CGI U: Working Session #1

Key Facts From Session:
* The internet is finding ways for people to fight poverty. Using pay-per-click advertising, organizations can generate profits that fund innovative yet simple programs. For example, one program enables students to donate gradually to microfinance recipients through repeated use of their website.

Another program donates 20 grains of rice each time a person clicks on the website. To encourage people to continue clicking, the site provides a vocabulary-building quiz. Since this program went live in October 2007, over 21 billion grains of rice have been donated to and distributed by the UN World Food Program (which currently aids 78 countries). This is enough to feed 1 million people per day.

At the same time, hunger and poverty claim 25, 000 lives every day.

* America is the richest in the world, yet 37 million American live below the official poverty line. For comparison, the population of California is 36.5 million.

* America is ranked 24 out of 25 developed nations when measuring how well countries combat poverty (what share of a country's population has income below 50% of the nation's median income). Only Mexico has a higher poverty rate than in the United States among rich nations.

* The number of people in developing countries living on less than US$1 a day fell to 980 million in 2004; down from 1.25 billion in 1990

* As of December 31, 2006, 3,316 microcredit institutions reported reaching 133,030,913 clients. Microfinance can help the poor to generate income, build viable businesses, and increase domestic savings. It can also be a powerful instrument for self-empowerment by enabling the poor, especially women, to become economic agents of change. However, we need to find ways to ensure that even more people have access to capital.

The title of this session was "Students Ending Poverty: Start from Where you Are". The speakers were Lawrence S. Bacow, President of Tufts University; Anat Binur, Co-Founder and Executive Board Member, Middle East Education Through Technology (MEET); Dave Eggers, Founder McSweeney's and TED 2008 Award Recipient; Jacqueline Marrie Rupert, President, Edun Live on Campus; and Premal Shah, President, Kiva.org

The session was extremely interesting. Dave Eggers was the panel moderator and he was extremely gifted at the role. Each member of the panel spoke about their experience with their particular organization and what they were doing.

Perhaps the closest to my age was Ms. Rupert. She started the program at Miami University. In 2005 Bono and his wife Ali Hewson started the fashion brand Edun to show that a brand could be profitable and do good (a social enterprise by definition). Not long after, Edun Live on Campus was launched to provide clothing for screen printing for college campuses and start spreading the word that clothing was about more than the product. When Jacqueline Marie graduates in the coming year she will be leaving behind a true legacy on her campus and throughout the world as the brand continues to grow. Her tireless work will have a lasting impact. It was a simple concept, one that can be replicated on any campus around the world, but one that has the potential to make some very big changes. Check out Edun Live on Campus.

Perhaps the most widely known story was that of Premal Shah, the President of Kiva.org. Kiva has grown to be one of the biggest stories of the philanthropic world over the past couple of years. A simple concept of combining the power of the internet with microcredit, Kiva allows people from all over the world to provide small loans to people in the developing world to help start or grow their small businesses. At the mere age of 32 Premal is the oldest employee of the organization. When they first created the organization he remembers wondering whether the idea was even legal. As they plan to expand the website to include people in the US on the list of loanees, he still isn't sure whether it is legal, but they aren't going to let that stop them. The idea was simple but has sent some serious waves throughout the world in the fight against poverty. I am very excited to see this organization grow.

The other two were also extremely interesting. While I didn't relate to them nearly as well, Lawrence Bracow, the President of Tufts University and Anat Binur had very interesting stories to tell as well. Mr. Bracow and Tufts University had created an endowment fund of $112 million that provided microcredit institutions with capital to make loans as well as to do poverty reduction projects all over the world. It is the only current university with such an endowment in place, or at least to the knowledge of anyone in attendance.

The message that the panel was parlaying was that small ideas, with hard work, can become large agents of change. Each of the panelists started their ideas in the environment of their respective universities and have continued to grow well beyond the borders of the campus. Schools can be the perfect breeding grounds for passionate people with an idea. Think about that if you happen to be on a campus, and if you are not then don't fret because your ideas will find a home if you want them to. These panelists had done things few would have thought possible. They would have dreamed about them but they would never have thought to take the next step. Ideas without action are failed dreams. But the combination of ideas and action can change the world. Combine the two and you have one powerful recipe for change. That is a lesson we all need to assimilate.