September: A Month Packed with Virtual and In-Person Events!
Get ready for an action-packed September filled with events focused on "Keeping Course: Actions and Solutions for a Messy World." Don't miss out—register now!
Dear Friends and Supporters,
Wow, it's been a busy couple of weeks since my last update! Buckle up because there's a lot to share about what's been happening and some exciting upcoming events. From the "From Ideas to Impact" book tour on the personal front to a plethora of upcoming Global Citizen events, there’s plenty to catch up on!
Here's what's coming up on the From Ideas to Impact front:
TWIN CITIES, Minnesota Book Tour:
Thursday, September 12 · 11:45 AM - 1:00 PM CDT
Economic Club of Minnesota. Register here.NEW JERSEY: Art Meets Impact – Tuesday, September 17: Join us for an incredible evening of art, ideas, and impact! Hosted by my former colleague Sharon O’Sullivan, this event brings together art and social change. I’ll be there alongside Sharon, artist Liz Agbor-Tabi, VP of Global Policy at Global Citizen, and Edward Davidson of Braeburn Whisky. Plus, 10% of all "Windows and Visions" art sales and 100% of book sales profits will go to FACE Africa, supporting clean water initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa. Don’t miss it!
Date: Tuesday, September 17
Time: 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM EDT
Location: Ram Gallery, New Jersey
[Register here]UPPER WEST SIDE: Book Event with Sound Future: Brandy Schultz, Co-Founder and CEO of Sound Future, is hosting us for a thought-provoking dialogue about how culture-makers and entrepreneurs can use innovation, policy change, and live events to drive social impact, especially in areas like climate change.
Date: Friday, September 20
Time: 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Location: Upper West Side, New York City
[Register here]MIT Book Talk – Boston, October 16: My first book talk in Boston! This event is co-sponsored by the Center for International Studies and the Morningside Academy for Design.
Time: 5:00 PM - 6:30 PM
[Register here]
As always, I'm incredibly grateful for your support in spreading the word. One of the best ways you can continue to support my writing is by posting a review on Amazon, Audible, or Goodreads. And if you’d like to be on the list for the special bonus chapter I’ve been refining over the summer, don’t forget to email me at michael@michaelsheldrick.com!
Exciting Global Citizen Events Coming Up…
September 7 - The Global Town Hall is back in town!
We’re excited to team up with our partner in Jakarta, Foreign Policy Community Indonesia, to host the 2024 Global Town Hall for the third year in a row. This online event will take place on Saturday, September 7, with the theme “Keeping Course: Actions and Solutions for a Messy World.”
The Global Town Hall started four years ago and has since connected over 400 organizations from 142 countries. Last year, more than 10,000 people participated! We’re holding this event just before the Global Citizen Festival, the G20 Summit, COP29 in Baku, and our upcoming Move Afrika events. It’s a great way for us to reach out and engage people around the world, especially in the Asia Pacific region.
The sessions will cover various important topics like financial changes, human rights, fighting hunger, and taking action on climate change. There will be lots of practical ideas shared by different groups, experts, and UN representatives on how we can make a difference. We hope this event inspires everyone to get involved! Help us spread the word and don’t forget to register [HERE].
September 25 - Global Citizen NOW: Health and Climate Financing Sessions
The Global Citizen NOW: Health and Climate Financing Sessions will be taking place in NYC during the United Nations General Assembly week on September 25, 2024 from 9:00am to 2:00pm.
Global Citizen NOW: Health and Climate Financing Sessions is an action focused high-level convening that will bring together senior leaders from government, the private sector, leading multilateral institutions, and civil society champions to tackle some of the most pressing global issues related to the intersection of climate, health, and finance. Given the historic importance of the 2024 UN General Assembly week, Global Citizen will harness the moment to drive systemic change by encouraging collaboration across sectors in order to build a roadmap for a more equitable and sustainable future.
Confirmed Speakers include:
Prime Minister Gaston Browne of Antigua & Barbuda
Deanne Criswell, Administrator of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency
DJ Cuppy, Musician and Gender Equality Advocate, Nigeria
Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York
Jane Gilbert, Chief Heat Officer, Miami-Dade County, Florida
Ban Ki-moon, 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations
Dr. Nishtar, CEO, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance
Macky Sall, Monsieur le Président du Senegal, Paris Pact for Peoples and Planet (4P) Special Envoy
Laurence Tubiana, President, European Climate Foundation
By attending, you will join a group of change-makers and action takers who all want one thing: to achieve the end of extreme poverty. Space is extremely limited so if you would like to receive an invitation please email annabel.mcshane@globalcitizen.org.
Once you are confirmed, we’ll send you programming details, arrival information and what you can expect onsite with follow-up emails.
September 28 - PayPay Exclusive: Global Citizen Festival General Admission tickets for special price!
We’re thrilled to share that we are collaborating with PayPal! This is an exciting step forward in our mission to drive positive change and amplify our impact – and we can’t wait to do it in lockstep with the PayPal team.
To celebrate, we’ve launched the PayPal Exclusive: General Admission tickets for this year’s Global Citizen Festival on September 28th on sale for a special price. It’s just one way this collaboration is already bringing new and exciting opportunities to the table – for our organization and for Global Citizens around the world.
Interested in learning more about General Admission tickets? Head over to this link.
On the topic of the Global Citizen Festival, did you catch this week’s exciting news?
Benson Boone and RAYE have just been added the already amazing roster that includes Post Malone, Doja Cat, Jelly Roll, Lisa, and Rauw Alejandro.
And in keeping with our commitment to sustainability, this year’s event will be one of the first major U.S. festivals to be powered entirely by hybrid energy. The Global Citizen Festival will run on a SmartGrid battery system, the same technology used for Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres world tour. This means all audio, lighting, video, and stage production will be powered without diesel generators, significantly reducing the event’s carbon footprint. This is all possible with the support of Coldplay, in partnership with Showpower and CES Power, and with contributions from Equitable Earth.
I was honored to share our plans with Billboard, Variety, and other media outlets this week:
“Global Citizen Festival has always been about using the power of music and activism to drive real, tangible change. This year, we’re taking bold steps to protect our planet, from powering our stage with clean energy to advocating for Indigenous-led projects that preserve the Amazon and calling for a global Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty,” said Global Citizen co-founder Michael Sheldrick in a statement. “These efforts are about ensuring that the transition to a sustainable future leaves no one behind – whether it’s communities in the Global South or right here in New York. We’re calling on world leaders, businesses, and citizens alike to join us in mobilizing action towards a just transition to clean energy and a safer planet for all.”
October 9-10 - Economic Development Assembly, Abidjan
The Economic Development Assembly hosted by Global Citizen and Bridgewater Associates. This important event will be held in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, from 9-10 October, 2024, in collaboration with the Government of Côte d'Ivoire and Harith General Partners.
This assembly will bring together influential leaders from government, business, and civil society to discuss and drive significant financial investments needed to overcome development challenges across Africa. The assembly will advocate for increased funding from the world’s largest economies to support the World Bank’s International Development Assistance Funding Round, IDA21, and emphasize the importance of private sector investment and domestic resource mobilization in critical areas such as health, education, climate, and infrastructure.
To register your interest in attending please contact kellen.edmondson@globalcitizen.org.
Personal Fundraising Events
I also wanted to share two personal fundraising events that might interest you.
First, my colleague Kellen is running in the New York Marathon to support Team for Kids, a group of adult runners who raise funds for the New York Road Runners’ youth and community programs. Your donation will help empower young people and communities to develop healthy habits through running. You can donate to his campaign here and subscribe to his entertaining Substack here to follow his journey.
Second, my friend Cass Treadwell in Australia is hosting a charity auction that ends in just over 24 hours, featuring some fantastic experiences:
Meet Neil Finn and Crowded House, plus get 10 VIP tickets to their concerts in Australia, New Zealand, the USA, and the UK.
Amazing stays in Queenstown, Hawkes Bay, Northern Beaches New Zealand, and Victoria, Australia.
And more.
Check out the full list of auction items here. Cass is doing incredible work with the organization she co-founded So They Can, and back in March, she participated in a fireside chat with Neil Finn at Global Citizen NOW in Melbourne, which you can rewatch below:
Book Tour Highlights and Latest Writings
In addition to last Friday's sold-out event at the Hampton International Film Festival with Alec Baldwin, 2 weeks ago the UN Bookstore also hosted an engaging and well-attended talk at UNHQ. It was a true honor to have Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed stop by at the start. You can watch the replay of the event here.
In a foreshadowing turn of events, the conversation focused on the detection of polio in Gaza. We examined how past ingenuity and policy entrepreneurship managed to contain outbreaks in other conflict zones through initiatives like "Days of Tranquility."
I was honored to speak to a packed audience of hundreds of young leaders from around the world at the AFS Youth Assembly in New York a few weeks ago. It was inspiring to meet these young people, and I was particularly thrilled to present the ambassadors with a copy of my book.
Lastly, I’m excited to share an article I co-wrote with my friend and fellow author, Shain Shapiro, CEO of the Centre for Music Ecosystems, and Tshepo Mahloele of Harith General Partners for BusinessLive. We explore how music and creative industries can drive economic development and alleviate poverty. Check it out!
An excerpt here:
Music, art, film and culture have always been tools for raising awareness and uniting and promoting action… However, the true value of this culture is not only in its ability to influence but also in its capacity to create systemic, long-term passive income for the creators, as well as a whole chorus of supporting jobs. But to do that, we must recognize the creative economy as just that, one that can be robust and thriving everywhere. Doing so can address our biggest challenges- making us smile, dance, think, and unify.
Lastly, if you’ve been following the book tour, you’ll know we kicked off the month with a talk at Thistlerock, the world’s first net-zero meadery. I’ve recently written an article reflecting on their model and how social impact entrepreneurs can drive broader systemic change. Here’s an excerpt:
“This is the first net-zero mead in the country—powered entirely by the sun and the bees,” proudly declares John Kluge Jr., co-founder of Thistlerock Mead Company (“Thistlerock”), as he offers a taste from his converted stable car-turned-market stall at the weekly Saturday morning farmers’ market in Charlottesville, Virginia.* Intrigued, a group of curious onlookers strolls over, with one exclaiming, “Is that mead? That’s so cool.”
Nestled just outside Charlottesville, Thistlerock opened its doors a few months ago. In a cozy 190-year-old tavern that once was a guest house, Kluge, his wife Christine Mahoney—a UVA public policy professor—and their co-founders are on a mission: to show that small businesses can thrive by embracing sustainability, using their mead and unique social impact business model to prove what’s possible.
Don’t miss the chance to taste Thistlerock’s net-zero mead at their event on September 20th, just before New York Climate Week. Register here to join us!
Weekend Reading List
UN warns of 'unacceptable' level of violence against aid workers
Refocusing UK foreign policy: a roadmap for effective conflict resolution and peacebuilding
This Fund is Helping Struggling Independent Journalism Organizations Survive and Thrive — Here’s How
Finally, if you’re heading to New York for the UN General Assembly or Climate Week and are looking for a Broadway show, I highly recommend The Notebook: The Musical. Xinyi and I caught it recently after I won tickets at an auction for Outright, and I haven’t stopped playing the soundtrack since. Here’s a memorable line from the opening song (and yep very much that sort of musical!):
Time to get up
Time to get up now
And let the bones
Crack into place
I look in the mirror
I see an old man
But in my eyes
A young man's face
Time, time, time, time
It never was mine, mine, mine, mine
But you know what is?
Love, hope, breath, and dreams
As cliché as that seems
As always, if you’re enjoying the weekly newsletter format, and want even more, you can subscribe to my Substack here where I publish reviews, lists, and articles regularly.
Till next week,
Mick