2009 National Summit

The IGD Leadership Council, co-chaired by Madeleine K. Albright and Colin L. Powell, convened in June to outline objectives for IGD’s 2009 National Summit.

Building on the success of the first National Summit in 2006, the next Summit - May 6-7, 2009 - will bring together leaders from the IGD partner network, Fortune 1000 CEOs, top government leaders and influential policy experts to discuss the imperative of making global development and poverty reduction a higher national priority. Summit attendees will convene in Washington, D.C. to focus on the opportunities and challenges that the new administration and the business community face in trying to forge a more strategic and effective approach to global development.

President George W. Bush gave a major foreign policy speech at the Summit in 2006, emphasizing the power of trade to promote global development. IGD is working with the current presidential candidates and will invite the president-elect to the 2009 National Summit as an opportunity to outline the new administration’s global development strategy.

The 2009 National Summit is by invitation only. For more information, call 206.373.7153 or email us.

Policy Update

As part of the effort to elevate global development as a national priority, IGD is focusing its advocacy in three areas in 2008: support for the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), increasing access to U.S. markets for poor countries and modernizing U.S. foreign assistance programs.

In May IGD sent a letter with 51 partner signatures to the House Appropriations Subcommittee with jurisdiction over the MCC’s funding. More recently, 19 Board and Leadership Council members sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Reid opposing the rescission of $525 million of the MCC’s FY08 funds for short-term humanitarian needs. Thanks to the advocacy efforts of IGD and others, the final cut was reduced to $58 million, which will allow the MCC to sign compacts with both Burkina Faso and Namibia as planned.

Learn more about IGD’s support for the Millennium Challenge Corporation

On June 12, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on U.S. trade preference programs. IGD partner Grant Aldonas was one of the witnesses. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), a member of the committee, talked about her proposed Reconstruction Opportunity Zone (ROZ) legislation, which would authorize the president to designate ROZ areas in Afghanistan and in the border regions of Pakistan. Exports of permissible goods such as textiles, apparel, agricultural products and handcrafts would be allowed to enter the U.S. market duty-free, giving a boost to investment and job creation in those regions. IGD is working with the House Ways and Means Committee to provide a business perspective on the importance of opening U.S. markets to poor countries at an upcoming hearing on trade preferences.

There have been several important developments in support of modernizing U.S. foreign assistance programs in the next administration. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) announced his intention to spearhead a rewrite of the Foreign Assistance Act, the underlying statute governing U.S. assistance programs, which has not been reauthorized since 1985. On June 10 the Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network (MFAN) launched a major advocacy initiative calling for modernizing U.S. foreign assistance to meet the challenges of the 21st century. IGD has made aid modernization a pillar of its presidential platform and looks forward to collaborating with MFAN and others in raising these issues with the next president and with Congress.

Speaker Series

IGD Speaker Series events encourage high-level, in-depth conversations among influential business leaders and promote action on IGD’s policy initiatives. Speakers bring expertise and personal perspective about effective policies and innovative solutions to global poverty.

Former Congressman Jim Kolbe, Senior Transatlantic Fellow for the German Marshall Fund of the United States | April 24 | Seattle

Jim Kolbe discussed the role of business leaders in fueling economic development. Mr. Kolbe emphasized that international economic growth remains integral to domestic and international security. To improve aid effectiveness and address global threats, Mr. Kolbe called for a consolidated U.S. department of development to address global poverty and promote economic growth. He stressed the need to synchronize voices around a specific issue area to ensure support from the next administration.

Mr. Kolbe acknowledged the failure of the United States to suitably address growing international instability and advocated for restructuring trade tariffs. Criticizing the current system of tariffs for weakening industries in impoverished countries, Mr. Kolbe faulted the recently passed Farm Bill for failing to reform the current subsidy system or adequately respond to the global food crisis. Recognizing that outsourcing poses a threat to the American work force, he urged improvements in the education system to prepare the United States for rising international competition.

Mr. Kolbe expressed his strong support for the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), highlighting its innovative concept and success to date. Mr. Kolbe voiced his concerns that if the MCC does not receive the necessary financial support from the Congress, eligible countries that institute reforms will go unfunded and the United States will be seen as reneging on its development commitments.

Event co-hosted by the German Marshall Fund of the United States and the Washington Council on International Trade

Rob Mosbacher, President & CEO, Overseas Private Investment Corporation | June 19 | Seattle

Rob Mosbacher highlighted entrepreneurial capitalism as one of the most effective means of reducing global poverty and the strongest soft power tool that is available to us. Mr. Mosbacher began by outlining the evolution of OPIC’s role, from risk mitigation, loans and loan guarantees to much more catalytic investments involving private equity funds.

Mr. Mosbacher cited examples from countries with challenging environments, such as Lebanon, the West Bank, Afghanistan and Liberia, where the use of OPIC programs has enabled private investment to flow in despite the difficult circumstances. In Lebanon, for instance, a partnership between OPIC and Citibank provided financial backing for several well established local banking institutions. Other countries have benefited from small business lending programs and financing for hotels.

Business leaders are committed to IGD, Mr. Mosbacher said, because they understand that the current approach by the U.S. to foreign assistance and to global development must be updated. Business leaders who have an interest in international markets and in helping their country by helping others have an integral part to play in redesigning the hard power - soft power equation. He championed partnerships between the public and private sectors that would involve coordinating and leveraging resources as a means to global poverty reduction.

Event co-hosted by the Washington Council on International Trade

Future speakers that IGD will host as part of the series include Rajat Gupta, Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company; C.K. Prahalad, Paul and Ruth McCracken Distinguished University Professor, Corporate Strategy, University of Michigan; Ted Turner, Chairman, United Nations Foundation; Girma Wolde-Giorgis, President of Ethiopia.

Symetra Community Series

Listen to interviews with leaders from business, government and the nonprofit sector discussing partnerships needed to address poverty and ensure the future prosperity and security of us all. Interviews conducted by radio commentator Dave Ross. Click on the links below to listen to the interview podcasts (listen with iTunes, Windows Media Player or other audio player).

Sally Jewell, president & CEO of REI and IGD Board chair
Business must engage with the nonprofit sector and government to help sustain poverty reduction.

Ambassador John Danilovich, CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation
Governments can play a key role in eliminating poverty, especially when funding is connected to the rule of law.

Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and IGD Leadership Council member
The role of women in getting a nation out of poverty and in developing a civil society is vitally significant.

Tim Solso, chairman & CEO of Cummins Inc. and IGD Board member
U.S. businesses have a unique and powerful role in reducing poverty and it is important for business leaders to speak out.

Neal Keny-Guyer, CEO of Mercy Corps
The nonprofit sector plays a key role in helping people in poverty understand the opportunities that lie ahead of them for long-term and, hopefully, permanent poverty relief.

Thanks to Symetra Financial and Bonneville International

New IGD Staff

IGD is pleased to welcome three new members to its staff.

Director of Development Kimberly Bowen is a Seattle native whose fundraising experience is grounded in 20 years of marketing, strategic planning and community activism. Most recently she served as deputy director and development director for Seattle Parks Foundation.

Director of Policy Emily Byers comes to IGD from the government relations department of Bread for the World. There she led the organization’s policy and advocacy work on international trade and agriculture.

Policy Communications Coordinator Rachel Wood began as an intern at IGD in 2007 and now joins the staff to support the organization’s policy and communications activities.