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President Clinton, Secretary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton to Bring Leaders Together at CGI This September to “Keep Going”

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For Immediate Release: July 13, 2023

Contact: press@clintonfoundation.org

 

President Clinton, Secretary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton to Bring Leaders Together at CGI This September to “Keep Going”

Initial featured participants include corporate, government, and civil society leaders including José Andrés, Founder and Chief Feeding Officer, World Central Kitchen; Orlando Bloom, UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador; Albert Bourla, CEO, Pfizer; Jesper Brodin, Chairman and CEO, INGKA Holding; Matt Damon, Co-Founder, Water.org; Tony Elumelu, Founder and Chair, The Tony Elumelu Foundation; Ilan Goldfajn, President, Inter-American Development Bank; Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; Ashley Judd, Author and Goodwill Ambassador, UNFPA; Karlie Kloss, Entrepreneur and Founder of Kode With Klossy; Lorenzo P. Lewis, Founder, the Confess Project; Tsitsi Masiyiwa, Co-Founder and Chair of Higherlife Foundation and Delta Philanthropies; Cindy H. McCain, Executive Director of the World Food Programme; Ai-jen Poo, President, National Domestic Workers Alliance; Catherine Russell, Executive Director, UNICEF; and Ai Weiwei, Artist.

Program is designed to build partnerships and drive action on pressing global challenges and opportunities, including climate change, health equity, inclusive economic growth, food security, artificial intelligence, global supply chains and reproductive health services, and more.

In a letter today to the CGI community, President Clinton, Secretary Clinton, and Chelsea Clinton urge leaders across private and public sectors to “Keep Going” to sustain progress.

See the program at clintonglobal.org/2023

NEW YORK, NY — Today, President Bill Clinton, Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Clinton Foundation Vice Chair Dr. Chelsea Clinton launched the initial program for the CGI 2023 Meeting, to be held in New York City September 18-19. Launched by President Clinton in 2005, CGI has built a community of doers who are taking action to make a tangible difference in people’s lives around the world. The CGI community includes organizations across government, business, and civil society; established and emerging leaders; activists and advocates; and community workers and doers on the front lines of our most pressing global challenges.

CGI works with partners to develop Commitments to Action, which are new, specific, and measurable solutions. At the 2022 meeting, members of the CGI community made more than 140 Commitments to Action that will improve access to health care, advance sustainability, create employment opportunities, support refugee resettlement, and more. Since 2005, more than 3,900 Commitments to Action have been launched through CGI.

In a letter to the CGI community today, President Clinton, Secretary Clinton, and Chelsea Clinton celebrated the progress and impact made by CGI members through Commitments to Action; and expressed the importance of partnership and persistence in making a difference in people’s lives.

“This year’s meeting will focus on what it takes to keep going—to maintain and advance progress, in spite of the difficulties that arise, and increase our capacity to cross the divides and make common cause with one another wherever possible to build a stronger future for all.

“At CGI’s annual meeting, we’ll hear from those who are tackling some of today’s most pressing issues, including climate change, health inequities, food insecurity, economic inequality, threats to democracy around the world, and record-breaking refugee displacement. We will examine ways to channel energy and investment to scale solutions that are already improving people’s lives, and explore how tools like AI can be responsibly harnessed for good. As always, the focus will be on what we can do, not what we can’t—and will highlight how even seemingly small actions, when taken together, can turn the tide on even our most stubborn challenges.”

Read the full letter to the CGI community here.

After a six year hiatus, CGI relaunched its annual meeting last year with the guiding principle “The Business of How” – that the community is tasked with not just identifying the most urgent challenges we face, but also how we can take action on tangible, measurable solutions to address them. In addition to the launch of more than 140 Commitments to Action, CGI’s 2022 Meeting included programming that examined the need for aggressive climate action; supporting the people of Ukraine against Russia’s unprovoked invasion; how to address new challenges to the rights of girls and women; reversing the global slide on poverty; supporting entrepreneurs of color and small businesses in underserved communities; closing disparities in education; averting a global hunger catastrophe, and more.

The 2023 program builds directly on this work from 2022, including sessions that challenge participants to ask:

  • How to support short-term needs in Ukraine while preparing the country for long-term reconstruction;
  • How to get diverse groups to take action together to address global food insecurity;
  • How communities can adapt to climate change, which is one of the drivers of forced displacement;
  • How to adapt health supply chains to help preserve access to abortion care;
  • How governments and businesses can implement reforms to fairly reward care workers who provide critical support to those who need it;
  • How to balance the benefits and risks of artificial intelligence through better governance; and many more.

The CGI 2023 Meeting will also include the return of two programs launched in 2022 – the CGI Entrepreneurship Greenhouse that directly connects entrepreneurs with partnership and growth opportunities; and the CGI Story Studio that inspires action through stories of frontline leaders and lived experiences. See the full program for CGI 2023 here.

Initial featured participants include corporate, government, and civil society leaders including José Andrés, Founder and Chief Feeding Officer, World Central Kitchen; Orlando Bloom, UNICEF Ambassador; Albert Bourla, CEO, Pfizer; Jesper Brodin, Chairman and CEO, INGKA Holding; Matt Damon, Co-Founder, Water.org; Tony Elumelu, Founder and Chair, The Tony Elumelu Foundation; Ilan Goldfajn, President, Inter-American Development Bank; Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; Ashley Judd, Author and Goodwill Ambassador, UNFPA; Karlie Kloss, Entrepreneur and Founder of Kode With Klossy; Lorenzo P. Lewis, Advisor, the Confess Project; Tsitsi Masiyiwa, Co-Founder and Chair of Higherlife Foundation and Delta Philanthropies; Cindy H. McCain, Executive Director of the World Food Programme; Ai-jen Poo, President, National Domestic Workers Alliance; Catherine Russell, Executive Director, UNICEF; and Ai Weiwei, Artist.

More participants and details will be announced in the coming weeks.

This year’s meeting will follow not only the CGI 2022 meeting, but a year of sustained activity by President Clinton, Secretary Clinton, and Chelsea Clinton to support the impact of CGI commitment-makers and host convenings and events across five continents to promote creative cooperation, including:

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