKHOLM — The Nobel Foundation on Saturday withdrew its invitation for representatives of Russia, Belarus and Iran to attend this year’s Nobel Prize award ceremonies after the decision announced a day earlier “provoked strong reactions.”

    Several Swedish lawmakers said Friday they would boycott this year’s Nobel Prize award ceremonies in the Swedish capital, Stockholm, after the private foundation that administers the prestigious awards changed its position from a year earlier and invited representatives of the three countries to attend, saying it “promotes opportunities to convey the important messages of the Nobel Prize to everyone.”

    Some of the lawmakers cited Russia’s war on Ukraine and the crackdown on human rights in Iran as reasons for their boycott. Belarusian opposition figure Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on Friday called on the Swedish Nobel Foundation and the Norwegian Nobel Committee not to invite representatives of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko’s “illegitimate regime to any events.”

    On Saturday, she welcomed the Nobel Foundation’s decision. She told The Associated Press that it was “a clear sign of solidarity with the Belarusian and Ukrainian peoples.”

    “This is how you show your commitment to the principles and values of Nobel,” Tsikhanouskaya said.

    Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who said Friday he wouldn’t have allowed the three countries to participate in the award ceremonies, was also happy with the decision. He posted on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that “the many and strong reactions show that the whole of Sweden unambiguously stand on Ukraine’s side against Russia’s appalling war of aggression.”

    The foundation said Saturday it recognized “the strong reactions in Sweden, which completely overshadowed this message” and therefore it had decided not to invite the ambassadors of Russia, Belarus and Iran to the award ceremony in Stockholm.

    However, it said that it would follow its usual practice and invite all ambassadors to the ceremony in the Norwegian capital, Oslo, where the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded.

    Saturday’s announcement was widely praised in Sweden by politicians. Even the Swedish Royal House reacted with spokeswoman Margareta Thorgren saying, as quoted by newspaper Aftonbladet, that “we see the change in the decision as positive”. She added that King Carl XVI Gustaf was planning to hand out this year’s Nobel awards at ceremonies in Stockholm “as before.”

    This year’s Nobel prize winners will be announced in early October. The laureates are then invited to receive their awards at glittering prize ceremonies on Dec. 10, the anniversary of award founder Alfred Nobel’s death in 1896.

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  • Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne Johnson launch fund with $10 million for displaced Maui residents

    Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne Johnson launch fund with $10 million for displaced Maui residents

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    Oprah Winfrey and Dwayne Johnson have committed $10 million to make direct payments to people on Maui who are unable to return to their homes because of the wildfires, through a new fund they announced Thursday.

    The People’s Fund of Maui will give $1,200 a month to adults who are not able to return to their primary residences because of the recent wildfires, including people who owned and rented their homes, according to the fund’s website. The fund will also seek donations to extend the length of time it can provide the support.

    “How do we help?” the “Young Rock” star said he and Winfrey asked each other during the wildfires, saying in a video released along with the announcement that they grappled with how to best direct their efforts. “You want to take care of the greatest need of the people, and that’s giving them money.”

    They are looking forward to the help of “every person who called me and said, ‘What can I do?’” Winfrey said in the video. “This is what you can do.”

    The pair were inspired by a similar fund set up by Dolly Parton after wildfires swept through Gatlinburg, Tennessee in December 2016, killing 14 people and destroying 2,400 structures.

    Jeff Conyers, president of The Dollywood Foundation, said he consulted with Winfrey’s team multiple times in the past weeks to share the lessons that they’d learned from administrating the fund, which eventually granted $11 million to families who had lost their homes.

    “Dolly’s idea was that, ‘Hey, look, these are my people and I want to take care of them and we trust them to know what recovery looks like for themselves and their families in the days and weeks following this immediate catastrophe here,’” Conyers said.

    Parton’s fund, called My People Fund, worked with first responders and a local utility company and asked residents to help them determine which structures were destroyed and who lived in those homes, Conyers said. Around 1,000 families eventually received assistance from the fund, according to an evaluation from the University of Tennessee Knoxville College of Social Work. That included a final $5,000 lump sum transfer at the end of six months.

    To qualify for the People’s Fund of Maui, applicants must show a government ID and a utility bill in their name for a lost or uninhabitable residence, the fund’s website said.

    Winfrey, who lives on Maui part-time, visited an emergency shelter on Maui in the days after the wildfire hit and worried about effectively getting resources to residents. At least 115 people were killed in the fires, though an unknown number are still missing. The fire that ripped through the historic town of Lahaina on Aug. 8 was the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century.

    Forecasters warned Wednesday that gusty winds and low humidity increased the risk that fires could spread rapidly in the western parts of each Hawaiian island, though they were not as powerful as the winds that helped fuel the deadly blaze three weeks ago.

    In the announcement, Winfrey and Johnson said they consulted with “community elders, leaders and residents including Hōkūlani Holt-Padilla, Keali’i Reichel, Archie Kalepa, Ekolu Lindsey, Kimo Falconer, Tiare Lawrence, Kaimana Brummel, Kaleikoa Ka’eo, Brian Keaulana, Kaimi Kaneholani, Henohea Kāne, Paele Kiakona, Ed Suwanjindar, Shep Gordon and Jason Momoa.”

    The Entertainment Industry Foundation, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit that helps celebrities administer their charitable work, is sponsoring the fund, the announcement said.

    Johnson and Winfrey hope the fund will continue to make transfers to qualifying residents for at least six months, but Winfrey said it would be up to the American public to determine how long the fund extends, based on their support and donations.

    When setting up a direct cash transfer program, it’s important to define the objective, said Holly Welcome Radice, the regional representative for the Americas at CALP Network, a collective of organizations that studies cash assistance programs. In this case, $1,200 should correspond to the price of housing or the living costs for an adult in the area or whatever the need is the fund is seeking to meet, she said.

    “The objective will be difficult to meet if your transfer value is not connected to the reality of the people,” she said, adding the fund should consider if the local economy can respond to the influx of money and map out what other services people may need.

    “If it’s feasible and appropriate, then cash is a very direct way for people to benefit and have agency,” Radice said.

    The fund should also spend time communicating the parameters of the program clearly, she said, “so people understand who qualifies and why they qualify and making sure that there is some type of feedback mechanism where people can place grievances.”

    ___

    This story was first published on August 31, 2023. It was updated on September 1, 2023, to correct the name of nonprofit managing the People’s Fund of Maui. It is the Entertainment Industry Foundation, not the Entertainment Industry Fund.

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    Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

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  • After nearly 30 years, Pennsylvania will end state funding for anti-abortion counseling centers

    After nearly 30 years, Pennsylvania will end state funding for anti-abortion counseling centers

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    HARRISBURG, Pa. — For nearly 30 years, Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Pennsylvania have approved millions of taxpayer dollars for an anti-abortion program. Now the state’s new governor plans to end the contract as the organization that distributes those funds and other groups like it gain attention since the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

    Pennsylvania plans to end on Dec. 31 its longstanding contract with the nonprofit Real Alternatives, the first organization in the nation to secure significant state and federal subsidies to support anti-abortion counseling centers. Under the program, Real Alternatives distributed the state and federal funds to dozens of Pennsylvania centers, including Catholic Charities, anti-abortion counseling centers and maternity homes, which provide support and housing for pregnant women.

    Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a statement his administration would not “continue that pattern” of subsidizing the organization, saying he was steadfast in defending abortion access.

    “We will ensure women in this Commonwealth receive the reproductive health care they deserve,” he said.

    The news shocked Eileen Artysh, the executive director of St. Margaret of Castello Maternity Home, which receives money through Real Alternatives to provide housing, materials and parenting counseling. While it’s not their entire budget, the loss of funding will impact the center’s longevity, she said.

    Artysh said many pregnant women who come to the maternity home have already made their choice to have the baby.

    “Until there’s that last penny left, I’m in this for the long haul,” she said. “And the moms that we help — I can’t imagine deserting any of them.”

    Pennsylvania was the first state to enact an official abortion alternative program in the mid-’90s. Helmed by then-Gov. Bob Casey, an anti-abortion Democrat, the state began funding alternatives in tandem with a preexisting program that subsidized Planned Parenthood’s services for women’s health. The funding for both programs had continued under both Republican and Democratic governors in the years since.

    Real Alternatives’ network of centers has seen about 350,000 women at 1.9 million office visits in Pennsylvania, the organization said in a statement. Last year, Pennsylvania sent about $7 million to the group, which distributed those funds to more than 70 centers.

    At one point, Real Alternatives was overseeing programs in Indiana and Michigan, and it inspired other states to find ways to fund organizations like it using taxpayer money. Even as Pennsylvania is poised to stop funding the program, the state’s move continues to have an impact nationwide.

    Michelle Kuppersmith, the executive director for Campaign for Accountability, a watchdog group that has filed complaints against Real Alternatives’ use of taxpayer dollars, said Shapiro did the right thing by ending the contract.

    “Now, just as many states unfortunately looked to Pennsylvania as a model for letting these programs into their states, we urge other states to follow suit in eliminating this spending that is not just wasteful, but actively harmful to the health of their citizens,” she said.

    Tens of millions of taxpayer dollars across the U.S. have been sent to such organizations, which are typically religiously affiliated. Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the right to abortion last year, Republican-led states have sent more tax dollars to what are sometimes called “crisis pregnancy centers,” while Democratic-leaning states apply more scrutiny to them.

    In Tennessee, which has a near-total abortion ban, legislators approved $20 million in funding for a grant program. Republicans said the money would support struggling families because women could tap into the centers’ parent counseling classes, diaper banks and other services.

    Similarly, Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds proposed doubling the funds for a state program designed to help fund the centers, which launched last year with $500,000 just before Roe was overturned.

    In Florida, lawmakers upped the amount the centers could seek from $4.5 million to $25 million for the 2023-24 fiscal year. And governors in Arkansas and West Virginia signed off on spending $1 million on the centers over the next fiscal year.

    Meanwhile, Democratic-led state have tried to thwart the centers, which for years have been accused of providing misleading information about abortion and contraception — for example, suggesting that abortion leads to mental health problems or breast cancer.

    Colorado lawmakers made it a “deceptive trade practice” for an organization to advertise that they offer abortions or emergency contraceptives when they do not. But a similar law in Illinois was blocked by a federal judge, who said it violated the First Amendment.

    Massachusetts set aside $1 million to launch a public education campaign focused on warning the public of potentially misleading claims from the centers. And in Vermont, pregnancy centers will now be subject to the state’s existing consumer protection laws – which prohibits false and deceptive advertising.

    Even with the scrutiny, the centers have received strong support from those who benefited from their services.

    Alyssa MacAfee, 26, was one of them. She was homeless, jobless and in early recovery when she found out she was pregnant. She came to St. Margaret’s in Pennsylvania six months pregnant and stayed until her daughter was around 5 months old.

    “Everyone was definitely looking at my situation like, ‘You cannot bring a baby into the world right now,’ but I knew that I wanted to,” she said.

    MacAfee said she found the organization to be welcoming; she felt it was for people that had already decided to pursue parenthood.

    Since she’s left, MacAfee has a job, an apartment and even some of the diapers provided by Saint Margaret.

    “It turned out to be the biggest blessing life has ever given me,” she said.

    About $8 million in state subsidies hangs in the balance this year as Pennsylvania completes its budget, with the Shapiro administration looking to send the money to other women’s health providers. Abortion opponents called Shapiro’s decision harmful, and Republicans said the option of using the money for other anti-abortion programs will have to be part of continued budget negotiations.

    “It’s sad because this is a great program, and you take this program away, abortions will substantially increase in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania,” said Kevin Bagatta, president and CEO for Real Alternatives.

    Defunding the program was a key budget priority for some Pennsylvania Democrats, and abortion rights groups like Planned Parenthood PA Advocates hailed the decision.

    Concerns over abortion access now outweigh the good intentions centers tend to tout, said Laura Antkowiak, a political science professor at University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

    It’s “not so much about the substance of the work anymore, but who they’re aligned with and what their position is on abortion” that has politicized the centers, she said.

    “In terms of the political context, I think this is part of a much larger phenomenon in which both sides of the abortion debate are battling over which service providers are going to gain access to public funding,” she said.

    ___

    Kruesi reported from Nashville, Tenn. Brooke Schultz is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

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  • Hollywood’s working class turns to nonprofit funds to make ends meet during the strike

    Hollywood’s working class turns to nonprofit funds to make ends meet during the strike

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    NEW YORK — Shawn Batey was sweating in the August sun on the 100th day of the writers strike, carrying her “IATSE Solidarity” sign on the picket line outside Netflix’s New York offices, but she was glad to be there.

    A props assistant and documentary filmmaker, Batey is a member of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, the union that represents many entertainment workers, in Hollywood and New York, but also around the country. She recently worked on “Pose” and “Russian Doll,” but since the writers strike began in May and the actors joined them on July 14, she’s had trouble covering her expenses. So she applied to the emergency fund from the Entertainment Community Fund for help.

    “They say apply when you’re at a critical point,” said Batey, adding that she needed to show her union card, her wages and, in her case, that she’d worked as a member of the union for a certain number of years. The application is lengthy, but she said, “It is definitely worth for people to apply. Just be patient.”

    Batey — who used her grant to pay her rent, phone bill and electric bill, and other expenses — is one of 2,600 film or television workers that the Entertainment Community Fund has helped during these strikes, granting $5.4 million as of Aug. 25. The fund, formerly known as The Actors Fund, is one of several nonprofits that have long supported workers who make the entertainment industry run, but who were essentially gig workers long before the term was coined. That includes both unionized and nonunionized workers, and those on strike as well as those who’ve lost work because of it.

    The fund has received the most requests for help from people in California, followed by Atlanta and New York. It’s raised $7.6 million so far and is granting about $500,000 a week. For now, it’s issuing one-time grants of up to $2,000 for individuals or $3,000 for families.

    “It’s a lot of the crafts people, the wardrobe people, the makeup people, the carpenters that build the sets, the painters, the electricians,” said Tom Exton, chief advancement officer for the Entertainment Community Fund. He said the fund has supported industry members through many previous crises, including the AIDS epidemic and financial crisis, and would continue to fundraise to provide help as needed.

    Another charity created more than 100 years ago to help entertainment workers get through tough periods, the Motion Picture & Television Fund, helps administer funds from some of the unions to provide emergency assistance specifically for their members. It declined to disclose the amount of financial support its received from those unions. The fund also provides financial and counseling support to unaffiliated workers and offers housing to industry veterans over the age of 70.

    Bob Beitcher, its president and CEO, said many of the lowest-paid entertainment workers have little savings or reserves coming out of the pandemic. The federal programs and protections, like eviction moratoriums that helped keep entertainment workers and many others afloat during COVID-19 shutdowns, also aren’t around now.

    “They are losing their homes. They’re losing their cars and trucks. They’re losing their health insurance,” Beitcher said. “And it’s pretty awful.”

    Striking actors and writers have accused the studios of purposefully prolonging the strike so that they lose their homes.

    MPTF has been getting 200 calls a day as opposed to 20 a day before the strike. Over 80% of callers are “below-the-line” workers, meaning not the actors, writers, directors or producers. They’ve processed 1,000 requests for financial assistance through the end of July, the fund said, with applicants waiting an average of two weeks for the money to be dispersed.

    Beitcher called for greater support from industry members, in an open letter on Aug. 17, saying, “As a community, we are not doing enough to support the tens of thousands of crew members and others who live paycheck to paycheck and depend on this industry for their livelihood. They have become the forgotten casualties during these strikes, overlooked by the media.”

    MPTF said it has raised $1.5 million since the letter was published.

    The SAG-AFTRA Foundation, a nonprofit with a mission to support the members of the actors union, quickly raised $15 million with initial donations of $1 million or more from Dwayne Johnson, Meryl Streep, and George and Amal Clooney in the first three weeks of the actors strike. Other $1 million donations came from Luciana and Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Deborra-lee Furness and Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, Julia Roberts, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Oprah Winfrey.

    Cyd Wilson, the foundation’s executive director, said her pitch to the top talent is that even the biggest stars need the army of smaller actors, many of whom live paycheck to paycheck, to make their movies and television shows.

    “Those are the people that we’re going to be helping the most, because those are the people that are going to be hurting the most,” she said.

    The foundation exclusively supports the 160,000 members of the union and 86% of those performers don’t make enough work in a year to qualify for health insurance, Wilson said.

    “They waitress, they bartend, they work catering, they drive Uber, they babysit, they dog walk, they housesit. They have all these secondary jobs in order to be able to survive,” she said.

    As the strike goes on, the funds expect more and more union members will lose their health insurance because they will not have worked enough hours to remain eligible. A small group of mostly showrunners decided they wanted to specifically fundraise to cover health care for crew members, and set up a fund with the MPTF.

    “It’s one thing for us to be sacrificing our own day-to-day for our greater good, but to watch our brother and sister union stand beside us?” said actor and writer Andrea Savage. “We just got together and said, ‘How can we show that we’re there for them? And also really put our money where our mouth is and actually do something concrete?’”

    On Wednesday, talk show hosts Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, and John Oliver launched the “Strike Force Five” podcast, with proceeds from the limited run going to the writers and crew on their TV shows. Mint Mobile and premium alcohol maker Diageo signed on as presenting sponsors.

    Savage, along with other actors like “Girls” creator Lena Dunham and “Black Monday” star Paul Scheer, started talking on WhatsApp groups, then met on Zoom and eventually founded The Union Solidarity Coalition. They’ve raised $315,000 so far in part from a benefit show in Los Angeles on July 15 that went to the MPTF fund (Savage said she and Scheer covered the cost of the portable toilets).

    The writer Liz Benjamin helped set up an initial auction, which included a ceramic vase made by Seth Rogen and a blue dress worn by Abbi Jacobson in the series “Broad City,” raising more than $8,600. A second auction opens in mid-September on eBay.

    Batey says she is still trying to figure out how to make ends meet in September and for the rest of the strike. She’s thinking about where else her skills might be applicable and whether to get temporary work outside her field. In the meantime, she supports the striking writers and actors.

    “It’s dignity and standing up for yourself,” she said. “So if it means we have to take a hit right now for the bigger cause, it’s worth it.”

    ____

    Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

    ___

    For more on the Hollywood strikes, visit https://apnews.com/hub/hollywood-strikes/

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  • Clinton Global Initiative will return to New York with Jose Andres, Orlando Bloom, and Matt Damon

    Clinton Global Initiative will return to New York with Jose Andres, Orlando Bloom, and Matt Damon

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    NEW YORK — The Clinton Global Initiative 2023 will convene “leaders, innovators and dreamers” – ranging from World Bank President Ajay Banga and The Bahamas’ Prime Minister Philip E. Davis to Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky, World Central Kitchen founder Jose Andres and Ford Foundation CEO Darren Walker, as well as A-list actors Orlando Bloom, Matt Damon, and Ashley Judd – in New York on Sept. 18 and 19 to keep up the momentum addressing global issues generated by the conference when it returned last year after a six-year hiatus.

    Former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Clinton Foundation Vice Chair Chelsea Clinton announced Monday that the conference would seek more commitments to address climate change, health care issues, gender-based violence, the war in Ukraine and other issues.

    “Every day, billions of people around the world, even in the face of the most dire circumstances, make a profound decision to choose hope and keep going,” former President Bill Clinton told The Associated Press in an emailed statement. “At CGI, we’re focusing on how to move forward in the face of daunting challenges—to act now, find new partners, and stick with it to make a positive difference in people’s lives.”

    At the Clinton Global Initiative, or CGI, in 2022, more than 140 commitments were announced, including the $1 billion plan from Water.org, co-founded by Damon, to help 100 million people in Africa, Asia and Latin America get lasting access to water and sanitation. Damon is set to return to CGI in September to further discuss the issue.

    Carolina García Jayaram, CEO of the Elevate Prize Foundation, told The Associated Press that she is also set to return to the conference to announce the nonprofit’s next winner of The Elevate Prize Catalyst Award. Last year, the foundation presented the award to Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai at CGI.

    “One very important thing I love about CGI — and I think Malala really embodied it so powerfully – is the idea of making a real-time commitment on the stage and challenging the people in the audience, both in person and remotely, to do the same,” Jayaram said. “And I think being in the room with so many changemakers and leaders who are making those commitments in real time is almost infectious. It catalyzes more and more people to do the same. That’s unique to the CGI formula.”

    Bringing together leaders in politics, business and philanthropy in one place can help bring new solutions to light, said Jayaram, whose foundation is one of the conference sponsors this year, alongside corporations like Cisco, JetBlue and Pfizer, as well as other nonprofits, including The EKTA Foundation, Fondation Botnar, and Global Education Foundation.

    Though CGI maintains an international focus, it will include appearances from governors Maura Healey, from Massachusetts, Kathy Hochul, from New York, Wes Moore, from Maryland, and J.B. Pritzker, from Illinois, as well as Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. Oscar-winning directors The Daniels, artist Ai Weiwei, supermodel Karlie Kloss, and television host and author Padma Lakshmi will also be on hand, along with David Miliband, CEO of the International Rescue Committee, and Catherine Russell, executive director of UNICEF.

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    Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. For all of AP’s philanthropy coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/philanthropy.

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