The Huffington Post is calling it one of the top six conferences that will make you and our world better. The theme of Global Washington's 7th annual conference is "disruptive development," meaning solutions that have a big, transformational impact to improve lives. The conference will feature experts from some of the world's most prominent philanthropic organizations and leading companies discussing disruptive ways to overcome global poverty.
Mark Suzman, president of Global Policy, Advocacy and Country Programs at The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will kick off the conference with a keynote address on the Sustainable Development Goals recently approved by the United Nations. India's Kiran Bedi — a social activist, politician and the first woman to rise to the rank of officer in India's police service — and Skoll Foundation CEO Sally Osberg are also headlining the conference. Sessions range from disruptive grant-making to the rise of social businesses to inequity at home and abroad.
The conference takes place on Dec. 10 at Bell Harbor International Conference Center and you can register here. Whether you attend or not, here’s some background reading to turn you into a smartypants on disruptive development and global issues.
Articles by speakers:
Mark Suzman for the Huffington Post: "How the Green Climate Fund can help us realize global goal 2 and end hunger," Oct. 15
Sally Osberg for Harvard Business Review: "Two keys to sustainable social enterprise," May 2015 edition
Liz Jones for KUOW: "Expansion plans for immigration program with Microsoft roots," Oct. 21
Malaria No More's Martin Edlund for Wired: "The savvy plan to combat Malaria with mobile phones," Dec. 19, 2014
Grameen Foundation's David Edelstein: "Making mobile phones work for the poor," BBC, Nov. 18, 2014
Panel: Do Good Data
"Data 'crucial' to eradicating poverty," The Guardian, Sept. 28
"The new millenial opportunity: Doing good is good for business," Huffington Post, Oct. 14
Panel: Disruptive Technology
"Stop trying to save the world," New Republic, Nov. 17, 2014
Panel: Inequity at Home and Abroad
"Undermining Democracy," The Sun Magazine, June 2014
Panel: Visual storytelling
"Seeing is believing: The Power of Visual Communications," NTEN.org, Sept. 2014
"Moving From Verbal to Visual Cause Marketing," Stanford Social Innovation Review, April 2014
"Don't cut aid: It's working!" Osocio, Jan. 2013
