Council on Foundations 58th Annual Conference

The 58th Annual Conference of the Council on Foundations, held in Seattle in late April/early May, brought together over 2,000 people to discuss the role of philanthropy in addressing four of the big challenges of our time: Combating Poverty, Ensuring Public Health, Protecting the Environment, and Preparing for and Responding to Disasters. In general the emphasis was more on making a difference at home than around the globe.

Mark Warner, former Governor of Virginia, saw the real challenge as being to maintain the US as the world’s ‘most successful and prosperous country’. The education system must cater better for workers in a knowledge economy in view of competition from India and China. Geoffrey Canada, Founder and President/CEO of the Harlem Children’s Zone, saw ‘the state of our children here in this country’ as ‘the biggest tragedy’.

Only Melinda Gates saw the greatest challenges as lying outside the US. The starting point of her and Bill’s philanthropy, she said, is that all lives are of equal value. ‘I imagine a world in which where a child is born doesn’t affect their chances of living a good and healthy life.’

Even when it came to climate change, the focus was largely on the US, where measures to counter global warming tend to be seen as economically damaging. Several speakers hailed the potential of alternative energy industries to simultaneously provide jobs ‘here in America’ and clean up the environment. US cities seem to be taking the lead where the national government has refused to tread: the Mayor of Seattle signed up to Kyoto and has since persuaded 494 other mayors, representing 65 million people, to do the same.

With the country poised to become – if it isn’t already – the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, addressing environmental issues in China is critical. Speakers from the Asia Foundation, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisers, the Energy Foundation and Global Greengrants Fund outlined what they are doing in China, but much more is needed – globally, not just in the US – if we are to save our planet.