Why CGI?
President Clinton’s lifetime in public service demonstrated to him that governments alone could not adequately confront the world’s most pressing problems without the help of the private sector, nongovernmental organizations, and other global leaders.
After attending thousands of meetings over his career where pressing issues were discussed but no action was taken to solve them, President Clinton saw a need to establish a new kind of meeting with an emphasis on results.
The Clinton Foundation launched the Clinton Global Initiative in 2005 to bring together, by invitation only, heads of state, business executives, nonprofit and foundation directors, philanthropists, academics, and religious leaders to move beyond discussion and take action to address global challenges in the areas of economic empowerment, education, energy & climate change, and global health.
Commitments to Action
All members who attend the CGI Annual Meeting are asked to define and pursue a new, specific, and measurable approach in addressing global challenges. Commitments to Action are a unique feature of CGI membership, which translates practical goals into meaningful and measurable results. Throughout the year and at the Annual Meeting, CGI acts as a marketplace for a diverse community of changemakers to develop commitments that fit their core business and philanthropic goals.
Beyond the Annual Meeting
President Clinton’s vision and dedication to positive change has resulted in an expansion of the CGI model to reach the next generation of leaders and everyday citizens around the world. CGI University provides students and universities a unique forum to act on the issues that are important to young people. MyCommitment.org is an online portal that anyone can use to make a commitment or find others who share their vision for change.
PROFILE
Min-Jeong Cho of the University of Texas is committing to teach the therapeutic art of origami to 1,000 hospital and health-facility patients, focusing on children and Alzheimer’s patients.
