Jeremy’s Report from the Clinton Global Initiative

DDD was honored to be invited to the very first Asian summit of the Clinton Global Initiative, founded by Bill Clinton.

The two-day conference was the first Asian version of the summit that Bill Clinton has convened annually in New York since 2005. It aims to bring together political, entertainment, business and NGO leaders to collectively inspire people to take more action to tackle global poverty and environmental challenges.

The content was a combination of large plenary panel discussions and break-out sessions on education, health, and climate change. There were about 400 attendees. The goal is for people to make specific commitments of how they will address these issues. I shared DDD’s goal of adding 1,000 people in the coming years. We were one of only a few dozen nonprofit organizations represented, and many people expressed their interest and admiration for what we’ve accomplished.

It will take a lot of work all around the world to undertake the global challenges discussed at CGI. We should be proud that we are making a real and significant contribution to these issues. It’s not easy–we are doing something special which could never happen otherwise. While it was an honour to represent DDD in Hong Kong, it doesn’t compare to listening to our managers present at our recent board meeting, or to witnessing the humming efficiency of our three offices or the shy smiles of pride on the faces of the operators there. It is in our offices day-to-day where I am always inspired to see everyone working to create lasting solutions to poverty.

- Jeremy Hockenstein, Co-Founder & CEO

Read a South China Morning Point article profiling the Clinton Global Initiative in Hong Kong, including DDD’s participation