A Big Win for the 'Inside Game'
The Clinton Global Initiative reboots itself - and a theory of change that values liberal institutions working to help people.
Day Two of the reboot of the Clinton Global Initiative left me a bit winded, but hopeful. Throughout the return of CGI this week in midtown Manhattan, I kept coming back to the same thought over and over again:
"This is the opposite of extremism."
Now that I've had a day to process it, I still think that's right. The trademark CGI Commitments to Action represent people, governments and institutions coming together to try and make this place better for people. It is indeed the opposite of the snarling, populist, xenophobic extremism we've seen here in the United States - frankly, the disgraceful and hateful disinformation aimed at the Clinton Foundation itself. And it's sure the opposite of the mass graves being uncovered in Ukrainian forests.
Sometimes, the liberal establishment is too cozy and convenient a target. Yet, how else has any progressive and democratic advance been made? The greatest citizens movements in U.S. history have all had their institutional and financial counterparts - it's always the energy of the organizers and the protests and the streets coupled with the resources and programs of organizations that can take a longer, and more sustained path.
And so CGI does indeed bring together wealthy funders, famous stars, heads of state and an ocean of do-gooders - yes, it's something of an elite gathering, leavened by the authentic stories representing populations and places where change is desperately needed. It's absolutely the "inside game."
Which is good. Because pure anger brings insurrection the steps of the U.S. Capitol and bodies in shallow mass graves in eastern Ukraine.
As the New York Times reported:
This year the initiative tallied 144 commitments, which will result in more than 1.6 million jobs and the reduction of 3.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
Commitments ranged from a program to build soccer fields in underserved communities to one making bricks out of volcanic ash. Nine members committed to providing humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.
AP philanthropy writer Glenn Gamboa detailed some of the commitments in two excellent reports filed from CGI (here and here) including:
Andrew Kuper, founder and CEO of impact investing firm LeapFrog Investments, announced the firm planned to support 25 million enterprises offering 100 million jobs in developing countries by 2030. Israeli global venture firm OurCrowd announced a partnership with the WHO Foundation to launch a $200 million Global Health Equity Fund that focuses on breakthrough technology solutions in health care.
The Water.org Water & Climate Fund, unveiled at the Clinton Global Initiative conference in New York, plans to use $50 million in philanthropic money to create a billion-dollar investment portfolio to help bring new water delivery and wastewater treatment projects to underserved communities, then use those communities’ utility bills to fund further projects. Amazon donated the first $10 million of philanthropic money needed for the fund.
As Glenn noted, these commitments and others "showed how the conference encourages nonprofits to take on increasingly ambitious projects to tackle the world’s toughest problems."
The moment many people who attended will remember came at the end of the morning plenary session yesterday, when Bill Clinton walked alone onto the stage, seemingly after the session was supposed to be ending. He picked up a mic, and called out:
Mr. President, can you hear me?
The big screen flickered and blinked. The crowd looked around, perhaps a bit nervously. Some cross chatter could be heard. And then another voice, that of a translator.
Yes Mr. President, I can hear you.
And the screen came into sudden focus, and there was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy - in characteristic T-shirt - beaming in to CGI. What followed was a half hour of live, in-person foreign policy and global development discussion. Not behind the scenes, but right there in the big room at the Hilton.
“You definitely have to choose sides,” Zelenskyy told Clinton. “You cannot vacillate between good and evil, light and dark.”
Coming at the end of a morning session dedicated to the framework of “home” - and leaning heavily into dangerous extremism around refugees, immigration and asylum seekers - the discussion brought home the stakes of the battle to lead with institutional liberalism and not populist extremism. It was compelling and it showed that the unique ability to convene people for good is what ex-Presidents can and should be doing.
So CGI is back and the Clinton Foundation - and its principles - have persevered despite the attacks of a revanchist movement of violent extremism. This is good news.