The 2011 Clinton Global Initiative kicks off today in New York City – and the envy towards all those attending is running at fever pitch throughout the philanthropic world. It’s palpable here at PCV this year, seeing that the lead topic for discussion this year is job creation.
The CGI Annual Meeting is an invitation-only event held each September in New York City for heads of state, chief executives of companies, directors of major nonprofits, and other global leaders. For three days, members make new connections and share insights and ideas. They learn about creative approaches taken by organizations around the world. They hear from inspiring speakers who come from different sectors, different countries, and different points of view. They analyze what works, and what doesn’t. Then they take that knowledge and use it to create programs that effect meaningful and lasting change in the world.
Jobs, Jobs, Jobs: Generating Employment for the 21st Century
Approximately 205 million people are unemployed worldwide, and another 1.5 billion are “vulnerable” workers who are under- or informally-employed. As these workers seek stable employment in the wake of the global recession, they face a radically changing economic landscape. New technologies are enabling information to move nearly instantaneously across the planet, decoupling job growth from familiar geographic constraints. As a result, some of the world’s strongest economic growth is occurring in the developing world, which has become a major driver of the production and consumption of global goods and services. In the developing and developed world alike, the promise of economic opportunity has stimulated an unprecedented migration of the world’s population to major urban centers. Yet this process often concentrates poverty, as many workers who lack the skills needed in a rapidly evolving job market find themselves living in marginalized communities. At the 2011 Annual Meeting, CGI will highlight effective workforce training programs, showcase innovative government incentives that catalyze inclusive job growth, and examine market-leading business developments that can sustainably increase profits, productivity, and prosperity around the world.