President Obama’s emphasis on “smart power” diplomacy has thrust the need for international volunteer service into the global spotlight. On June 23, Global Economy and Development at Brookings and Washington University’s Center for Social Development (CSD) will host a forum examining how international volunteer service can address multiple global challenges simultaneously and build international cooperation. The forum will frame international service as an effective tool for increasing international social capital as well as building sustainable cross-cultural bridges.

This event begins with an address by service champion, Ambassador Elizabeth Frawley Bagley, who leads the Department of State’s Global Partnerships Initiative. Bagley is well poised to foster innovative public-private partnerships, an approach she describes as “Ubuntu Diplomacy: where all sectors belong as partners, where we all participate as stakeholders, and where we all succeed together, not incrementally but exponentially.” The need for multilateral approaches to development has been analyzed by Brookings scholars Jane Nelson and Noam Unger, who explore how the U.S. foreign assistance system works in the new market-oriented and locally-driven global development arena.

This spirit of cross-sector collaboration will carry the June 23^rd forum, beginning with a research panel releasing beneficiary outcome data from a Peace Corps survey completed with over 800 host country nationals, including community members, direct beneficiaries, and collaborators. Peace Corps colleagues, Dr. Susan Jenkins and Janet Kerley, will present preliminary findings from this multi-year study measuring the achievement of “helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women” and “promoting a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served”. Aggregate data about respondents’ views of Americans before and after their interaction with the Peace Corps will be discussed.

This work complements the release of new data on the impact of international service on volunteers, which is supported with funding from the Ford Foundation and a joint Brookings-Washington University academic venture capital fund. Washington University’s CSD has studied international service over the last decade. The current research, first in a series from the quasi-experimental study, compares international volunteers’ perceived outcomes to a matched group who did not volunteer internationally: volunteers are more likely to report increased international awareness, international social capital, and international career intentions.

Building on the demonstrated potential of international service, policymakers and sector leaders will then discuss options for enhancing international service, and provide recommendations for bringing international service to the forefront of American foreign policy initiatives. This policy plenary will introduce and discuss the Service World policy platform: a collaborative movement led by the Building Bridges Coalition, National Peace Corps Association and the International Volunteering Initiative at Brookings. This powerhouse of sector leaders aims to scale international service to the levels of domestic volunteer service with increased impact through smart power policy proposals. What Service Nation did to unite Americans around domestic service as a core ideal and problem-solving strategy in American society, Service World hopes to do on a global scale.

Next week in New York City, the Points of Light Institute and the Corporation for National and Community Service will convene to further spotlight the Service World Platform at the 2010 National Conference on Volunteering and Service. This event will bring together more than 5,000 volunteer service leaders and social entrepreneurs from around the world, including local host Mayor Bloomberg. Michelle Nunn, CEO of Points of Light Institute noted in Huffington Post that “demand, idealism and presidential impact are leading American volunteerism to its…most important stage – the movement of service to a central role in our nation’s priorities.”

Nunn’s statement illustrates the momentum and power that make the voluntary sector a unique instrument in the “smart power” toolbox. According to successive polling from Terror Free Tomorrow, American assistance, particularly medical service, is a leading factor in favorable opinions toward the United States. A 2006 survey conducted in Indonesia and Bangladesh showed a 63 percent favorable response among Indonesian respondents to the humanitarian medical mission of “Mercy,” a United States’ Navel Ship, and a 95 percent favorable response among Bangladeshi respondents.

Personifying the diplomatic potential of medical service abroad is Edward O’Neil’s work with OmniMed. In the Mukono District of Uganda, OmniMed has partnered with the U.S. Peace Corps and the Ugandan Ministry of Health as well as local community-based organizations to implement evidence-based health trainings with local village health workers. Dr. O’Neil is now working with Brookings International Volunteering Initiative and Washington University’s CSD on a new wave of rigorous research: a randomized, prospective clinical trial measuring the direct impact of over 400 trained village health workers on the health of tens of thousands of villagers. 

In the words of Peace Corps architect and former U.S. Senator Harris Wofford, the pairing of new data and policy proposals on June 23^rd will support a “quantum leap” in the scale and impact of international service, advancing bipartisan calls to service from President Kennedy to Bush 41, Bush 43, Clinton and Obama.

      

       

       

       

       

       

Event Information

On July 30-31, 2004, more than 40 preeminent international leaders from the public, private, and non-profit sectors came together at the Aspen Institute to discuss "America's Role in the Fight Against Global Poverty" and to set out a forward-looking strategy for the United States.

Co-hosted by Richard C. Blum of Blum Capital Partners LP, the Brookings Institution's Poverty and Global Economy Initiative, the Aspen Institute, and Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative, the group's aim was to explore the dilemma of global poverty from different perspectives, to disaggregate the seemingly intractable problem into more manageable challenges, and to identify key elements of an effective U.S. policy agenda.

With roundtable participants hailing from around the world and representing diverse experiences and approaches, the dialogue was as multifaceted as the challenge of poverty itself. Rather than simply summarize conference proceedings, this essay attempts to weave together the thoughtful exchanges, impassioned calls to action, fresh insights, and innovative ideas that characterized the discussion, and to set the stage for ongoing collaboration in the struggle for human dignity.

Helping to define the issues, share and encourage what works, and build the intellectual framework for such an enterprise will be the guiding mission of the Richard C. Blum Roundtable in the years ahead.


View the full report »
View the conference agenda »
View the participant list »

      

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From August 3 to 6, 2005, fifty preeminent international leaders from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors came together at the Aspen Institute for a roundtable, "The Private Sector in the Fight against Global Poverty."

The roundtable was hosted by Richard C. Blum of Blum Capital Partners and Strobe Talbott and Lael Brainard of the Brookings Institution, with the active support of honorary cochairs Walter Isaacson of the Aspen Institute and Mary Robinson of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative. By highlighting the power of the market to help achieve social and economic progress in the world's poorest nations, the roundtable's organizers hoped to galvanize the private, public, and nonprofit sectors to move beyond argument and analysis to action. Put simply, as Brookings president Strobe Talbott explained, the roundtable's work was "brainstorming with a purpose."

With experts hailing from around the world and representing diverse sectors and approaches, the dialogue was as multilayered as the challenge of poverty itself. Rather than summarize the conference proceedings, this essay weaves together the thoughtful observations, fresh insights, and innovative ideas that characterized the discussion. A companion volume, Transforming the Development Landscape: The Role of the Private Sector, contains papers by conference participants, providing in-depth analysis of each conference topic.

View the 2005 report » (PDF)
View the conference agenda »
View the list participants »

      

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In a world where borders matter less and where seemingly faraway threats can become immediate problems, the fight against poverty is no longer a matter of just doing the right thing – it is a matter of doing the smart thing to ensure security at home and abroad. As seen across the globe, by exhausting institutions, depleting resources, weakening leaders and crushing hope, extreme poverty fuels instability that often leads to armed conflict and can be a breeding ground for terrorists. The reverse is also true: insecurity stemming from conflict and demographic and environmental challenges makes it harder for leaders, institutions and other stakeholders to address poverty. Simply put, poverty is both a cause of insecurity and a product of it.

To explore this tangled web, in August 2006 the Brookings Blum roundtable discussed the challenges and possible solutions with a diverse group of leaders, including policymakers, business executives and academics, and developed recommendations for change.

2006 Brookings Blum Roundtable: Related Materials
	Read the roundtable report - Ending Poverty, Promoting Peace: The Quest for Global Security »  View related conference book »  Download the participant list » (PDF)  Download the scene setter » (PDF)

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2006 Brookings Blum Roundtable Agenda:

1. Global Poverty, Conflict and Insecurity

• Susan Rice, The Brookings Institution, "Global Poverty, Weak States and Insecurity"
• Edward Miguel, University of California, Berkeley, "Global Poverty, Conflict and Insecurity"

2. Operating in Insecure Environments

• Jane Nelson, Harvard University, "Operating in Insecure Environments"

3. Keynote Address: "Achieving Peace in an Inequitable World"

• James D. Wolfensohn, Chairman of Citigroup International Advisory Board and Former President of the World Bank

4. The Role of Leadership in Overcoming Poverty & Security in Africa
   Chaired by: Mary Robinson, Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative

• Robert Rotberg, Harvard University, "The Role of Leadership in Overcoming Poverty & Insecurity in Africa"

Leadership Presentations:

• Mohammed Ibrahim, Chairman, Celtel International
• John Kachamila, Former Minister, Mozambique
• Ketumile Masire, Former President of Botswana

5. Resource and Environmental Insecurity

• Colin Kahl, University of Minnesota, "Demography, Environment and Civil Strife"
• Anthony Nyong, University of Jos, Nigeria, "Resource and Environmental Security"

6. Keynote Address

• Kemal Dervis, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme

7. Youth and Conflict

• Henrik Urdal, The International Peace Research Institute, "The Demographics of Political Violence: Youth Bulges, Insecurity and Conflict"
• Marc Sommers, Tufts University, "Embracing The Margins: Working with Youth Amidst War and Insecurity"
• Jane Nelson, Harvard University, "Operating in Insecure Environments: The Youth Demographic"

8. Transformational Diplomacy and the Route to Security

• Jennifer Windsor, Freedom House, "Breaking the Poverty-Insecurity Nexus: Is Democracy the Answer?"

Presentations:

• Philip Zelikow, United States Department of State
• Madeleine Albright, 64th Secretary of State
• Mary K. Bush, Chairman, HELP Commission
• Lael Brainard, The Global Economy and Development Program, The Brookings Institution

       

Event Information

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From a bureaucratic backwater in the waning days of the Cold War, the fight against global poverty has become one of the hottest tickets on the global agenda. The cozy, all-of-a-kind club of rich country officials who for decades dominated the development agenda has given way to a profusion of mega philanthropists, new bilaterals such as China, "celanthropists" and super-charged advocacy networks vying to solve the world's toughest problems. While philanthropic foundations and celebrity goodwill ambassadors have been part of the charitable landscape for many years, the explosion in the givers' wealth, the messaging leverage associated with new media and social networking, and the new flows of assistance from developing country donors and diasporas together herald a new era of global action on poverty. The new scale and dynamism of these entrants offer hopeful prospects for this continuing fight, even as the new entrants confront some of the same conundrums that official aid donors have grappled with in the past.

On August 1-3, 2007, the Brookings Blum Roundtable gathered representatives reflective of this dynamic landscape to discuss these trends. Through robust discussion and continuing cross-sector partnerships, the conference hopes to foster lasting and widespread improvements in this new field of development.

2007 Brookings Blum Roundtable: Related Materials
	Read the roundtable report - Making Poverty History? How Activists, Philanthropists, and the Public Are Changing Global Development »  Download the participant list » (PDF)  Download the scene setter » (PDF)

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2007 Brookings Blum Roundtable Agenda:

1. Fighting Global Poverty: Who'll Be Relevant In 2020?
   • Matthew Bishop, The Economist, "Fighting Global Poverty: Who'll Be Relevant In 2020?"
   • Homi Kharas, The Brookings Institution, "The New Reality Of Aid"
   • Jane Nelson, Harvard University, "New Development Players And Models"
2. Angelina, Bono, And Me: New Vehicles To Engage The Public
   • Darrell M. West, Brown University, "Angelina, Mia, And Bono: Celebrities And International Development"
   • Joshua Busby, University of Texas, Austin, "Is There A Constituency For Global Poverty? Jubilee 2000 And The Future Of Development Advocacy"
   • Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, The Brookings Institution, "Nigeria's Fight For Debt Relief: Tracing The Path"
3. Leveraging Knowledge For Development
   • Ashok Khosla, Development Alternatives Group, "Leveraging Knowledge To End Poverty"
   • Eric Brewer, University of California, Berkeley, "Development And Engineering"
4. Social Enterprise And Private Enterprise
   Chaired by: Mary Robinson, Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative
   • J. Gregory Dees, Duke University, "Philanthropy And Enterprise: Harnessing The Power Of Business And Entrepreneurship For Social Change"
5. Africa's Economic Successes: What's Worked And What's Next
   Moderated by: Paul Martin, former Prime Minister of Canada
   Panelists
   • Donald Kaberuka, African Development Bank
   • Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, The Brookings Institution
6. Effecting Change Through Accountable Channels
   • Jane Nelson, Harvard University, "Effecting Change Through Accountable Channels"
   • Simon Zadek, AccountAbility, "Accountability Compacts: Collaborative Governance For The 21^stCentury"
7. Global Impact: Philanthropy Changing Development
   • Mark R. Kramer, FSG Social Impact Advisors, "Philanthropy, Aid, And Investment: Creating A Common Language"
   • Joseph O'Keefe, The Brookings Institution, "Aid - From Consensus To Competition?"
8. Keynote Address
   • Former Vice President Al Gore, Generation Investment Management

       

Event Information

Global poverty and climate change are two of the most pressing challenges for global policymakers today, and require policy prescriptions that address their interrelated issues. Effective climate solutions must empower development by improving livelihoods, health and economic prospects while poverty alleviation must become a central strategy for both mitigating emissions and reducing the poor’s vulnerability to climate change.

2008 Brookings Blum Roundtable: Related Materials
	Read the roundtable report - Double Jeopardy: What the Climate Crisis Means for the Poor? »  Read the related book »  Download the participant list » (PDF) Download the scene setter » (PDF) Download the full roundtable agenda » (PDF)

In its fifth annual gathering, led by Lael Brainard and co-chaired by Strobe Talbott and Richard C. Blum, the Brookings Blum Roundtable addressed the challenges of climate change and development and convened leaders from both the development and climate change communities from August 1-3, 2008, to discuss and debate policy ideas that could benefit both fronts. By examining common challenges—accountability, effective deployment of resources, agenda-setting, mobilizing the public and financial resources, and achieving scale and sustainability—the Roundtable established a solid foundation for collaboration among the climate change and development communities and fostered ideas for policy action.

Keynote Sessions

Keynote Panel: “Noble Nobels: Solutions to Save the Planet”

• Steven Chu, University of California, Berkeley
• Al Gore, Generation Investment Management; 45^th Vice President of the United States

Keynote Panel: Legal Empowerment of the Poor

• Mary Robinson, Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative
• Madeline Albright, The Albright Group; Former U.S. Secretary of State

Keynote Panel: “How Do We Achieve Climate Justice?”

• Kumi Naidoo, CIVICUS and the Global Call to Action Against Poverty
• Mary Robinson, Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative
  
  

       

Event Information

In the midst of a global economic downturn, the world’s climate change negotiators will descend on Copenhagen in December to craft a post-2012 climate regime. But with the timing and impacts of climate change still uncertain—not to mention the ongoing transitions brought about by globalization and the increased cost of capital investment due to weak financial markets—tensions across countries are evident. Policy-makers must now think creatively to realize their goal of revitalizing the global economy through low carbon growth models.

2009 Brookings Blum Roundtable: Related Materials
	Read the roundtable report - Climate Crisis, Credit Crisis: The Quest for Green Growth »  Read the conference policy briefs »  Download the participant list » (PDF) Download the scene setter » (PDF) Download the full roundtable agenda » (PDF)

In its sixth annual gathering, led by Kemal Derviş and co-chaired by Strobe Talbott and Richard C. Blum, the Brookings Blum Roundtable convened leaders from the climate change and global development communities from July 30 through August 1, 2009 to discuss and debate policy options to stimulate green, pro-poor growth. By examining the challenges and opportunities policymakers face, the roundtable forged sustainable solutions to solve the climate crisis in a way that revitalizes the global economy and lifts the lives of the poor.

Lunch Briefing: 

“Towards a Global Climate Agreement: Key Insights from Project Catalyst”

Keynote Sessions:

“A Blueprint for Transatlantic Climate Cooperation”

“Compounding Crises: How Can and How Are the Poor Protecting Themselves?”

“Greening Business: Engaging the Private Sector in Climate Change Solutions”

Hal Harvey, ClimateWorks Foundation

Thomas Heller, Stanford Law School

Moderator: William Antholis, Brookings

John Podesta, Center for American Progress

Cem Özdemir, German Green Party

Moderator: Timothy Wirth, United Nations Foundation

Ernest Aryeetey, University of Ghana and Director, Africa Growth Initiative at Brookings

Helen Clark, United Nations Development Program

Raymond Offenheiser, Oxfam America

Moderator: Karen Kornbluh, Center for American Progress

Meg McDonald, Alcoa Foundation

Jane Nelson, Harvard Kennedy School of Government

Glenn Prickett, Conservation International

Mark Tercek, the Nature Conservancy

       

Event Information

From high-profile stabilization contexts like Afghanistan to global public health campaigns to a renewed focus on sustainable food security and the looming impacts of climate change, development effectiveness is a central and hotly debated issue. As traditional donors make progress in the international aid effectiveness dialogue, they must increasingly take into account the changing global development landscape and the slew of new actors, including emerging donors, multinational corporations, mega philanthropists, high-profile advocates, and a vocal and energized global public.

2010 Brookings Blum Roundtable: Related Materials
	Read the roundtable report - Aiding Development: Assistance Reform in the 21st Century »  Read the conference policy briefs »  Download the participant list » (PDF) Download the scene setter » (PDF) Download the full roundtable agenda » (PDF)

The seventh annual Brookings Blum Roundtable, led by Kemal Derviş and co-chaired by Richard C. Blum and Strobe Talbott, convened over 40 exceptional international thought leaders, entrepreneurs and practitioners to explore the relationship between efforts to promote aid effectiveness and the anticipated shape of the global development agenda over the next decade. The roundtable discussions provided an opportunity to look beyond questions of increased resources for anti-poverty services to the effectiveness of different approaches and to systemic issues associated with the delivery of development outcomes. The high-level group of participants explored opportunities for new commitment in engaging the private sector and multilateral actors, as well as the increasingly important role of climate assistance and operations in instable arenas. Over separate meal conversations, Dr. Donald Kaberuka, president of the African Development Bank, and Dr. Rajiv Shah, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), reflected on the current and future roles of their organizations, and how they could each act on the suggestions put forward at the roundtable.

       

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The context for aid is changing. Globalization has spurred economic convergence, upending the twentieth century economic balance and creating a smaller world where both problems and solutions spill across national borders more readily. This has given rise to a legion of new development actors, including emerging economies, NGOs, private businesses, and coordinating networks, who have brought fresh energy and resources to the field while rendering the prospect of genuine donor coordination ever more difficult. Global integration and competition for resources has raised the prominence of global public goods, whose equitable and sustainable provision requires international collective action. Meanwhile, poor countries are demanding a new form of partnership with the international community, built upon the principles of country ownership and mutual accountability.

2011 Brookings Blum Roundtable: Related Materials
	Read the roundtable report - Global Development Under Pressure »  Read the conference policy briefs »  Download the participant list » (PDF) Download the scene setter » (PDF) Download the full roundtable agenda » (PDF)

From G-20 meetings and the upcoming High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Korea to unfolding events in the Middle East and North Africa, leadership from the United States is crucial, placing pressure on the Obama administration to deliver on its promise of far-reaching reforms to U.S. global development efforts. And amidst this shifting global landscape is the issue of effectively communicating the importance of global development cooperation to both a national and global public, at a time when budget pressures are being felt across many of the world’s major economies

At the eighth annual Brookings Blum Roundtable, co-chaired by Kemal Derviş and Richard C. Blum, 50 thought-leaders in international development came together to discuss a new role for global development cooperation, one that employs inclusive and innovative approaches for tackling contemporary development problems and that leverages the resources of a large field of actors.

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Roundtable Agenda

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Welcome: 8:40 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Open Remarks
• Richard C. Blum, Blum Capital Partners, LP and Founder of the Blum Center for 
Developing Economies at Berkeley
• Mark Suzman, Global Development Program, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
• Kemal Derviş, Global Economy and Development, Brookings

Statement of Purpose, Scene Setter, Comments on the Agenda
• Homi Kharas, Brookings

Session I: 9:00AM - 10:30AM
Reframing Development Cooperation
In almost any discussion of international development, foreign aid takes center stage. But while 
aid can certainly be a catalyst for development, it does not work in isolation. Participants will 
discuss the key objectives of development cooperation, consider what measures of development 
cooperation are most valuable for recipients, and explore an effective balance of roles and 
responsibilities - including both public and private players - in today’s evolving development 
landscape.

Moderator
• Walter Isaacson, Aspen Institute

Introductory Remarks
• Owen Barder, Center for Global Development
• Donald Kaberuka, African Development Bank Group
• Ananya Roy, University of California, Berkeley
• Elizabeth Littlefield, Overseas Private Investment Corporation

Session II: 10:50AM - 12:20PM
The G-20's Development Agenda
Last year’s G-20 meeting in Seoul marked the first time the group formally took up the issue of development. There they announced the Seoul Development Consensus for Shared Growth and the Multi-Year Action Plan for Development: two far-reaching policies which are expected to guide the G20’s future agenda. What is the G-20’s comparative advantage vis-à-vis development, and how can the group’s development efforts be strengthened and supported?

Moderator
• Mark Suzman, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Introductory Remarks
• Alan Hirsch, The Presidency, South Africa
• Suman Bery, International Growth Centre
• Homi Kharas, Brookings

Dinner Program: 6:00PM - 9:00PM
A Conversation with Al Gore and Mary Robinson
Topic: "Energy Security and Climate Justice"

Moderator
• Kemal Derviş, Global Economy and Development, Brookings

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Thursday, August 4, 2012 

Session III: 9:00AM - 10:30AM 
The Road to Buscan
In November, participants from over 150 countries, including ministers of developing and developed countries, heads of bilateral and multilateral development institutions, and civil society representatives, will take part in the fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan, South Korea. The forum is intended to take account of the development community’s progress in achieving greater impact through aid and to redefine the aid effectiveness agenda to adjust to a changing global landscape. What would constitute success or failure at Busan?

Moderator
• Raymond Offenheiser, Oxfam America

Introductory Remarks
• J. Brian Atwood, Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development, 
Development Assistance Committee 
• Wonhyuk Lim, Korean Development Institute
• Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, World Bank 
• Steven Radelet, U.S. Agency for International Development 

Session IV: 10:50AM - 12:20PM 
Lessons from the Middle East on Governance and Aid
Popular protests across the Middle East against authoritarian regimes have prompted reflection 
on the role of aid to non-democratic and poorly governed countries. Some critics believe that aid 
should only be given to relatively well-governed countries where it is more likely to be effective, 
but for others, this amounts to collective punishment for the people who suffer under such 
governments. Do aid allocation models need to change and what role can the development 
community now play in supporting peaceful, democratic reform in the Middle East?

Moderator
• Madeleine K. Albright, Albright Stonebridge Group

Introductory Remarks
• Ragui Assaad, University of Minnesota
• Sheila Herrling, Millennium Challenge Corporation
• Tarik Yousef, Silatech

Lunch Program: 12:30PM - 2:00PM
A Conversation with Thomas R. Nides, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources

Moderator
• Richard C. Blum, Blum Capital Partners, LP and Founder of the Blum Center for Developing Economies at Berkeley

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Friday, August 5, 2012 

Session V: 9:00AM - 10:30AM
Implementing U.S. Development Reforms 
The end of 2010 saw the completion of two major policy reviews in Washington concerned with 
international development: the Presidential Policy Directive on Global Development and the 
Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review. Progress on implementation has been 
significant in many respects and meager in others. Additionally, despite directives to deliver on 
many valuable priorities for improvement, essential components of fundamental reform are still 
in need of address. Casting a shadow across the exercise, or alternatively serving as a spur to 
focus, the budget environment has soured.

Moderator
• Jim Kolbe, German Marshall Fund of the United States

Introductory Remarks
• Rajiv Shah, U.S. Agency for International Development
• Samina Ahmed, International Crisis Group
• Robert Mosbacher, Jr., Mosbacher Energy Company

Session VI: 10:50AM - 12:20PM
Communicating Development Cooperation
Public interest in and support for aid matter. Yet in many aid giving countries, there is 
widespread cynicism as to what end aid programs serve and ignorance as to what activities they 
actually involve. What are the best examples of development efforts which have been 
communicated successfully and what can we learn from this to shore up support for 
development cooperation now and in the future?

Moderator 
• Liz Schrayer, U.S. Global Leadership Coalition

Introductory Remarks 
• Steven Kull, Program on International Policy Attitudes
• Joshua Bolten, ONE
• S. Shankar Sastry, University of California, Berkeley
• Jack Leslie, Weber Shandwick

Closing Remarks: 12:20PM- 12:30PM
• Richard C. Blum, Blum Capital Partners, LP and Founder of the Blum Center for 
Developing Economies at Berkeley
• Kemal Derviş, Global Economy and Development, Brookings

Public Event: 4:00PM - 5:30PM
Brookings and the Aspen Institute present “Development as National Security?”: A Conversation with Rajiv Shah, U.S. Agency for International Development; Sylvia Mathews Burwell, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Richard J. Danzig, Center for a New American Security; and Susan C. Schwab, University of Maryland.

Moderator
• Jessica Tuchman Mathews, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Welcome and Introductions
• Kemal Derviş, Brookings

Hosts
• Richard C. Blum and Senator Dianne Feinstein

       

Event Information

On August 1-3, 2012, Brookings Global Economy and Development hosted the ninth annual Brookings Blum Roundtable on Global Poverty in Aspen, Colorado. The year’s roundtable theme, "Innovation and Technology for Development", brought together global leaders, entrepreneurs and practioners to discuss how technology and innovation can be seized to help solve some of the world's most pressing global development challenges.

2012 Brookings Blum Roundtable: Related Materials
	Read the roundtable report - Clicks into Bricks, Technology into Transformation, and the Fight Against Poverty »  View videos from roundtable participants »  Download the participant list » (PDF)  Download the scene setter » (PDF)  Download the full roundtable agenda » (PDF)

Global development challenges are of massive scale: 61 million children out of school and many more failing to learn basic literacy and numeracy skills; 850 million facing hunger; 1 billion living in slums and 1.3 billion without access to electricity. Yet remarkably little is understood about successful strategies for designing scalable solutions, the impediments to reaching scale, or the most appropriate pathways for getting there.

However, a batch of new technologies offers the promise of a breakthrough by encouraging innovative business models, pushing down transaction costs and disintermediating complex activities. Mobile money could realistically reach over 1 billion poor people in the next decade and directly connect millions of rich individuals with millions of poor people. Real-time data can allow resources to be better targeted and managed. New media can sharpen accountability and reduce waste and overlap.

 

Roundtable Agenda

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Welcome: 8:40AM - 9:00AM
Brookings Welcome
• Strobe Talbott, Brookings

Opening Remarks
• Richard C. Blum, Blum Capital Partners, LP and Founder of the Blum Center for Developing Economies at Berkeley
• Mark Suzman, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
• Kemal Derviş, Global Economy and Development, Brookings

Session I: 9:00AM - 10:30AM
Framing Session: Translating Technological Innovations into Transformational Impact
In this opening discussion, participants will explore the overarching questions for the roundtable: If the poor can readily be identified and if they have access to financial services and participate in technology-driven communication networks, how does this change the development paradigm? How can effective partnerships be forged to combine the efforts of different international and local actors (businesses, governments, foundations, NGOs, and universities) in propagating solutions? Can scalable technologies raise the profile and potential of new business models, approaches and partnerships?

Moderator
• Homi Kharas, Brookings

Introductory Remarks
• Thomas A. Kalil, White House Office of Science and Technology
• Michael Kubzansky, Monitor Group 
• Lalitesh Katragadda, Google India
• Smita Singh, Independent

Session II: 10:50AM - 12:20PM
Mobile Money and Mass Payments
Participants will explore the following questions for the rountable: Is the rapid uptake of mobile money/payment technology throughout the developing world assured and if not, what (or whom) are the impediments? What is required to enable successful mass payments systems that employ mobile money technology? What is the optimal role of government, non-profits and private actors in supporting mobile money services? How can mass payments systems be used to implement national safety nets?

Moderator
• Gillian Tett, Financial Times

Introductory Remarks
• Neal Keny-Guyer, Mercy Corps
• Mwangi Kimenyi, Brookings
• Mung Ki Woo, MasterCard Worldwide Group Executive Mobile

Dinner Program: 7:30PM - 9:15PM
Aspen Institute Madeleine K. Albright Global Development Lecture

Featuring
• Rajiv Shah, Administrator, United States Agency for International Development

Click here to read Rajiv Shah's remarks »

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Thursday, August 2, 2012 

Session III: 9:00AM - 10:30AM 
Mass Networks: Leveraging Information from the Crowd
Participants will explore the following questions for the rountable: What are the most promising examples of using social media, crowdsourcing and “big data” to advance development and humanitarian outcomes? How can traditional foreign assistance make use of virtual networks to support transparency, democratic governance and improved service delivery? How can technologies be used to understand clients, promote beneficiary feedback and learning to fine tune business models in base of the pyramid markets?

Moderator
• Walter Isaacson, Aspen Institute

Introductory Remarks
• Anne-Marie Slaughter, Princeton University
• Juliana Rotich, Ushahidi
• Robert Kirkpatrick, UN Global Pulse Initiative
• Rakesh Rajani, Twaweza

Session IV: 10:50AM - 12:20PM
Innovation and Technology for Green Growth
Participants will explore the following questions for the rountable: How advanced is green growth technology vis-à-vis the scale and urgency of the global climate challenge? What is the role of pricing and intellectual property and push and pull mechanisms in speeding up propagation within developed and developing markets? How can the goal of “sustainable energy for all” be achieved, and is it feasible in all countries?

Moderator
• Al Gore, The Climate Reality Project

Introductory Remarks
• Mary Robinson, Mary Robinson Foundation - Climate Justice
• Helen Clark, United Nations Development Programme
• Arthur Njagi, International Finance Corporation
• Viswanathan Shankar, Standard Chartered Bank

Lunch Program: 12:30PM - 2:00PM
Partnering with Academic Research Institutions
This discussion will explore partnerships between public sector development institutions and academic research institutions to support global development goals. Topics will include the constraints to research; how to make research more relevant to developing country problems; issues around incentives for scientists and universities; and relationships between universities, financiers and implementers.

Moderator
• Javier Solana, ESADE

Panel
• Richard C. Blum, Blum Capital Partners, LP and Founder of the Blum Center for Developing Economies at Berkeley
• Luis Alberto Moreno, Inter-American Development Bank
• Shankar Sastry, University of California, Berkeley
• Alex Deghan, United States Agency for International Development

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Friday, August 3, 2012 

Session V: 9:00AM - 10:30AM
Business Solutions and Private Sector Development
Participants will explore the following questions for the rountable: What role can the new breed of socially conscious private actors (e.g., social enterprises and impact investors) play in overcoming finance and delivery constraints and scaling up development impact? Where is the need for investment finance most acute, and who or what can fill these gaps? How are management approaches evolving to suit base of the pyramid markets? What are the impediments to the adoption or adaptation of scalable technologies by developing country enterprises, and are southern innovations being efficiently spread? What is constraining private sector development in Africa, and is technology a key bottleneck?

Moderator
• Laura Tyson, University of California, Berkeley

Introductory Remarks
• Rob Mosbacher, Mosbacher Energy Company
• Mathews Chikaonda, Press Corporation Limited
• Elizabeth Littlefield, Overseas Private Investment Corporation
• Amy Klement, Omidyar Network

Session VI: 10:50AM - 12:20PM
Delivering U.S. Leadership: Role for the Public Sector
Participants will explore the following questions for the rountable: What is an appropriate role for the U.S. government in promoting technological solutions for development and scaling these up? How should the government leverage new private sector players? What are the best examples of, and lessons learned from, earlier and on-going public private partnerships? How can the U.S. government work more effectively to support local innovation and technology in developing countries?

Moderator
• Sylvia Burwell, Walmart Foundation

Introductory Remarks
• Rajiv Shah, Administrator, United States Agency for International Development
• Sam Worthington, InterAction
• Henrietta Fore, Holsman International

Closing Remarks: 12:20PM - 12:30PM

• Richard C. Blum, Blum Capital Partners, LP and Founder of the Blum Center for Developing Economies at Berkeley
• Kemal Derviş, Global Economy and Development, Brookings

Lunch Program: 12:30PM - 2:00PM
A Conversation with Michael Froman and Thomas Nides
This conversation will focus on the politics and finance of the US government’s efforts on global development, including its specific initiatives regarding technology and innovation for development.

Moderator
• Madeleine K. Albright, Albright Stronebridge Group

Live Webcast Event: 4:00PM - 5:30PM
Brookings and the Aspen Institute Present: "A Conversation with Former World Bank President Robert Zoellick"

Global Economy and Development at Brookings and the Aspen Strategy Group will host Robert Zoellick, who recently stepped down as president of the World Bank after serving in that office for the past five years. Mr. Zoellick has held several senior positions in the U.S. Government, including deputy secretary of state and U.S. trade representative under President George W. Bush. This event will be webcast live on the Brookings website. Click here for more details.

Introduction
• R. Nicholas Burns, Director, Aspen Strategy Group and Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics, Harvard Kennedy School of Government

Moderator
• Strobe Talbott, President, Brookings

       

Event Information

Lifting an estimated 1.2 billion people from extreme poverty over the next generation will require robust and broadly-shared economic growth throughout the developing world that is sufficient to generate decent jobs for an ever-expanding global labor force. Innovative but affordable solutions must also be found to meet people’s demand for basic needs like food, housing, a quality education and access to energy resources. And major investments will still be required to effectively address global development challenges, such as climate change and child and maternal health.  On all these fronts, the private sector, from small- and medium-sized enterprises to major global corporations, must play a significant and expanded role.

On August 4-6, 2013, Brookings Global Economy and Development is hosting the tenth annual Brookings Blum Roundtable on Global Poverty in Aspen, Colorado. This year’s roundtable theme, “The Private Sector in the New Global Development Agenda,” brings together global leaders, entrepreneurs, practitioners and public intellectuals to discuss how the contribution of the private sector be enhanced in the push to end poverty over the next generation and how government work more effectively with the private sector to leverage its investments in developing countries. 

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Roundtable Agenda

Sunday, August 4, 2013

Welcome: 8:40AM - 9:00AM MST
Brookings Welcome
• Strobe Talbott, Brookings

Opening Remarks
• Richard C. Blum, Blum Capital Partners, LP and Founder of 
the Blum Center for Developing Economies at UC Berkeley
• Julie Sunderland, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
• Kemal Derviş, Global Economy and Development, Brookings

Session I: 9:00AM - 10:30AM MST
Framing Session: Reimagining the Role of the Private Sector
In this opening discussion, participants will explore the overarching questions for the roundtable: How can the contribution of the private sector be enhanced in the push to end poverty over the next generation? What are the most effective mechanisms for strengthening private sector accountability? How can business practices and norms be encouraged that support sustainable development and job creation? How can business build trust in its contributions to sustainable development?

Moderator
• Nancy Birdsall, Center for Global Development

Introductory Remarks
• Homi Kharas, Brookings Institution
• Viswanathan Shankar, Standard Chartered Bank
• Shannon May, Bridge International Academies


Session II: 10:50AM - 12:20PM MST
Private Equity
Participants will explore the following questions for the roundtable: What are the constraints to higher levels of private equity in the developing world, including in non-traditional sectors? How can early-stage investments be promoted to improve deal flow? How can transaction costs and technical assistance costs be lowered?

Moderator
• Laura Tyson, University of California, Berkeley

Introductory Remarks
• Robert van Zwieten, Emerging Markets Private Equity Association
• Runa Alam, Development Partners International
• Vineet Rai, Aavishkaar

Dinner Program: 6:45PM - 9:15PM MST
Aspen Institute Madeleine K. Albright Global Development Lecture

Featuring
• Dr. Paul Farmer, Chief Strategist and Co-Founder, Partners in Health

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Monday, August 5, 2013

Session III: 9:00AM - 10:30AM MST
Goods, Services and Jobs for the Poor
Participants will explore the following questions for the roundtable: In what areas are the most promising emerging business models that serve the poor arising? What are the major obstacles in creating and selling profitable, quality, and beneficial products to the poor and how can they be overcome? What common features distinguish successful and replicable solutions?

Moderator
• Mary Robinson, Mary Robinson Foundation

Introductory Remarks
• Ashish Karamchandani, Monitor Deloitte
• Chris Locke, GSMA
• Ajaita Shah, Frontier Markets
• Hubertus van der Vaart, SEAF

Session IV: 10:50AM - 12:20PM MST
Blended Finance
Participants will explore the following questions for the roundtable: Can standard models of blended finance deliver projects at a large enough scale? How can leverage be measured and incorporated into aid effectiveness measures? Should governments have explicit leverage targets to force change more rapidly and systematically?

Moderator
• Henrietta Fore, Holsman International

Introductory Remarks
• Elizabeth Littlefield, OPIC
• Ewen McDonald, AusAID
• Laurie Spengler, ShoreBank International 

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Tuesday, August 6, 2013 

Session V: 9:00AM - 10:30AM MST
Unlocking Female Entrepreneurship
Participants will explore the following questions for the roundtable: How is the global landscape for female entrepreneurship changing? What types of interventions have the greatest ability to overturn barriers to female entrepreneurship in the developing world? Who, or what institutions, should lead efforts to advance this agenda? Can progress be made without a broader effort to end economic discrimination against women?

Moderator
• Smita Singh, Independent

Introductory Remarks
• Dina Powell, Goldman Sachs
• Carmen Niethammer, IFC
• Randall Kempner, ANDE

Session VI: 10:50AM - 12:20PM MST
U.S. Leadership and Resources to Engage The Private Sector
Participants will explore the following questions for the roundtable: How can U.S. foreign assistance be strengthened to more effectively promote the role of the private sector? How can U.S. diplomacy support private sector development in the emerging economies and multinational enterprises investing in the developing world? What can the US do to promote open innovation platforms?

Moderator
• George Ingram, Brookings

Introductory Remarks
• Sam Worthington, InterAction
• John Podesta, Center for American Progress
• Rajiv Shah, USAID

Closing Remarks
• Richard C. Blum, Blum Capital Partners, LP and Founder of the Blum Center for Developing Economies at Berkeley
• Kemal Derviş, Global Economy and Development, Brookings

Public Event: 4:30PM - 6:00PM MST
Brookings and the Aspen Institute Present: "America's Fiscal Health and its Implications for International Engagement"
Global Economy and Development at Brookings and the Aspen Institute will host the 66th U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development Rajiv Shah for a discussion on the current state of the U.S.'s fiscal health and its impact on American diplomatic and development priorities. Moderated by Ambassador Nicholas Burns, Director, Aspen Strategy Group.

Moderator
• Nicholas Burns, Director, Aspen Strategy Group

Panelists
• Condoleezza Rice, 66th United States Secretary of State
• Rajiv Shah, Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development

 

Event Materials

• BBR Participant List 2013_FINAL

       

Event Information

The start of the 21st century has been an auspicious period for global economic development. In the 1990s, a mere 13 emerging economies succeeded in growing at a speed at least twice that of the OECD countries, enabling rapid convergence on Western living standards. By the first decade of the 2000s, this number had mushroomed to 83. Accelerated rates of economic growth lay behind many of the recent success stories in global development, not least the fulfilment of the first Millennium Development Goal to halve the global poverty rate, five years ahead of the 2015 deadline. Yet in a number of places, growth has failed to take off, has undergone periodic reversals, or has benefited a few while leaving the majority short-changed.

On August 7-9, 2014, Brookings Global Economy and Development is hosting the eleventh annual Brookings Blum Roundtable on Global Poverty in Aspen, Colorado. This year’s roundtable theme, “Jump-Starting Inclusive Growth in the Most Difficult Environment,” brings together global leaders, entrepreneurs, practitioners, and public intellectuals to discuss what strategies exist for promoting inclusive economic growth in settings where standard prescriptions are not feasible or sufficient as well as what the comparative advantages are of different actors seeking to improve the prospects for inclusive growth and how can they most effectively collaborate with each other to increase their impact. 

This event is closed, but you can follow along on Twitter using #Blum2014.

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Roundtable Agenda

Event Materials

• PArticipant list

       

Event Information

The emergence of a new digital economy is changing the ways in which businesses and development organizations engage in emerging and developing countries. Transaction costs have been radically driven down, enabling greater inclusion. And technology is driving efficiency improvements, and permitting rapid scaling-up and transformational change.

On August 5-7, 2015, Brookings Global Economy and Development is hosting the twelfth annual Brookings Blum Roundtable on Global Poverty in Aspen, Colorado. This year’s roundtable theme, “Disrupting development with digital technologies,” brings together global leaders, entrepreneurs, practitioners, and public intellectuals to discuss three trends in particular have the potential to redefine how global development occurs and how efforts will support it over the next 10 years: (1) the growing adoption of digital payments serving people everywhere with near-frictionless transactions; (2) the spread of internet connectivity and digital literacy; and (3) the harnessing of data to better serve the poor and to generate new knowledge.

This event is closed, but you can follow along on Twitter using #Blum2015.

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Roundtable Agenda

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Welcome and opening remarks - 8:40-9:00 a.m.:

• Richard C. Blum, Blum Capital Partners
• Mike Kubzansky, Omidyar Network
• Kemal Derviş, Brookings Institution

Session I - 9:00-10:30 a.m.: Realizing the potential of the digital economy

The digital revolution presents profound opportunities for global development. By integrating poor people into digital networks, the revolution can redefine what it means to be poor, and forge new pathways to prosperity for both individuals and countries.

What are the challenges in making the digital revolution fully inclusive and scalable—and how can they be lifted? In a full-fledged digital economy, which constraints facing the poor will diminish and which will remain? What risks does the digital economy pose?

Moderator:

• Kemal Derviş, Brookings Institution

Introductory remarks:

• Michael Faye, GiveDirectly, Segovia Technology
• Tunde Kehinde, African Courier Express
• Christina Sass, Andela
• Tariq Malik, National Database and Registration Authority

Session II - 10:50 - 12:20 p.m.: Global money

Between 2011 and 2014, 700 million people started a bank account for the first time, representing a giant step toward the World Bank goal of universal financial inclusion by 2020. Meanwhile, the digitalization of payments, spurred in part by 255 mobile money services across the developing world, is pushing the cost of basic financial transactions down toward zero.

How will an era of global money transform formal and informal business? Which sectors, product markets, and government services have the most to gain and lose from increased market efficiency? What are the consequences for financial regulation?

Moderator:

• Henrietta Fore, Holsman International

Introductory remarks:

• Ruth Goodwin-Groen, Better than Cash Alliance
• Luis Buenaventura, Rebit.ph, Satoshi Citadel Industries
• Tayo Oviosu, Paga
• Loretta Michaels, U.S. Department of the Treasury

Lunch - 12:30-2:00 p.m.

Cocktail reception and interview - 5:00-7:00 p.m.:

During the reception, Richard Blum will lead a short discussion with Walter Isaacson and Ann Mei Chang on the topic “Silicon Valley and Innovation for the Developing World,” followed by questions. Remarks begin at 5:30 and will end at 6:15 p.m.

Thursday, August 6, 2015

Session III - 9:00-10:30 a.m.: Global connections

Numerous ventures are competing today to bring internet connectivity to the furthest corners of the planet, while low-cost, user-centered-designed platforms are expanding the spread of digital literacy. Social media and crowdsourcing offer efficient ways for people to share information, solve problems, and act collectively.

To what extent can internet connectivity overcome isolation and empower poor communities that are socially, economically, and politically disenfranchised? Do the benefits of global connectivity for the world’s poor rely on issues like net neutrality, and what has been learned from recent battles to uphold this paradigm?

Moderator:

• Anne-Marie Slaughter, New America Foundation

Introductory remarks:

• Ross LaJeunesse, Google
• Andy O’Connell, Facebook
• Maria Ressa, Rappler
• Chris Locke, Caribou Digital

Session IV - 10:50-12:20 p.m.: Global knowledge

The creation of a universal digital network will provide the poor with greater access to the information they need, and generate new knowledge that can be used to serve poor people more effectively. Digital inclusion can expand possibilities for targeting, verification, and analysis, while big data from biometric registries, satellites, phones, payments, and the internet can unlock insights on individual needs and preferences. In addition, open source platforms and MOOCs have the potential to be powerful accelerators for technology and skill transfer.

What kinds of new personalized services can be developed using improved capacity for targeting and tailoring? How might the reduction of barriers to information affect social mobility and economic convergence? How should big data be regulated?

Moderator:

• Smita Singh, President’s Global Development Council

Introductory remarks:

• David Soloff, Premise
• Rebecca Taber, Coursera
• Jonathan Hakim, Cignifi
• Deepak Mishra, World Bank

Friday, August 7, 2015

Session V - 9:00-10:30 a.m.: Opportunities and challenges for business

The digital economy promises to disrupt many existing markets and generate new business opportunities that employ and serve the poor.

How can businesses employ digital technologies to expand their presence in poor and emerging countries? According to businesses, what is an effective regulatory framework for the digital economy? To what extent can strong digital infrastructure compensate for deficiencies in physical infrastructure or governance?

Moderator:

• Laura Tyson, Blum Center for Developing Economies

Introductory Remarks:

• Jesse Moore, M-KOPA Solar
• Anup Akkihal, Logistimo
• V. Shankar, formerly Standard Chartered Bank
• Barbara Span, Western Union

Session VI - 10:50-12:20 p.m.: Opportunities and challenges for development cooperation

The U.S. government sees itself as a leader in harnessing technology for global development. Meanwhile, aid agencies have been identified as a possible target for disintermediation by the digital revolution.

How can development organizations, both government and non-government, accelerate the digital revolution? How might traditional aid programs be enhanced by employing digital knowledge and technologies? Does U.S. regulatory policy on the digital economy cohere with its global development agenda?

Moderator:

• Mary Robinson, Mary Robinson Foundation - Climate Justice

Introductory remarks:

• Neal Keny-Guyer, Mercy Corps
• Michael Anderson, Children's Investment Fund Foundation
• Helen Clark, United Nations Development Program
• Ann Mei Chang, USAID

Closing remarks:

• Richard C. Blum, Blum Capital
• Mike Kubzansky, Omidyar Network
• Kemal Derviş, Brookings Institution

Event Materials

• Participant List 731

       

       

       

       

This is the third in a series of reports on the demographic and political dynamics under way in key “battleground” states, deemed to be crucial in deciding the 2008 election. As part of the Metropolitan Policy Program’s Blueprint for American Prosperity, this series will provide an electoral component to the initiative’s analysis of and prescriptions for bolstering the health and vitality of America’s metropolitan areas, the engines of the U.S. economy. This report focuses on three major battleground states in the Midwest—Ohio, Michigan, and Missouri—and finds that:

Ohio, Michigan and Missouri all feature eligible voter populations dominated by white working class voters. However, this profile is changing, albeit more slowly than in faster-growing states like Colorado or Arizona, as the white working class declines and white college graduates and minorities, especially Hispanics, increase. The largest effects are in these states’ major metropolitan areas— Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati in Ohio: Detroit in Michigan; and St. Louis and Kansas City in Missouri— especially in their suburbs.

In Ohio, these trends could have their strongest impact in the fast-growing and Democratic-trending Columbus metro, where Democrats will seek to tip the entire metro in their favor by expanding their margin in Franklin County and reducing their deficit in the suburbs. The trends could also have big impacts in the Cleveland metro (especially its suburbs), in the Cincinnati metro (especially Hamilton County) and in the mediumsized metros of the Northeast (Akron, Canton, and Youngstown). Overall, the GOP will be looking to maintain their support among the declining white working class, especially among whites with some college, who have been trending Democratic. Also critical to their prospects is whether the growing white college-educated group will continue its movement toward the Democrats.

In Michigan, these trends will likely determine whether the fast-growing and populous Detroit suburbs continue shifting toward the Democrats, a development which would tip the Detroit metro (44 percent of the statewide vote) even farther in the direction of the Democrats. The trends will also have a big impact on whether the GOP can continue their hold on the conservative and growing Southwest region of the state that includes the Grand Rapids metro. The GOP will seek to increase its support among white college graduates, who gave the GOP relatively strong support in 2004, but have been trending toward the Democrats long term.

In Missouri, these trends will have their strongest impact on the two big metros of Democratic-trending St. Louis (38 percent of the vote)—especially its suburbs— and GOP-trending Kansas City (20 percent of the statewide vote). The Democrats need a large increase in their margins out of these two metros to have a chance of taking the state, while the GOP simply needs to hold the line. The trends will also have a significant impact on the conservative and growing Southwest region, the bulwark of GOP support in the state, where the Republicans will look to generate even higher support levels. The GOP will try to maintain its support from the strongly pro-GOP white college graduate group, which has been increasing its share of voters as it has trended Republican.

These large, modestly growing states in the heartland of the United States will play a pivotal roll in November’s election. Though experiencing smaller demographic shifts than many other states, they are each changing in ways that underscore the contested status of their combined 48 Electoral College votes in this year’s presidential contest.



Table Of Contents:
Executive Summary » 
Introduction and Data Sources and Definitions » 
Ohio » 
Michigan » 
Missouri » 
Endnotes »

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We are kicking off the new Millions Learning video series with a spotlight on Teach For All, one of the 14 case studies examined in the Millions Learning report. Teach For All is an international network of local, independent partner country organizations dedicated to improving educational opportunities for children and youth around the globe. From China to Bulgaria to Peru to Ghana, each partner organization recruits and trains recent top-performing graduates and professionals to teach in their country’s underserved communities for two years, with the ultimate goal of developing a cadre of education leaders, both inside and outside of the classroom.

In this video, Wendy Kopp, CEO and co-founder of Teach For All, discusses Teach For All’s unique approach to building a pipeline of future “learning leaders and champions” and the role that a supportive policy environment plays in enabling this process. Kopp then explains how Teach For All grew from the original Teach For America and Teach First in the United Kingdom to an international network of 40 partner countries, sharing her own lessons learned along the way.

To learn more about Millions Learning, please visit our interactive report, Millions Learning: Scaling up quality education in developing countries, and/or visit our webpage.

Video

• Getting millions to learn: Interview with Wendy Kopp of Teach For All

       

       

This paper lays out the fundamentals of a downtown turnaround plan and the unique "private/public" partnership required to succeed. Beginning with visioning and strategic planning to the reemergence of an office market at the end stages, these 12 steps form a template for returning "walkable urbanism" downtown.

Though every downtown is different there are still common revitalization lessons that can be applied anywhere. While any approach must be customized based on unique physical conditions, institutional assets, consumer demand, history, and civic intent, this paper lays out the fundamentals of a downtown turnaround plan and the unique "private/public" partnership required to succeed. Beginning with visioning and strategic planning to the reemergence of an office market at the end stages, these 12 steps form a template for returning "walkable urbanism" downtown.

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Hong Kong has seemed quiet for the last four months. The foreign media moved on to other stories once last fall’s protest movement came to an end. But locally the debate over a new system to elect the territory’s chief executive has continued non-stop, and the situation is about to heat up again. On Wednesday Hong Kong time, the government will announce its proposal for electoral reform. Once it does, the pro-democracy opposition will face some difficult choices.

Here, in not too much detail, is a quick review of the background.

In 2007, the government of the People’s Republic of China, which has sovereignty over Hong Kong, announced it would accept an election of Hong Kong’s chief executive (CE) through universal suffrage for the 2017 election. It also said that candidates would be picked by a Nominating Committee. Pro-democracy politicians and the public at large, a majority of which supports a more democratic system, welcomed the universal suffrage part of this pledge but suspected that Beijing would use the Nominating Committee to restrict who got to run. What good is a one-man-one-vote election, they asked, if voters had to choose between candidates who are from the territory’s conservative establishment camp and will likely accommodate Beijing? (Good question.)

The following ensued:

• After several years of public debate, the Hong Kong government began a formal process consulting the public in December 2013. The key point of disagreement was over whether election candidates could emerge only through a Nominating Committee vote or through other mechanisms as well. Those who wanted other mechanisms believed that the Committee’s membership would be friendly to Beijing and pick candidates accordingly. Some of these skeptics were prepared to engage in civil disobedience to try to get their way.
• In late June 2014, the Hong Kong government announced the results of the consultation and the incumbent CE, C. Y. Leung, made a formal report to Beijing. This was the first step in a five-step process for constitutional revision, a process set by China. There is general agreement that Leung’s report understated the opposition to a nomination system that relied exclusively on the Nominating Committee.
• On August 31st, the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC-SC) announced a decision on basic parameters for the new system (step two). Sure enough, it ruled out any supplementary nominating mechanisms. It also strongly suggested that the Nominating Committee would be constituted the same way as the 1,200-person Election Committee that had heretofore selected the CE and whose members were mostly friendly towards Beijing. The NPC-SC also limited the number of final CE candidates to two or three and dictated that each had to receive majority support from the Nominating Committee to become a candidate.
• The public response to the decision was sharply negative. The logical conclusion seemed to be that the new system was rigged in a way that Hong Kong voters have to pick among establishment candidates only, and that a pro-democracy aspirant had no way of getting nominated.
• In late September, students began a civil disobedience campaign that was marked by episodes of violence, and resulted in the occupation of three sets of major roadways in the territory. These lasted until early December, but the campaign did not persuade the government to back down on its basic approach.
• At the same time, the Hong Kong government, staying within the parameters Beijing announced on August 31st, began a second consultation process on its more specific reform proposals.

Why, you may ask, doesn’t Beijing just impose the system it wants? The reason is that it already committed that in step three of the five-step constitutional revision process, the government would introduce a bill in the Hong Kong Legislative Council reflecting its final proposal and that the legislature would have to approve it by a two-thirds margin. Even though the legislature is constituted in a way that gives disproportionate power to interests aligned with Beijing, the establishment camp currently does not have enough votes for a two-thirds majority. Consequently, the government must win over four or five moderate legislators from the democratic camp. In response, the more radical democrats have worked hard to keep the moderates committed to rejecting any government that is based on Beijing’s parameters, because it means that China gets to screen who gets to run. 

In light of this problem, the Hong Kong government did a clever thing. In the consultation document, it included the option of “democratizing” the Nominating Committee while remaining within Beijing’s basic parameters. It proposed to do this first by making the body more representative of Hong Kong society and reducing the proportion of seats held by business interests and groups otherwise linked to China. Second, it suggested a two-stage process of selection. In the first stage, the Nominating Committee would consider more “potential candidates” than the two or three that would ultimately be nominated to run in the election. To be picked as a potential candidate, an individual would need the support of only a minority of Committee members (how low was unspecified). This could increase the possibility of one or more democratic politicians emerging as potential candidates and then, in the second stage, at least one of them being selected as a final candidate. The result would be a competitive election.

Last week, Raymond Tam, the Hong Kong government’s secretary for constitutional and mainland affairs, indicated that something along these lines would be proposed by the government this Wednesday. He talked of using “the necessary legal room to maximize the democratic elements” and making the “entrance requirement" for potential candidates no higher than one-eighth of the membership. Additionally, there would be greater openness, transparency and accountability in the process of reviewing potential candidates within the Nominating Committee.

The devil, of course, will be in the details of the proposal (more on that later in the week). Moreover, Tam said nothing about making the Nominating Committee more representative of Hong Kong society. Did that element get set aside, and if so, what are the implications? If the membership of the committee is still biased in favor of the political status quo, would it matter if the process within the Nominating Committee is more competitive and transparent?

Whatever the proposal, the ball will then be in the pan-democrats’ court. Do they vote as a block to reject any process that allows the Nominating Committee to screen candidates? Do they then want to expose themselves to near-certain criticism that their recalcitrance denied the Hong Kong public the opportunity to vote for the CE? Or, do they take a chance on the more flexible approach that Tam is proposing, in the hope and belief that a pan-democrat will be screened in, which in turn would seem to set up a competitive election?

Read Richard Bush's response to the Hong Kong government's proposal for electoral reform »

      

How can countries support innovative approaches to facilitating access to and usage of formal financial services among low-income and other marginalized groups while mitigating the risk of misuse within the financial sector?

As part of the Brookings Financial and Digital Inclusion Project (FDIP), the FDIP team recently hosted a roundtable to examine this central question. The objective of the roundtable was to identify and discuss salient challenges and opportunities for financial services providers, government entities, and consumers with respect to balancing anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) compliance — a critical component of financial integrity and stability — with inclusive financial access and growth.

We explore several key questions and themes that emerged from the roundtable below.

Do areas of synergy exist between financial inclusion and AML/CFT efforts?

• AML/CFT requirements and financial inclusion have sometimes been perceived as being in tension with one another — for example, stringent “know your customer” (KYC) requirements associated with AML processes can restrict formal financial access among marginalized groups who are unable to fulfill the KYC documentation requirements. However, the objectives of AML/CFT (ensuring stability and integrity within the financial sector) and financial inclusion (providing access to and promoting usage of a broad range of appropriate, affordable financial services) can be mutually reinforcing.
• By moving individuals from the shadow economy into the formal financial system, greater opportunities emerge for introducing underserved populations to a broad suite of formal financial services, and ensuring those services are accompanied by suitable consumer protections. Thus, financial inclusion, financial integrity, and financial stability can act as complementary objectives.
• The 2012 Declaration of the Ministers and Representatives of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recognized financial exclusion as a money laundering and terrorist financing risk in approving FATF’s 2012-2020 Mandate. This mandate affirmed FATF’s 2011 guidance on AML and terrorist financing measures and financial inclusion, which stated that “[i]t is acknowledged at the same time that financial exclusion works against effective AML/CFT policies. Indeed the prevalence of a large informal, unregulated and undocumented economy negatively affects AML/CFT efforts and the integrity of the financial system. Informal, unregulated and undocumented financial services and a pervasive cash economy can generate significant money laundering and terrorist financing risks and negatively affect AML/CFT preventive, detection and investigation/prosecution efforts.”

What are key challenges and concerns with respect to balancing financial inclusion with financial integrity?

• Awareness of financial inclusion issues is not universal among individuals who work in the regulatory, compliance, and law enforcement spheres of the financial ecosystem. Engagement among these groups is critical for promoting knowledge-sharing with respect to financial integrity and inclusion.
• Although FATF and other standard-setting bodies (SSBs) have increasingly adopted recommendations favoring proportionate, risk-based approaches to AML/CFT (as evidenced by the 2013 FATF Guidance on Financial Inclusion), regulators often pursue more conservative approaches than SSB guidelines recommend. These conservative approaches may constrain access to and usage of formal financial services among marginalized groups.
• Combating the potential use of low-value transfers within countries and across borders for terrorist financing purposes is a salient concern for the law enforcement community when considering proportionate AML/CFT approaches.

How does the digital component fit into these issues?

• As its name suggests, FDIP is interested in exploring the evolving role of digital technology within the financial services ecosystem. As discussed in the 2015 FDIP Report, digitization of financial services can be more cost-effective for public and private sector providers to manage and safer for consumers than carrying or storing cash.
• For example, a 2013 report found that the Mexican government saved about $1.3 billion annually by centralizing and digitizing payments for wages, pensions, and social transfers. A 2014 report by the World Bank Development Research Group, the Better Than Cash Alliance, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation highlighted several countries, including South Africa, where disbursing social transfers electronically cost significantly less than manual cash disbursement.
• Digital financial services can also promote women’s economic empowerment, as these services are often more private and convenient to access than traveling to a “brick and mortar” financial service provider. Given that as of 2014 there was a 9 percentage point gap between the number of men and women with accounts in developing economies (with women disproportionately excluded from account ownership), facilitating access to formal financial services among the 42 percent of women globally who do not have an account will be a major factor in advancing financial inclusion.
• With respect to financial integrity in particular, digital identification mechanisms such as biometric IDs can help lower access barriers to financial services while ensuring that providers have the information they need to promote security and stability in the financial ecosystem. In its June 2011 guidance, FATF recognized the use of non-documentary methods of identification verification — for example, a signed declaration from a community leader coupled with a photo taken by a mobile phone — for advancing access to formal financial services among underserved groups.
• The Aadhaar initiative in India, which the FDIP team referenced in a previous post, is currently the largest biometric identification program in the world. The unique 12-digit ID enables individuals to meet KYC requirements and has been used as a financial account among those who do not have an account with a financial institution. Another innovative digital initiative is underway in Tanzania, where the government is working in concert with mobile carrier Tigo and UNICEF to provide birth certificates via mobile phones.

What are critical questions and areas of opportunity for fostering financial inclusion and integrity moving forward?

• How can regulators and providers ensure sufficient privacy protections are in place for customers when advancing financial inclusion efforts, particularly through digital channels?
• Through what mechanisms can government entities and non-government financial services providers best mitigate the risks of centralizing sensitive customer data?
• Could an industry utility that facilitates a common solution to AML systems serve as a feasible solution for harmonizing standards?
• What is the proper role of private solutions in the AML/CFT and financial inclusion spaces?
• Could identification verification applications be developed using blockchain technology?
• In what ways can social networks be leveraged with respect to digital identity initiatives and financial inclusion?

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

       

Editor’s Note: This blog post is one in a series of posts in which guest bloggers respond to the Brookings paper, “The potential and limitations of impact bonds: Lessons from the first five years of experience worldwide."

Constitutional mandate for ECD in Kenya

In 2014, clause 5 (1) of the County Early Childhood Education Bill 2014 declared free and compulsory early childhood education a right for all children in Kenya. Early childhood education (ECE) in Kenya has historically been located outside of the realm of government and placed under the purview of the community, religious institutions, and the private sector. The disparate and unstructured nature of ECE in the country has led to a proliferation of unregistered informal schools particularly in underprivileged communities. Most of these schools still charge relatively high fees and ancillary costs yet largely offer poor quality of education. Children from these preschools have poor cognitive development and inadequate school readiness upon entry into primary school.

Task to the county government

The Kenyan constitution places the responsibility and mandate of providing free, compulsory, and quality ECE on the county governments. It is an onerous challenge for these sub-national governments in taking on a large-scale critical function that has until now principally existed outside of government.

In Nairobi City County, out of over 250,000 ECE eligible children, only about 12,000 attend public preschools. Except for one or two notable public preschools, most have a poor reputation with parents. Due to limited access and demand for quality, the majority of Nairobi’s preschool eligible children are enrolled in private and informal schools. A recent study of the Mukuru slum of Nairobi shows that over 80 percent of 4- and 5-year-olds in this large slum area are enrolled in preschool, with 94 percent of them attending informal private schools.

In early 2015, the Governor of Nairobi City County, Dr. Evans Kidero, commissioned a taskforce to look into factors affecting access, equity, and quality of education in the county. The taskforce identified significant constraints including human capital and capacity gaps, material and infrastructure deficiencies, management and systemic inefficiencies that have led to a steady deterioration of education in the city to a point where the county consistently underperforms relative to other less resourced counties. 

Potential role of impact bonds

Nairobi City County now faces the challenge of designing and implementing a scalable model that will ensure access to quality early childhood education for all eligible children in the city by 2030. The sub-national government’s resources and implementation capacity are woefully inadequate to attain universal access in the near term, nor by the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) deadline of 2030. However, there are potential opportunities to leverage emerging mechanisms for development financing to provide requisite resource additionality, private sector rigor, and performance management that will enable Nairobi to significantly advance the objective of ensuring ECE is available to all children in the county.

Social impact bonds (SIBs) are one form of innovative financing mechanism that have been used in developed countries to tap external resources to facilitate early childhood initiatives. This mechanism seeks to harness private finance to enable and support the implementation of social services. Government repays the investor contingent on the attainment of targeted outcomes. Where a donor agency is the outcomes funder instead of government, the mechanism is referred to as a development impact bond (DIB).

The recent Brookings study highlights some of the potential and limitations of impact bonds by researching in-depth the 38 impact bonds that had been contracted globally as of March, 2015. On the upside, the study shows that impact bonds have been successful in achieving a shift of government and service providers to outcomes. In addition, impact bonds have been able to foster collaboration among stakeholders including across levels of government, government agencies, and between the public and private sector. Another strength of impact bonds is their ability to build systems of monitoring and evaluation and establish processes of adaptive learning, both critical to achieving desirable ECD outcomes. On the downside, the report highlights some particular challenges and limitations of the impact bonds to date. These include the cost and complexity of putting the deals together, the need for appropriate legal and political environments and impact bonds’ inability thus far to demonstrate a large dent in the ever present challenge of achieving scale.

Challenges in implementing social impact bonds in Kenya

In the Kenyan context, especially at the sub-national level, there are two key challenges in implementing impact bonds.

To begin with, in the Kenyan context, the use of a SIB would invoke public-private partnership legislation, which prescribes highly stringent measures and extensive pre-qualification processes that are administered by the National Treasury and not at the county level. The complexity arises from the fact that SIBs constitute an inherent contingent liability to government as they expose it to fiscal risk resulting from a potential future public payment obligation to the private party in the project.

Another key challenge in a SIB is the fact that Government must pay for outcomes achieved and for often significant transaction costs, yet the SIB does not explicitly encompass financial additionality. Since government pays for outcomes in the end, the transaction costs and obligation to pay for outcomes could reduce interest from key decision-makers in government.

A modified model to deliver ECE in Nairobi City County

The above challenges notwithstanding, a combined approach of results-based financing and impact investing has high potential to mobilize both requisite resources and efficient capacity to deliver quality ECE in Nairobi City County. To establish an enabling foundation for the future inclusion of impact investing whilst beginning to address the immediate ECE challenge, Nairobi City County has designed and is in the process of rolling out a modified DIB. In this model, a pool of donor funds for education will be leveraged through the new Nairobi City County Education Trust (NCCET).

The model seeks to apply the basic principles of results-based financing, but in a structure adjusted to address aforementioned constraints. Whereas in the classical SIB and DIB mechanisms investors provide upfront capital and government and donors respectively repay the investment with a return for attained outcomes, the modified structure will incorporate only grant funding with no possibility for return of principal. Private service providers will be engaged to operate ECE centers, financed by the donor-funded NCCET. The operators will receive pre-set funding from the NCCET, but the county government will progressively absorb their costs as they achieve targeted outcomes, including salaries for top-performing teachers. As a result, high-performing providers will be able to make a small profit. The system is designed to incentivize teachers and progressively provide greater income for effective school operators, while enabling an ordered handover of funding responsibilities to government, thus providing for program sustainability.

Nairobi City County plans to build 97 new ECE centers, all of which are to be located in the slum areas. NCCET will complement this undertaking by structuring and implementing the new funding model to operationalize the schools. The structure aims to coordinate the actors involved in the program—donors, service providers, evaluators—whilst sensitizing and preparing government to engage the private sector in the provision of social services and the payment of outcomes thereof.