Conversation with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Bill Gates, Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation launched www.gatesnotes.com and started a Twitter feed (@Bill Gates) to share his thoughts on the work being done at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and what is being learn't by leaders and innovators. Melinda has hosted TEDx event in New York that bought together interesting speakers on global health and development. According to Bill Gates "Not everyone can go to the field, or even donate. But everyone of us can be an advocate for people whose voices are often not heard. I encourage everyone to get involved in working for solutions to the challenges those people face. It will draw you in for life."
Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves
As founding partner of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, the United States announced an unprecedented commitment to this issue and to solving it at a global scale: more than $50 million over the first five years. Every U.S. Federal agency is meeting or exceeding its commitments towards diplomacy, applied research, capacity building, stove testing and field implementation and evaluation. At the one year mark, the United States announced up to an additional $55 million for the Alliance, bringing the total commitment to up to $105 million. State Department/USAID -$9.02 million; EPA - $6 million; NIH - $24.7 million; CDC -$1 million; DOE- $12.5 million.
Global Public Leaders Program
"So many of our challenges don't require financial capital, they require leadership capital." Ambassador Gianna Angelopoulos announced the creation of the Angelopoulos Global Public Leaders Program. The Angelopoulous Global Public Leaders Program will include several public components - Havard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, Ambassador Angelopoulos is creating the Angelopoulos Fund to provide opportunities for high profile leaders who have transitioned from public office or other leadership positions. Club of Madrid, here public leaders who transition from one kind of public leadership to another will be supported in their efforts to develop sustainable solutions and action plans to address societal issues from new platforms. "Their commitment will allow those elected officials, whose terms have expired, continue making contributions to the world, and to the issues about which they are passionate," said President Bill Clinton. Dean David T. Ellwood of Havard's Kennedy School of Government added, "The mission of the Harvard Kennedy School is to train leaders for the world's future.
TEAK Fellowship responds to the urgent need for high-quality Education Leadership
The TEAK Fellowship addresses the urgent need for high-quality educational, leadership, and personal development opportunities for high-achieving students from low-income families and neighborhoods. Each year, TEAK admits high achieving boys and girls from all five boroughs of New York City and helps them gain admission to and succeed at exceptional high schools and colleges. TEAK supports its students throughout their comprehensive Fellowships, and continues to provide guidance after high school graduation through the Alumni Program.
TOYOTA helps to speed post-KATRINA homebuilding
The St. Bernard Project (SBP), one of the primary housing recovery organizations in New Orleans announced preliminary results of work being done with TOYOTA to improve the efficiency of it's operations and speed up the pace of post-Katrina rebuilding efforts. "At Toyota, we judge our success not just on the cars we make, but also on the positive impact we are able to have in local communities nationwide", said Jamie Bonini, general manager of TSS. Previously, SBP needed 12 to 18 weeks to rebuild a house. With Toyota's help, SBP finished two test houses in six weeks, an improvement of more than 50%. In addition, re-work (work not done right the first time) is down more than 50% which is helping to reduce waste, increase efficiency and lower costs. Visit The Toyota Production System Support Center (TSSC) For more information
