President Bill Clinton, Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Clinton Foundation Vice Chair Chelsea Clinton announced the program and participants for the 10th Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting.

The meeting is to be held September 21-24 in New York City, and more than 1,000 of the most influential leaders from business, government, civil society and philanthropy will convene around the theme of “Reimagining Impact.”

President Clinton established the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), an initiative of the Clinton Foundation, to bring leaders together from all sectors of society to create and implement solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges by turning their ideas into action. Participants turn their ideas into action through the creation of “Commitments to Action” – new, specific, measurable plans to address these challenges. Since the first CGI Annual Meeting in September 2005, more than 180 heads of state, 20 Nobel Prize laureates, and hundreds of leading CEOs, heads of foundations and NGOs and major philanthropists have participated in CGI’s Annual Meetings, and members of the CGI community have made more than 2,900 commitments which are already improving the lives of more than 430 million people in over 180 countries.

More: https://www.looktothestars.org/news/12353-barack-obama-to-take-part-in-clinton-global-initiative-annual-meeting

President Bill Clinton, Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Chelsea Clinton have announced new participants for the 10th Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting, to be held September 21-24 in New York City, including 45 current and former heads of state, and more than 1,000 of the most influential leaders from business, government, civil society and philanthropy.

Honorees, participants, and performers for the 8th annual Clinton Global Citizen Awards were also announced. CGI will open on Sunday, September 21st with the Clinton Global Citizen Awards, which have honored outstanding individuals in civil society, philanthropy, public service, and the private sector who exemplify global citizenship through their vision, leadership, and impact in addressing global challenges since the first Clinton Global Citizen Awards in 2007.

Hosted by Seth Meyers, of NBC’s “Late Night with Seth Meyers,” the 2014 ceremony will honor Greg Asbed and Lucas Benitez for their work on behalf of farm workers throughout the United States, Leonardo DiCaprio for his dedication to environmental causes and preservation efforts of the world’s oceans, Hayat Sindi for her work to encourage innovation and entrepreneurship among young people in the Middle East, and the President of the Republic of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga, for promoting reconciliation in the region and building Kosovo’s political and economic institutions to gain EU membership. The event will feature musical performances by Aloe Blacc, Natalie Merchant, Jason Mraz with special guests Raining Jane, and The Roots and appearances by Madeleine Albright, Eva Longoria, and Randy Jackson who serves as music director for the event.

More: https://www.looktothestars.org/news/12570-leonardo-dicaprio-to-be-honored-with-clinton-global-citizen-award

More big names have been added to the Social Good Summit, being held later this month.

The fifth annual Social Good Summit, a unique convening of world leaders, new media and technology pioneers, grassroots activists, UN experts and voices from around the world, today announced the addition of Melinda Gates, Co-Chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in conversation with Robin Roberts, Co-Anchor of ABC’s “Good Morning America”; Alicia Keys, singer, songwriter and philanthropist; Edward Norton, actor and United Nations Goodwill Ambassador; and Rick Stengel, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs to its speaker roster, along with adding over 60 global meetups that will connect people from around the world to the conversation taking place in New York on September 21 and 22.

The additional speakers will join an exciting lineup that includes Megan Smith, who last week was the first woman to ever be named U.S. Chief Technology Officer, as well as the likes of Pete Cashmore, Founder and CEO of Mashable; Helen Clark, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme; Connie Britton, actress and UNDP Goodwill Ambassador; Michael Dell, Founder and CEO of Dell Inc.; Yael Maguire, Director, Facebook Connectivity Lab; and Pharrell Williams, musician and entrepreneur.

More: https://www.looktothestars.org/news/12584-stars-added-to-social-good-summit

President Bill Clinton, Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Chelsea Clinton closed the 10th Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting this week by announcing new Commitments to Action and issuing a call to action to members in four critical issue areas: addressing energy poverty around the world, tackling food insecurity and hunger in the United States, increasing access to water, and responding the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

Over three days, CGI members made 188 new Commitments to Action, expected to impact nearly 4.9 million lives around the world when fully funded and implemented.


Highlights from the final day of the Annual Meeting included:

More: https://www.looktothestars.org/news/12636-bill-clinton-closes-10th-clinton-global-initiative-annual-meeting

In his latest blog entry, Bill Gates lays out the roadmap for eliminating the threat of malaria globally, and suggests the goal is in sight.

Gates addressed the annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in New Orleans, and chose to focus his speech on malaria rather than the current ebola crisis.

Through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and its work with partner organizations such as Malaria No More, the Microsoft founder is driving a three-pronged strategy to tackle the disease: Complete Detection will ensure that all those who need treatment are identified, Complete Cure will produce vastly more effective medical treatments, and Complete Prevention will reduce the rate of initial infections.

More: http://www.looktothestars.org/news/12826-bill-gates-we-can-eradicate-malaria-within-a-generation

November 19 is World Toilet Day, a day to raise awareness about all people who do not have access to a toilet – despite the human right to water and sanitation – and a new Sesame Street Muppet is inviting children to help.

“As the world’s largest informal educator of children (reaching over 150 million children every month in 150 countries) and a pioneer in using media as a tool for education, nonprofit Sesame Workshop made a commitment in 2012 to the United Nations Secretary-General’s Every Woman Every Child effort to do more in global health,” blogged Sesame Workshop VP Stephen Sobhani for the United Nations Foundation. "Since then, we have enthusiastically entered the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) space with Raya, Sesame’s newest and first Muppet friend specifically developed to address a pressing health issue in multiple countries across multiple platforms. Raya has the potential to significantly impact the global WASH crisis in an effort to end childhood illness from preventable disease.

More: http://www.looktothestars.org/news/12900-new-sesame-muppet-gives-support-to-world-toilet-day

More than 1,600 children die each day from diarrhea caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation and hygiene practices. Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street, will partner with international humanitarian organization World Vision to protect children around the globe from illness caused by dirty water and poor sanitation.

Raya, one of the newest members of the Sesame family, along with her friend Elmo, will teach children and families about positive health behaviors related to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). Originally developed with generous funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Raya is an adorable girl Muppet who remembers everything she reads and pays close attention to hygiene.

As the largest nongovernmental organization providing improved sanitation, hygiene and clean water access in the developing world, World Vision and Sesame Workshop will leverage the breadth and long-term commitment each nonprofit has established throughout decades of work in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

More: https://www.looktothestars.org/news/13050-sesame-workshop-and-world-vision-partner-to-tackle-critical-global-health-priority

The Art of Saving a Life project is a historic coming together of diverse artistic disciplines to bring awareness to the importance of vaccines.

The Art of Saving a Life is a collection of stories about how vaccines continue to change the course of history. It offers an opportunity to hear, see and feel the tremendous impact of immunization, and to energize the global effort to protect every child from life-threatening disease. These stories are told by more than 30 world-renowned photographers, painters, sculptors, writers, filmmakers, and musicians to impress urgency on the global community to reach all children with the life-saving vaccines they need.

Among those taking part in the project are Mia Farrow, Angélique Kidjo, Annie Leibovitz, Lang Lang and many more.

More: https://www.looktothestars.org/news/13099-mia-farrow-takes-part-in-the-art-of-saving-a-life-project

Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Gates Foundation Co-Chair Melinda Gates and Clinton Foundation Vice Chair Chelsea Clinton will join global and community leaders for the official release of the No Ceilings Full Participation Report on Monday, March 9, in New York City.

The event will coincide with the start of the 59th session of the United Nations’ Commission on the Status of Women.



The No Ceilings Full Participation Report is the culmination of a year-long, global data aggregation effort by the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in collaboration with The Economist Intelligence Unit, UCLAWORLD Policy Analysis Center and Fathom Information Design. The report identifies the significant gains women and girls have made – and the gaps that still remain – since the U.N. Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995, when Secretary Clinton called on the international community to ensure “women’s rights are human rights.” Benchmarking process since that landmark event, No Ceilings is making the data open and accessible, and is pairing the report with an interactive, shareable collection of data visualizations. The data visualizations will highlight key findings from the data through interactive stories, as well as allow users the ability to explore the data on their own.





More: https://www.looktothestars.org/news/13335-hillary-and-chelsea-clinton-to-attend-release-of-the-no-ceilings-full-participation-report

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Gates Foundation Co-Chair Melinda Gates and Clinton Foundation Vice Chair Chelsea Clinton joined global and community leaders for the official release of the No Ceilings Full Participation Report and data visualization site NoCeilings.org on Monday, March 9, in New York City.

The No Ceilings Full Participation Report is the culmination of a year-long effort to aggregate and analyze new and existing global data by the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, in collaboration with The Economist Intelligence Unit, UCLAWORLD Policy Analysis Center, and Fathom Information Design. This comprehensive data is available in written form, as well as through a collection of interactive and sharable visualizations, graphics, stories, and compelling videos produced by Scratch, a division of Viacom. The data is open and easily downloadable.

“There has never been a better time to be born female,” wrote Hillary Clinton in an email to supporters of the Clinton Foundation. "That’s the conclusion of a sweeping new global report that Chelsea, Melinda Gates, and I were thrilled to unveil yesterday morning. It’s called The Full Participation Report, and we can’t wait for you to see for yourself the gains that women and girls have made around the world – as well as the gaps that remain.

More: https://www.looktothestars.org/news/13382-hillary-clinton-and-melinda-gates-launch-no-ceilings-full-participation-report

Global Citizen has announced the launch of “Unlock Your Power,” a new campaign to create the largest, most effective platform in the world for people to share, communicate and take action on issues affecting the world’s poorest.

In partnership with leading NGOs and corporations, “Unlock Your Power” will mobilize millions in the fight to end extreme poverty in the next 15 years.

Coinciding with a revamp of GlobalCitizen.org, “Unlock Your Power” launches at a critical time. In 2015 the world stands at the turning point for the future of its people and the planet, as world leaders will decide the roadmap for tackling poverty, inequality and climate change. Ahead of these moments, there is a clear need to demonstrate massive public support through a sustained movement of citizens to ensure accountability. “Unlock Your Power” provides everyone, from citizens, governments, businesses, and charities, the opportunity to play their part by learning about these issues and taking meaningful actions on Global Citizen.

More: https://www.looktothestars.org/news/13558-global-citizen-launches-unlock-your-power-campaign

The recent taping of UNCFAn Evening of Stars marked a notable intersection of premier educational and nonprofit organizations with Hollywood superstars.

R&B sensation and seven-time Grammy winner Toni Braxton presented a $10,000 scholarship, which she funded jointly with Autism Speaks, the world’s leading autism science and advocacy organization. Braxton, a global ambassador for Autism Speaks, became committed to raising awareness after the diagnosis of her son Diezel Ky Braxton-Lewis, now 12 years old. Award recipient Terence Brice, a college freshman who has autism, will use the scholarship toward his studies at Winthrop University’s Think College in Rock Hill, S.C.

An estimated 1 in 68 children in the U.S. is on the autism spectrum. Autism is a group of complex developmental brain disorders – autism spectrum disorders – caused by a combination of genes and environmental influences. People with autism often struggle with verbal and nonverbal communication, social interaction, and repetitive behaviors.

More: https://www.looktothestars.org/news/13597-toni-braxton-presents-scholarship-during-uncf-evening-of-stars

Helen Keller International (HKI), a leading global nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting the causes and consequences of preventable blindness and malnutrition, continued its year-long Centennial Celebration with the 2015 Spirit of Helen Keller Gala on Monday, May 18, 2015.

The event raised more than $1.5 Million in support of its sight- and lifesaving efforts in in 21 African and Asian countries, and in the United States.

More: https://www.looktothestars.org/news/13726-bill-and-melinda-gates-honored-with-spirit-of-helen-keller-award

In September 2015, at the United Nations, New York, 193 world leaders will adopt a series of ambitious goals to end extreme poverty, fight inequalities and tackle climate change for everyone by 2030.

The Global Goals campaign is a global collaborative effort to ensure that these Goals are world famous and that they are successfully acted upon.


Project Everyone, founded by Richard Curtis, aims to make the Global Goals the most famous Goals on the planet by sharing them with 7 billion people in 7 days from the moment they are adopted. The more people that know about the Goals, the more people will work to ensure global leaders drive change and the more young people will be inspired to join a new generation of Global Citizens. 


More: https://www.looktothestars.org/news/13890-freida-pinto-joins-richard-curtis-project-everyone-campaign

HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Alwaleed Philanthropies, today announced his intention to donate all of his wealth to philanthropy over the coming years to help build a “better world of tolerance, acceptance, equality and opportunity for all.”

This $32 billion philanthropic pledge will help build bridges to foster cultural understanding, develop communities, empower women, enable youth, provide vital disaster relief and create a more tolerant and accepting world. “It is a commitment without boundaries. A commitment to all humankind,” says Prince Alwaleed.

More: https://www.looktothestars.org/news/13911-bill-gates-praises-prince-alwaleed-for-pledging-his-wealth-to-philanthropy

The Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), a leading charitable organization of the entertainment industry, today announced the latest round of celebrity participants for the star-studded “roadblock” fundraising telecast in support of Think It Up, EIF’s new national education initiative, on Friday, September 11, 2015, at 8 pm ET & PT / 7 pm CT.

Today EIF announced the telecast will include special musical performances from Justin Bieber and Kacey Musgraves, as well as appearances by Jason Bateman, Halle Berry, Julie Chen, Terry Crews, Jennifer Garner, Taylor Lautner, Joe Manganiello, Seth Meyers, and J.K. Simmons.

More: https://www.looktothestars.org/news/14201-justin-bieber-to-join-star-studded-think-it-up-telecast

Over a dozen world leaders and prominent activists have announced their on-stage participation in the 2015 Global Citizen Festival.

Among the names are Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Malala Fund co-founder, Malala Yousafzai; UN Messenger of Peace with a special focus on climate change, Leonardo DiCaprio; U2 lead singer and cofounder of ONE, Bono; Sir Richard Branson; UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon; Bill and Melinda Gates; World Bank Group President, Dr Jim Yong Kim; Norwegian Prime Minister, Erna Solberg; Swedish Prime Minister, Stefan Lofven; Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan; Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel; the Prime Minister of Malta, Joseph Muscat; U.S. Senator Chris Coons; and U.S. Representative Charlie Dent.

From the private sector, leading advocates, including: Facebook Chairman and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg; Unilever CEO, Paul Polman; CEO of Gucci, Marco Bizzarri; H&M Conscious Foundation Acting Global Manager, Maria Bystedt; Caterpillar Foundation President, Michele Sullivan; Stephen Bird, CEO of Global Consumer Banking, Citi, Ericsson Group President and CEO, Hans Vestberg; Wikipedia Founder and Wikia Co-Founder, Jimmy Wales; AOL Inc. CEO, Tim Armstrong; TED Curator, Chris Anderson; CEO of WPP plc, Sir Martin Sorrell; Safaricom CEO, Bob Collymore; Ooredoo Group CEO, Dr. Nasser Marafih; former Australian Prime Minister and Chair of the Global Partnership for Education, Julia Gillard; Executive Director of the Earth Institute, Professor Jeffrey Sachs; Telenor Group Vice President and Deputy Head of Corporate Affairs, Ragnhild Mathisen; and special guest Big Bird of Sesame Street will also take the stage, asking the world not to be bystanders but to take action to ensure the Global Goals are not just known globally, but are achieved.

More: https://www.looktothestars.org/news/14276-more-big-names-join-global-citizen-festival

A new report released by the United Nations and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation presents a vision to eradicate malaria by 2040 that involves new strategies, tools and financing and urges world leaders to expand their commitments to fight a disease that still kills about one child every minute.

The report – From Aspiration to Action: What Will It Take to End Malaria?– urges major donors and malaria-affected countries to expand their commitment to the fight against the disease, noting that eradication could save 11 million lives and unlock $2 trillion in economic benefits.

“Over the past 15 years, we have seen tremendous progress in reducing the burden of malaria globally – a direct result of our collective action – and we now stand in the unique position of putting an end to this disease forever,” said Ray Chambers, the Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Financing the Health Millennium Development Goals and for Malaria.

More: https://www.looktothestars.org/news/14315-un-and-gates-foundation-present-vision-to-eradicate-malaria-by-2040

Kristen Bell is the newest face to join Rotary’s ‘This Close’ public awareness campaign for polio eradication.

A paralyzing and life altering disease, polio is on the verge of becoming the second human disease ever to be eliminated worldwide after smallpox.

More: https://www.looktothestars.org/news/14372-kristen-bell-named-celebrity-ambassador-for-polio-eradication

Ranked according to their total donations to date, Business Insider has compiled a list of the 20 most generous people in the world.

According to the report, Mark Zuckerberg ranked 13th, with lifetime donations of $1.6 billion so far, which went towards education (school systems), a hospital and to fight Ebola.

Not surprisingly, Warren Buffett came in second place with $21.5 billion, and Bill Gates came in first with $27 billion. Buffett gives much of his donations to Gates’ Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which supports medical research, emergency relief, education and poverty.

More: https://www.looktothestars.org/news/14430-the-worlds-most-generous-donators