From Philanthropy to Business: Shifting Priorities at the Clinton Global Initiative

by Nathaniel Whittemore

categories: Nonprofit vs For Profit, Trends

Published June 25, 2009 @ 11:47AM PT

I think there is a lot of power behind the Clinton Global Initiative. Not so much in just the brand, but in the idea that a commitment made publicly, with a group of others making similar commitments, might be more likely to come to fruition and certainly has a more resonant power.

At the same time though, I've never been a fan of the way they (or other foundations for that matter) clearly demarcate vertical program areas like "global health," and "poverty alleviation." I understand why this particular "specialist" heuristic of philanthropy evolved, but I think it often rubs up against reality in which different problem sub-categories run up against and in fact contribute to one another. My interest in collaboration and horizontal partnerships is largely about structuring approaches to problem solving that get away from the vertical specialist intervention.

I'm really excited to see a slight shift in the approach that CGI will take this year. According to a Reuters article published just a few days ago, there is going to be a broader emphasis this year on how companies can integrate social and environmental impact to improve the bottom line:

"We recognized that the CGI (Clinton Global Initiative) of old was no longer going to be a feasible model to move forward on," said Edward Hughes, CGI's deputy director and director of program for the fifth annual summit this September.

"(Companies) couldn't simply treat us as a place where their foundation would come and write checks to NGOs (nongovernmental organizations), but rather for them to remain engaged, (CGI) had to deliver value to their core bottom line, to their business operations," he said. "We needed to justify this as being a real value-return exercise."

Perhaps even more exciting for me is the new way they're describing their focus areas:

This year, the Clinton Global Initiative will concentrate on four new areas -- harnessing innovation for development, strengthening infrastructure, developing human capital and financing an equitable future.

This seems like an example of what I was writing about in the context of Rwanda yesterday. We have to think systematically and make investments in the infrastructure for good to thrive. I'll be excitedly watching to see whether this year's CGI can help push that conversation.