September 27, 2007 | Read Time: 5 minutes
New York
The shoulder-rubbing and matchmaking continued for a second day at the Clinton Global Initiative here, a meeting where former President Bill Clinton announced a flurry of pledges to start or expand nonprofit efforts to alleviate global problems.
He also discussed how his own philanthropy would be affected if his wife, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, wins the race to become the next president of the United States. He said such a victory would mean he would have to do more to reveal the names of donors to his efforts, to avoid any perceptions of conflict of interest.
At the opening of the meeting on Wednesday, Mr. Clinton unveiled more than $4.5-billion in pledges
Today, Mr. Clinton announced more pledges, noting that said that Teach for America would collaborate with Teach First, its British counterpart, and several foundations to start a new organization that will support entrepreneurs overseas who are trying to build Teach for America-style educational programs in their own countries.
“These people have done amazing things,” said Mr. Clinton. “I’m very excited they will be extending their commitment to other countries.”
Teach for All, as the new organization is called, will work in India, South Africa, Estonia, Israel, Germany, and two other countries. The Michael and Susan Dell Foundation has pledged $2.5-million to bring the effort to India, while the Amy and Larry Robbins Foundation will provide $2-million to Teach for All.
Other nonprofit leaders also announced big plans to expand. The X Prize committed to give award money of up to $300-million to innovators who make breakthroughs in climate change, education, health, and poverty alleviation by conducting a dozen global competitions. The Intel Corporation pledged $300-million over the next five years to grow an online training program, Intel Teach, that helps teachers integrate technology into their classrooms.
The businessman Mark Buell and his wife, Susie Tompkins Buell, said they would give $5-million to the Alliance for Climate Protection, a group started by Al Gore.
* This year’s conference assembled 1,300 nonprofit, business, and political leaders at a Sheraton Hotel in midtown Manhattan. Participants, who pay $15,000 apiece to attend, make a commitment to invest money or time toward solving a global problem. (The fee is waived for most nonprofit leaders). Those who do not fulfill their commitment are not invited back.
The event is as much a forum for nonprofit groups to announce new programs for which they are seeking money as it is a chance for donors and business leaders to publicize new investments. The Global Fund for Children, for example, announced a new $10-million project to support early-childhood education and development, for which it is looking for funding. CARE announced a $150-million plan for improved maternal health and nutrition services.
At least one multibillion-dollar commitment was also unveiled today, coming in the form of a business investment rather than a charitable gift. The Standard Chartered Bank, based in London, said it would underwrite $4-billion to $5-billion in debt to clean energy projects over the next five years. That pledge pushed the total dollar figure for commitments announced at the conference to more than $10-billion.
This year, Mr. Clinton attempted to focus on what had been accomplished because of pledges made at the two previous Global Initiatives. In a press conference, he rattled off some achievements: more than eight million patients worldwide are receiving medical care; nearly three million micro-entrepreneurs are receiving financial support; and 1.2 million patients in Sudan, Chad, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have received emergency and primary health care.
“These are not happening because of individual NGOs or individual philanthropists, but through partnerships,” he said. “That’s the best indicator I have of the kinds of things that have gone on here that would not have gone on without this meeting.”
Gaining Attention Mr. Clinton also said the conference was beginning to generate additional enthusiasm for charity, not just among attendees and big donors, but ordinary people.
More than 400,000 people are watching this year’s event via Web cast, he said, and on Wednesday more than 200 people made commitments and shared their stories about giving through the William J. Clinton Foundation’s new Web site, MyCommitment.org.
He also announced plans to expand the conference to Asia. Mr. Clinton said he would hold a similar forum next year in Hong Kong, in an effort to support the development of philanthropy in that part of the world and tackle challenges specific to the region.
While Senator Clinton wasn’t scheduled to attend this year’s forum, as she has before, her presidential run and its influence on Mr. Clinton’s charity did draw questions from reporters.
Asked if he would publicize the names of donors who had contributed to his presidential library, Mr. Clinton noted that his wife has co-sponsored legislation that would require that presidential libraries make public their donor lists. He also said that if his wife were to win the presidency, he would take additional steps to be more open about how his foundation and his library are run.
“I do believe I will have extra responsibilities for transparency should Hillary get elected,” he said.
But he said he planned only to make public new contributors, not people who gave in the past with the understanding that their gifts would be anonymous.
“Some of them are Republicans, they might not want anyone to know, it might ruin their reputation,” Mr. Clinton said to laughter.
