Action on Global Hunger / How AI Can Boost Inclusive Economic Development / A New Approach to Billionaire Philanthropy
This week's update is packed with stories and reflections to keep your spirits high, offering optimism and hope despite the negative headlines and gloom in the media.
First up, I am honored and excited that From Ideas To Impact will be featured by United Nations Publications at the UN bookstore in New York on Thursday, August 15th, from 1-2pm. If you’re in New York over the summer, please join us for an inspiring event with an incredible line-up of leaders I greatly admire. Register here and spread the word on social here.
One of the highlights of the book tour is meeting and connecting with the audience. I could write a whole book called “Stories from the Tour” with the stories I’ve collected. It's inspiring to hear people's individual stories about which principles in the book resonate with them and how they are creating change in their own lives and communities. Sometimes, it's as simple as someone sharing how their family member took action on the Global Citizen platform and how it changed their life. In other cases, people are building whole campaigns and enterprises around the principles I outline in the book. In any case, the feedback has been validating, showing that people are making change every day despite the negative headlines.
If you have any feedback, or a story to share, I want to hear it. Leave a review on Amazon or email me at michael@michaelsheldrick.com with suggestions. Those who do will also go on the distribution list for a special bonus chapter, including a fourth leadership archetype we've identified that delves into effective policy entrepreneurship!
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Brazil’s new G20 Global Alliance on Poverty and Hunger
On Wednesday June 24th, the Brazilian G20 Presidency announced the Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, serving up Brazil’s successful recipe for ‘Zero Hunger’ to a global audience.
During President Lula’s first term, Brazil achieved remarkable progress in reducing food insecurity by investing in social safety nets and targeting hunger at its root - poverty. The Global Alliance is not yet another funding mechanism vying for the coffers of donor countries. Rather, it is designed to be a knowledge transfer platform bringing together the experts and policies that target the linkages of poverty, nutrition, and food insecurity and driving the implementation of these programs in new communities with available financing.
By scaling policies that make an immediate impact in people’s lives like school meals or cash transfers, the Global Alliance is a chance to directly target the generational cycles of malnutrition and poverty. What is essential now is countries to ensure the success of the Alliance by signing on and leveraging their contributions to the IDA replenishment so that the Alliance is adequately resourced.
If the Global Alliance can deliver on its potential to target malnutrition and poverty together, it will break through the sobering findings of the recently released The State of Food Security and Nutrition 2024 report. The report finds that the world has made disturbingly little progress in getting global hunger back to pre-Covid levels and 733 million people went to bed hungry in last year. As conflicts, climate change and costs of living rise, about one-third of the world’s population could not afford a healthy diet. In 2030, the deadline to achieve SDG2, an estimated 19.5% of all children under five will be stunted which will continue to have generational consequences on the fight against hunger and poverty.
To support the launch of the Global Alliance, Global Citizen recently partnered with the G20 Presidency and Brazilian First Lady, Janja da Silva, to host a panel discussion on how the policies platformed by the Alliance will drive impact for women and girls and highlight the gendered dynamics of malnutrition and poverty. Moderated by GC’s European Board Chair Sabrina Elba, panelist included Janja Lula da Silva, First Lady of Brazil; Jutta Urpilainen, European Commissioner for International Partnerships; Cindy McCain, Executive Director of the World Food Programme; Alvaro Lario, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development; and Elisabetta Recine, President of the National Council for Food and Nutrition Security of Brazil.
While in Rio, Global Citizen, joined by the International Fund for Agricultural Development’s President Alvaro Lario and IFAD Goodwill Ambassador and GC European Board Member Sabrina Elba, supported the #EmptyPlates campaign, a global activation launch by the Hungry for Action campaign, calling on world leaders to meet the severity of the food crisis with a plan to challenge hunger head on. The campaign recognized and thanked Brazil for its leadership and called on world leaders to ensure the Global Alliance is a success and a first step to end the crisis.
Sabrina pictured alongside IFAD’s Alvaro Lario supporting the #EmptyPlates Campaign
How AI & Technology Can Promote Inclusive Economic Development and Job Creation
I recently delivered keynote remarks at BridgeTECH near Washington, D.C , which billed itself as “the Nonprofit Technology Event of 2024.” I’ve been asked several times about how AI and other emerging technologies are impacting the nonprofit sector and the opportunities and threats they pose to efforts to eradicate extreme poverty. Here’s an excerpt from my remarks, with special thanks to close partners like Shain Shapiro of the Centre for Music Ecosystems for shaping my thinking on this topic:
But we’ve never stopped innovating in how we use technology for our fundraising.
What Are We Doing Today:
Like many of you, we use Otter.ai to record and transcribe crucial meetings and interviews.
Grammarly to improve the quality of our grant writing.
AI tools to review user-generated content for quality control, freeing up human time.
AI tools to take the first pass of translated content.
Technology to help us track our commitments made on our stage, crunch data, and showcase to donors in real-time the projected social return on their philanthropic investment.
Technology that allows us to more readily create social media, newsletters, and other content that our donors—big and small—engage with more frequently and feel even more closely attached to our mission.
Partnering with Shift4Give, Lovely, and The Giving Block to reduce the cost of transactions when donations are made.
AI tools to generate the first pass of grant proposals, drawing on publicly available impact information.
Technologies are creating all these efficiencies, but it raises the question: What are we giving up? As we strive in our mission to incorporate technologies in our everyday work, we are also looking at how it could set back our efforts when we look at the bigger picture.
At Global Citizen, our mission is a world without extreme poverty. A key part of our constituency is in Africa, a continent with tremendous promise where 600 million people lack access to reliable electricity. There are already concerns from the IMF about the productivity benefits of the AI tech revolution bypassing regions—unless addressed, the technological divide will only increase further at such an exponential rate that it might become impossible for some countries to catch up.
Another challenge are the job losses in traditional functions being replaced in sectors like manufacturing, mining, and agriculture. Of course, these job losses will be felt in all regions, but this impact will be disproportionately felt in a continent where by 2050, 25% of the world’s workforce will live.
Now you might say that this is why we need to invest in creativity. It’s become almost a cliché to say investing in creativity and soft skills is the best way to equip future generations to use AI. It is true that there is huge potential in creators and the creative economy to drive economic development, including across Africa.
Indeed, of all industries that could drive poverty alleviation, the creative industries are the most lucrative. Take music: the global sector grew by 10% in 2023. What was once valued at 2% of GDP is now closer to 4%.
And in Africa, this was the fastest-growing region for the second year running in terms of revenues from music. Africa is shaping the music and culture we consume for decades to come, potentially creating a reliable source of income for its artists and creators, and all of the industries that go along with it—from live events to production crews. Given this growth, it is no wonder that countries like Nigeria are setting their sights on generating $100 billion of their GDP from the creative industry alone by 2030.
This is why Global Citizen has been working on Move Afrika, which aims to be Africa’s first international touring circuit in partnership with PGLang.
Now, of course, AI, used well, can help these creators to thrive. I’ve been to plenty of conferences and heard artists with access talking about how it helped them in the creative brainstorming process. Idris Elba does this too.
However, just as AI can help, it can also be an obstacle to countries harnessing this growth. Indeed, it may well be one of the most vulnerable industries. Right now, some in the tech industry are pushing far-reaching copyright exemptions on the pretext that having access to all the world’s data—including voice likeness, lyrics, and entire record catalogs—for free will generate new public goods in the form of technological breakthroughs. But what is the risk?
Without proper protections to safeguard the intellectual property of creators and musicians, anyone will be able to use their voice, likeness, and lyrics freely, sapping artists of ongoing revenue and impacting all the jobs and ancillary industries supported. While a huge body of data will be needed for the latest medical breakthroughs, does that really need Katy Perry’s latest catalog?
I’m all for techno-optimism, but without rules of the road, just saying creativity is the answer is not true. So, as important as it is for fundraisers, marketers, and storytellers here in this room to incorporate AI into our day-to-day work to boost donations, grants, and impact, it is equally important to look at the impact on your organization’s mission and what needs to be done to ensure this boosts it over the long term and not just the short term.
Otherwise, you risk doing the busy work of today but losing the endgame. "You will win the battle but lose the war."
The good news is that you, as marketers, fundraisers, and storytellers, are often the best advocates and custodians of your organization’s mission.
In the example I mentioned before, perhaps the answer lies in launching a campaign to government officials demonstrating the power of music as an economic good and leveraging the power of technology to showcase the impact of positive public policies, like suitable IP laws, on the growth of creative industries. In recent weeks, I have been speaking to Universal Music Group and the Centre for Music Ecosystems to produce research to support such a push.
No one, of course, can do everything, but everyone can do something.
Highlights from Ghana
Check out these media interviews from my trip to Ghana last month, where we highlighted how the creative industry can drive economic development and job creation. Move Afrika aims to put these principles into action. You can find them here and here.
Ultimate VIP Tickets for Global Citizen Festival
Global Citizen is offering discounted tickets to close supporters - by purchasing Ultimate VIP tickets you will be supporting Global Citizen’s signature annual event, it’s biggest charity fundraiser of the year, and you will help the organization drive impactful campaigns while enjoying an unforgettable day of music, inspiration, and exclusive perks.
What’s Included with Ultimate VIP Tickets:
Prime Viewing: The best spot on the Great Lawn for front-of-stage viewing
Private Entry: Fast-pass priority entrance located at 85th St. and Central Park West
VIP Tent Access Behind-the-Stage:
Gourmet catering available throughout the day
Open bar with both alcoholic and non-alcoholic options
Private restroom facilities
High-definition TV screens
Onsite concierge staff
Lounge space to relax and mingle with other VIPs
Why Support Global Citizen? The proceeds from these exclusive passes benefit Global Citizen and it’s campaigns to help millions in extreme poverty. Together, we can help improve lives and create a more just and sustainable future.
Purchase Your Tickets:
You can purchase your discounted Ultimate VIP tickets here. If you are interested in purchasing 6+ tickets, please use this form or email Jeannette Paulino at jeannette.paulino@globalcitizen.org for more details!
A New Approach to Billionaire Philanthropy:
This is a cool new type of private equity my friend Sean Davis is developing that can solve big challenges through Philanthropy.
Amazing 👏