In opening the Annual Conference three days ago, Her Majesty Queen Rania eloquently noted, “when the sky is darkest, that’s when we see the stars.” We ended our three-day engagement in conversation with one of the brightest stars in economic development: Muhammad Yunus, the “father of microfinance,” the founder of the Grameen Bank.
Yunus urged GPF members to think of the current financial crisis as an opportunity for sweeping change. Rather than simply extricating ourselves from the crisis, we also should be asking about the new systems that would best serve humanity going forward. Do we really want to return to the pre-crises status quo?
Any new system should be based on the fact that “human beings are multi-dimensional, not simply profit-making machines…The current financial system does a remarkable job of tapping into the selfishness that human beings share. Let us re-orient our thinking to also tap into the selflessness of human beings; why not tap that commonality to pave the way for social businesses that create opportunities for others?” In recognition that millions of Americans have also been excluded from traditional banking systems, the Grameen Group launched Grameen America, which extends an entire suite of credit, savings and insurance services in the US as well as the developing world. Yunus spoke of the exogenous forces of poverty, asserting that it is imposed on them by the system they’re born into.
System change was the theme of an earlier panel on the innovations of those working within – and outside – broken education systems. The dynamic Geoffrey Canada of the groundbreaking Harlem Children’s Zone and Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach for America, now have decades of experience re-inventing education systems in the most disadvantaged areas of the United States. These panelists with domestic experience were joined by former USAID Administrator, Henrietta Fore, who shared her global perspective on providing quality education. Wendy spoke of a sea change in attitudes. “No one, even in academia, used to think that it was really possible to overcome the effects of severe poverty in schools,” she said. “Even committed teachers face a tremendous struggle with low expectations that pervade disadvantaged schools – and it’s taken decades to build a counter-culture among TFA teachers that is strong enough to overcome those attitudes. Teachers have now made the transition from ‘survival mode’ to an expectation that their efforts bear significant fruit in the form of high-achieving students.”
Geoffrey Canada spoke of the strong interests that preserve the status-quo. When asked whether it’s better to try and change the current public education system or create a new, parallel system, Canada responded, “All you can do is create a new system that works, showing others what’s possible. For example, we need to fire lousy teachers, and we need to pay great teachers – people who turn kids’ lives around – a quarter million dollars a year. These are controversial ideas, but they should not be.” He suggested that putting failing teachers into schools serving middle class neighborhoods would be seen as unacceptable – yet we do that in schools serving the poor.
Gara LaMarche of Atlantic Philanthropies offered the day’s “GPF Moment” by urging philanthropists to “raise our game and time our efforts to fit the big picture, as President Obama has done.” In the breakout session on Policy and Advocacy in Philanthropy, Gara further noted that philanthropy has a role to play into ensuring that ideas that work are translated into policy change. Matthew Dowd, Founding Partner of ViaNovo, spoke the importance of working through local jurisdictions. Michele Jolin, Senior Advisor for Social Innovation in The White House pointed to the many ways to leverage a good idea with the new administration: “the machinery is there, and the opportunity is there,” she said, referring to the new White House Office on Social Innovation.
In another session, Mark Suzman, Director of Policy and Advocacy in the Gates Foundation’s Global Development Program, stressed the global connection of policy innovation, noting that policy change in one country can – and does – have significant impact in countries around the world. In addition, Tim Hanstad, President and CEO of the Rural Development Institute, challenged participants to be more nimble and act with a greater sense of urgency within the policy arena. It need not be controversial “when you create a fact-based case for change and involve all stakeholders in the fact-finding process.” Manuela Monteiro, Executive Director of Hivos, discussed the impact of policies on law on development efforts. Mark added that an enabling policy environment can be created through watchdog organizations that monitor revenues of their governments and through institutes that analyze and evaluate policies.
Panelists in the Finding Common (Green) Ground breakout also emphasized the need to be nimble and seize policy opportunities quickly. Susan Burns explained how the Global Footprint Network measures which countries still have a surplus of “natural capital” and which are overtaxing their natural resources. “At the present rate,” Burns noted, “by the year 2030, we’ll need two Earths of ecological capacity to support our civilization.” She went on to point out that there is “no business or political case for wrecking the planet.” Yolanda Kakabadse outlined an innovative policy proposal in Ecuador, in which they proposed selling credits for preserving indigenous cultures and the biodiversity of its rainforest in the process, rather than drilling for and selling oil on international markets. Kakabadse argued that the Kyoto Protocol “put all the responsibility on industrialized countries,” but that developing countries bear a responsibility too – one that centers on conservation and restraint. Clean energy consultant Jigar Shah agreed that governments can take very practical steps in pricing renewables to make them much safer and more stable as an investment proposition.
In the final plenary of the day, moderated by Steven Radelet, Senior Fellow at the Center for Global Development, the panelists explored the power of an integrated approach to post-conflict development. Liberian Minister of State, Natty B. Davis, discussed the importance of leadership that can strategically build the institutions that a vibrant civil society requires: “In the long term it’s a matter of whether the institutions are built; when administrations changes, what will remain are the institutions and their processes.” Peter Buffet, Co-Chair of NoVo Foundation, spoke about the unique opportunity he has had to work with both the government of Liberia and its civil society through education programs in the reconstruction effort. Rachel Kyte of the International Finance Corporation emphasized the need to help the private sector re-formalize in post-conflict situations “from the micro-level on up.” Finally, Olara A. Otunu, President of LBL Foundation for Children, argued that post-conflict development should be considered an opportunity to transform society and address the distortions that gave rise to conflict in the first place. We must move away from the idea of rebuilding a country to its pre-conflict status-quo and address the psychological and spiritual destruction that conflict inflicts on its citizens. Like many speakers of the conference, he also spoke passionately about the importance of quality education in enabling children and societies to grow.
Next year, the Annual Conference will return to its Silicon Valley home, but as I sign off on our three days in DC – where we engaged about the ways that philanthropists can complement and leverage governments to address the multiple crises societies face – I can’t help but think of something Muhammad Yunus said in our conversation: “This is our opportunity. Because everything fell apart, we are free to imagine and free to set new goals.”