Clinton Philanthropy Meeting Yields $8-Billion in Commitments

The Clinton Global Initiative, an annual philanthropy event organized by Bill Clinton, garnered 250 charitable commitments estimated to be worth $8-billion, said the former president.

Since it started in 2005, the annual meeting has attracted $46-billion in pledges, which can be in the form of donations, business investments, volunteer time, and other work, Mr. Clinton said.

Some nonprofit experts, however, have questioned how much the gathering actually raises, arguing that some of the total are commitments that would have been made regardless of the event (The Chronicle, September 18).

Several major philanthropic contributions were announced during this year’s three-day conference in New York:

• To benefit Haiti, which has been devastated by recent hurricanes and tropical storms, about 20 philanthropists and charities promised $100-million to improve the island nation by providing shoes to schoolchildren, giving seeds and agricultural training to farmers, building health clinics, and supporting other aid.

• Mr. Clinton said he was pleased with the commitment because Haiti has a special place in his heart — he spent his honeymoon there — and because the project developed quickly.

  For example, he said, once they learned about the effort, the actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt called him during the conference to pledge to pay for the rebuilding of 12 schools.

• Eli Broad, the California philanthropist, promised $6-million to develop a new education-research center at Harvard University. The Education Innovation Laboratory, or EdLabs, will foster new ways to solve problems in elementary and secondary education, such as racial inequity in graduation rates, and rigorously study the programs that do work, said Mr. Broad, who earned his fortune in the insurance and housing business.

• The YUM Brands restaurant company promised to give $80-million over the next five years to antihunger groups to provide meals to schoolchildren. The majority of that pledge — $50-million — will support the U.N. World Food Programme.

During the conference, both Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain made broad commitments to fight climate change, end deadly diseases, and eradicate global poverty.

Senator McCain, an Arizona Republican, said he would improve how the federal government provides assistance abroad. In the White House, he said, he also would build upon the work of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other groups to eliminate malaria, prevent tuberculosis, and improve maternal and child health.

Senator Obama, an Illinois Democrat, spoke via satellite and proposed a government partnership with businesses and nonprofit groups to create jobs by supporting small and midsize companies in developing countries. Its first project would be to support efforts to produce and distribute bed nets to prevent the spread of malaria, he said.

He also pledged $2-billion in government money for primary education to girls and boys around the world, an effort originally proposed by Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

More related articles are available online.