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Celebrating 10 Years with a Look at "Turning Points..."

Videos of select sessions from the 2011 conference will soon be available on the 2011 Highlights page.

The Global Philanthropy Forum aims to build a community of donors and social investors committed to international causes, and to inform, enable and enhance the strategic nature of their giving and social investing.

By continually refreshing a lasting learning community, the GPF seeks to increase the number of philanthropists who will be strategic in pursuit of international causes. We share a conviction that individuals are not only capable of advancing human security, environmental stewardship, and improved quality of life, but that they must.

Global Philanthropy

Global Philanthropy Forum 10th Annual Conference

Ten years ago we gathered, and asked:
What role can private wealth play in financing the public good? This was the question before us in 2001 when the GPF was born.

Ten Years Hence...
An Aspiration then, "New Philanthropy" is a Force for and Face of Change Today. Key leaders like Bill & Melinda Gates, Warren Buffett, John and Tasha Morgridge, Jeff Skoll, Pierre and Pam Omidyar and other "new philanthropists" have set an example for us all. The members and early founders of the GPF have given "new philanthropy" operational meaning, testing novel approaches and infusing philanthropy with the same creative and experimental zest they brought to private enterprise.

The Options have Expanded, Philanthropy is Transformed. Our members were bold enough to define philanthropy broadly to encompass all private means of financing positive social change, a definition that allowed them not only to explore but to expand the options and more fully align their assets with their intentions.

Prior Topics for GPF Discussion are now Drivers of Philanthropy. Social investing, a topic at the first GPF conference, is now a growing industry and an oft-chosen complement to grant-making. Cross-sectoral partnerships, the topic of our third conference, are now well-travelled paths. Our 2007 focus was on market-based solutions, which are now proliferating, gaining traction and blurring the lines between the commercial and philanthropic sectors. Similarly, leverage has become our members' focus. And as engaged donors our members are rigorous in their pursuit of results. Their search for the optimal system of monitoring and evaluation may drive a new consensus - one we will discuss and apply in the years ahead.

As we celebrate our 10th anniversary, and - still questioning, still aspiring -- we will take stock. What are the new fundamentals of philanthropy that have enabled success? What has worked and what has not? Which changes were fads; which are now facts of life? What are the remaining gaps - and how will we fill them?

And when we sense a problem at a turning point, a solution near at hand, we will act. Philanthropy, now unbound, finds new opportunities for impact. Which issues and actors are at an inflection point? What are the game changers? And will we act now so as to change the nature of tomorrow?

These are the questions we will address at the 10th Annual Conference. Please join us to take part in this conversation, this celebration, this inquiry.

The Global Philanthropy Forum Conference is intended for individuals who have made a significant commitment to philanthropy, and executives from private, public, and corporate foundations. Participation in the conference is by invitation only, and invitations are not transferrable.

Elderly

Old age consists of ages nearing or surpassing the average life span of human beings, and thus the end of the human life cycle. Euphemisms and terms for old people include seniors (American usage), Senior Citizens (British and American usage), or the elderly. As occurs with almost any definable group of humanity, some people will hold a prejudice against others — in this case, against old people. This is one form of ageism.
Old people have limited regenerative abilities and are more prone to disease, syndromes, and sickness than other adults. For the biology of ageing, see senescence. The medical study of the aging process is gerontology, and the study of diseases that afflict the elderly is geriatrics.

Substance Abuse & Children

Inpatient admission rates and average length of stay for children of alcoholics are 24% and 29% greater than for children of non-alcoholic parents. Substance abuse and other mental disorders are the most notable conditions among children of addicted parents.
Children of addicted parents are more at risk for alcoholism and drug abuse even if they are adopted and raised apart from their biological parents.
Three of four (71.6%) child welfare professionals cite substance abuse as the top cause for the dramatic rise in child maltreatment since 1986. Most welfare professionals (79.6%) report that substance abuse causes or contributes to at least half of all cases of child maltreatment; 39.7% say it's a factor in over 75% of the cases.
Parental substance abuse and addiction are the chief cause in at least 70-90% of all child welfare spending. Using the more conservative 70 percent figure, in 1998 substance abuse and addiction accounted for approximately $10 billion in federal, state and local government spending simply to maintain child welfare systems.

Simplicity

Simplicity is being simple. It is a property, condition, or quality which things can be judged to have. It usually relates to the burden which a thing puts on someone trying to explain or understand it. Something which is easy to understand or explain is simple, in contrast to something complicated. In some uses, simplicity can be used to imply beauty, purity or clarity. Simplicity may also be used in a negative connotation to denote a deficit or insufficiency of nuance or complexity of a thing, relative to what is supposed to be required.
The concept of simplicity has been related to truth in the field of epistemology. According to Occam's razor, all other things being equal, the simplest theory is the most likely to be true. In the context of human lifestyle, simplicity can denote freedom from hardship, effort or confusion. Specifically, it can refer to a simple living lifestyle.
Simplicity is a theme in the Christian religion. According to St. Thomas Aquinas, God is infinitely simple. The Roman Catholic and Anglican religious orders of Franciscans also strive after simplicity. Members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) practice the Testimony of Simplicity, which is the simplifying of one's life in order to focus on things that are most important and disregard or avoid things that are least important.
In MCS cognition theory, simplicity is the property of a domain which requires very little information to be exhaustively described. The opposite of simplicity is complexity.

Prison

A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Other terms are penitentiary, correctional facility, and jail (or gaol), although in the United States "jail" and "prison" refer to different subtypes of correctional facility. Prisons are conventionally institutions which form part of the criminal justice system of a country, such that imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime.
A criminal suspect who has been charged with or is likely to be charged with criminal offense may be held on remand in prison if he is denied or unable to meet conditions of bail, or is unable or unwilling to post bail. A criminal defendant may also be held in prison while awaiting trial or a trial verdict. If found guilty, a defendant will be convicted and may receive a custodial sentence requiring imprisonment.
As well as convicted or suspected criminals, prisons may be used for internment of those not charged with a crime. Prisons may also be used as a tool of political repression to detain political prisoners, prisoners of conscience, and "enemies of the state", particularly by authoritarian regimes. In times of war or conflict, prisoners of war may also be detained in prisons. A prison system is the organizational arrangement of the provision and operation of prisons, and depending on their nature, may invoke a corrections system. Although people have been imprisoned throughout history, they have also regularly been able to perform prison escapes.

Censorship

According to Webster's Dictionary, to "censor" means "to examine in order to suppress or delete anything considered objectionable." The word "censor" originated in ancient Rome, where the government appointed officials to take the census and to supervise public morals. Censorship happens whenever some people succeed in imposing their political or moral values on others by suppressing words, images, or ideas that they find offensive.
A censor, traditionally, is an official whose job it is to examine literature, movies, or other forms of creative expression and to remove or ban anything she considers unsuitable. In this definition, censorship is something the government does. But censorship can also be accomplished very effectively by private groups.
Not all forms of censorship are illegal. When private individuals agitate to eliminate TV programs they dislike, or threaten to boycott the companies that support those programs with advertising dollars, they are certainly trying to censor artistic expression and interfere with the free speech of others. But their actions are perfectly legal; in fact, their protests are protected by the First Amendment right to freedom of speech.
Not even all government censorship is unlawful. For example, we still have laws against "obscenity" in art and entertainment. These laws allow the government to punish people for producing or disseminating material about sex, if a judge or jury thinks the material is sufficiently offensive and lacks any "serious value."

Famine

Famine may be seen as "the regional failure of food production or distribution systems, leading to sharply increased mortality due to starvation and associated disease" (Cox 1981, 5). While other definitions exist as well, this one usefully emphasizes regional, not family failure; points to the importance of markets and, by implication, of shifting market demand for different foods in addition to their aggregate supply; identifies "excess deaths" - deaths that otherwise would not have occurred- as the core feature of famine; and attributes those deaths to morbidity as well as to seriously reduced consumption. Indeed, most famine-induced mortality tends to occur after the worst of the food crisis is over but while the crisis of infectious disease persists (Bongaarts and Cain 1982; Greenough 1976 and 1982; see also the studies cited by Dreze and Sen 1989, 44).
What this definition does not adequately convey is that famine is the endpoint of a lengthy process in which people in increasing numbers lose their access to food. Most famines have long gestation periods, typically covering two or more crop seasons. Because the descent into famine is slow, early detection is possible. Because it is also typically shrouded in ambiguity, early detection is rarely definitive and seldom produces early response. Herein lies a dilemma that continues to plague famine early warning systems.

Sweatshop

A sweatshop is a working environment with conditions that are considered by many people of industrialised nations to be difficult or dangerous, usually where the workers have few opportunities to address their situation. This can include exposure to harmful materials, hazardous situations, extreme temperatures, or abuse from employers. Sweatshop workers often work long hours for little pay, regardless of any laws mandating overtime pay or a minimum wage. Child labour laws may also be violated.
Although often associated with poor developing countries, sweatshops may exist in any country. Sweatshops have existed in several different countries and cultures, including in the United States and Europe. Sweatshops usually employ low levels of technology, but may produce many different goods, for example, toys, shoes, clothing, and furniture.

Racial Profiling

Racial profiling is the inclusion of racial or ethnic characteristics in determining whether a person is considered likely to commit a particular type of crime or an illegal act or to behave in a "predictable" manner. It is often confused with the more comprehensive Offender Profiling and has been perceived to be directed most often toward non white individuals. Although this practice has been common for centuries, the practice became particularly controversial toward the end of the 20th century in the United States,as the potential for abuse by law enforcement came to light.

Racial profiling occurs when race is used by law enforcement or private security officials, to any degree, as a basis for criminal suspicion in non-suspect specific investigations. Discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, nationality or on any other particular identity undermines the basic human rights and freedoms to which every person is entitled.

Slavery(Human Trafficking)

Slavery is a form of forced labor in which people are considered to be, or treated as, the property of others. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to receive compensation (such as wages). Evidence of slavery predates written records, and has existed to varying extents, forms and periods in almost all cultures and continents. In some societies, slavery existed as a legal institution or socio-economic system, but today it is formally outlawed in nearly all countries. Nevertheless, the practice continues in various forms around the world.

Trafficking in human beings (also called human trafficking) is one method of obtaining slaves. Victims are typically recruited through deceit or trickery (such as a false job offer, false migration offer, or false marriage offer), sale by family members, recruitment by former slaves, or outright abduction. Victims are forced into a "debt slavery" situation by coercion, deception, fraud, intimidation, isolation, threat, physical force, debt bondage or even force-feeding with drugs of abuse to control their victims. “Annually, according to U.S. Government-sponsored research completed in 2006, approximately 800,000 people are trafficked across national borders, which does not include millions trafficked within their own countries. Approximately 80 percent of transnational victims are women and girls and up to 50 percent are minors,” reports the U.S. Department of State in a 2008 study.

Capital Punishment

Capital punishment or the death penalty, is the execution of a person by judicial process as a punishment for an offense. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from Latin capitalis, literally "regarding the head" (Latin caput). Hence, a capital crime was originally one punished by the severing of the head.
Capital punishment has been practiced in virtually every society, and thus can be considered to be a cultural universal or close to it, excluding those with state religious proscriptions against it. It is a matter of active controversy in various countries and states, and positions can vary within a single political ideology or cultural region. In the EU member states, if the Treaty of Lisbon is ratified and implemented, Article 2 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union will prohibit capital punishment.

Childhood Marriages

What is the current situation?
Throughout the developing world, millions of girls are married off to virtual strangers while they are still just children.
Some are as young as six or seven years old when they are married. The girls themselves rarely have any say in the matter. Many do not even know or fully understand what is planned for them until they arrive at their husband’s home.
In families with limited resources, child marriage is often considered a way to provide for a daughter’s future. Poor families have few resources to support more healthy alternatives for girls, while economic gains through marrying off a daughter may also motivate poor parents to choose this path.

What is needed?
Promoting educational and economic opportunities for girls can reduce child marriage. Educating adolescent girls has been critical in increasing the age of marriage countries such as Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Thailand. Working with parents and community leaders to increase these opportunities has delayed marriage for girls in parts of Kenya and Zimbabwe. Child marriage can be ended, but only with a more concerted effort to ensure the public, in all countries, are aware of the terrible toll child marriage takes on girls and their future children.

Environmental Protection

Environmental protection is a practice of protecting the environment, on individual, organisational or governmental level, for the benefit of the natural environment and (or) humans.
Due to the pressures of population and technology the biophysical environment is being degraded, sometimes permanently. This has been recognised and governments began placing restraints on activities that caused environmental degradation. Since the 1960s activism by the environmental movement has created awareness of the various environmental issues. There is not a full agreement on the extent of the environmental impact of human activity and protection measures are occasionally criticized.
Academic institutions now offer courses such as environmental studies, environmental management and environmental engineering that study the history and methods of environmental protection.
Protection of the environment is needed from various human activities. Waste, pollution, loss of biodiversity, introduction of invasive species, release of genetically modified organisms and toxics are some of the issues relating to environmental protection.

World Population

The term world population commonly refers to the total number of living humans on Earth at a given time. As of 20 September 2009, the Earth's population is estimated by the United States Census Bureau to be 6.785 billion. The world population has been growing continuously since the end of the Black Death around 1400. There were also short term falls at other times due to plague, for example in the mid 17th century (see graph). The fastest rates of world population growth (above 1.8%) were seen briefly during the 1950s then for a longer period during the 1960s and 1970s (see graph). According to population projections, world population will continue to grow until around 2050. The 2008 rate of growth has almost halved since its peak of 2.2% per year, which was reached in 1963. World births have levelled off at about 134 million per year, since their peak at 163-million in the late 1990s, and are expected to remain constant. However, deaths are only around 57 million per year, and are expected to increase to 90 million by the year 2050. Because births outnumber deaths, the world's population is expected to reach about 9 billion by the year 2040.

Violence

Violence is the expression of physical force against self or other, compelling action against one's will on pain of being hurt. Variant uses of the term refer to the destruction of non-living objects (see property damage). Worldwide, violence is used as a tool of manipulation and also is an area of concern for law and culture which take attempts to suppress and stop it. The word violence covers a broad spectrum. It can vary from between a physical altercation between two beings where a slight injury may be the outcome to war and genocide where millions may die as a result.

One of the main functions of law is to regulate violence.

Sociologist Max Weber stated that the state is, for better or worse, a monopoly on violence practiced within the confines of a specific territory. Law enforcement is the main means of regulating nonmilitary violence in society. Governments regulate the use of violence through legal systems governing individuals and political authorities, including the police and military. Most societies condone some amount of police violence to maintain the status quo and enforce laws.

War is a state of prolonged violence, large-scale conflict involving two or more groups of people, usually under the auspices of government. War is fought as a means of resolving territorial and other conflicts, as war of aggression to conquer territory or loot resources, in national self-defense, or to suppress attempts of part of the nation to secede from it.
Since the Industrial Revolution, the lethality of modern warfare has steadily grown. World War I casualties were over 40 million and World War II casualties were over 70 million.

Organ & Body Donation

Many people wish to contribute to the furthering of knowledge or to help others after they die. One way to do that is by leaving money to institutions or charitable organizations. Another way is by donating specific organs and tissues, or donating the entire body.
Given that most people have trouble even thinking about making decisions about their own health care and end-of-life care (advance care directives) or funeral arrangements and talking about their thoughts, wishes and decisions with family and friends, it is no surprise that talking about donating one's body, or pieces of it, is also difficult for many to do.
Most of us know about the critical shortage in key transplant organs and body parts such as kidneys, livers, hearts, lungs, and corneas, but did you know that skin, vessels, and tendons play critical roles in helping traumatically injured and sick people get well again? For those who are squeamish about parts of themselves being implanted in others, there is still a need for human tissue and organs in research.
As with so many things in life, the altruism underlying organ and body donation has been tainted by a few who saw a way to make a profit out of someone else's bequest. So, as with learning the ins and outs of the funeral industry itself to ensure you and your loved ones aren't taken for a final ride by the undertaker, if you are considering organ or body donation (and we hope you are), RFS provides the following information to help you learn more about it and to be aware of problems that have occurred in the recent past.

Immigration Effects

Immigration has more far-reaching consequences than merely depressing wages and lowering employment rates of low-skilled African-American males: its effects also appear to push some would-be workers into crime and, later, into prison, according to researchers with the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER).
According to their analysis:
Using census data from 1960 to 2000, they found a 10 percent rise in immigrants in a particular skill group significantly trimmed the wages of black and white men alike.
For African-Americans, the decline was 3.6 percent; for whites, it was actually slightly higher: 3.8 percent.
Beyond that, however, the black-white experience differed markedly, especially for low-skilled workers. Take employment rates:
From 1960 to 2000, black high school dropouts saw their employment rates drop 33 percentage points -- from 88.6 percent to 55.7 percent.
The decrease for white high school dropouts was only roughly half that -- from 94.1 percent to 76.0 percent.
Why would a boost in immigration effectively put more men, especially black men, behind bars? The authors put forward a straightforward theory: workers -- especially those with the lowest skills -- turn to crime to increase their income. Consider:
The rise in incarceration is most dramatic for the lowest-skilled black men; in 1980, it was just 1.3 percent and by 2000, it had skyrocketed to 25.1 percent.
Even blacks with a high school diploma saw incarceration rates increase from 0.5 percent to 9.8 percent in the same time period.
The authors stress that immigration is only one factor in the worsening labor situation of low-skilled African-American men. The 1980-2000 immigrant influx, therefore, only explains part of the decline in wages and employment, and the increase of the incarceration rates among blacks.

Homelessness

Homelessness is the condition and social category of people who lack housing, because they cannot afford, pay for, or are otherwise unable to maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing.
The term homelessness may also include people whose primary nighttime residence is in a homeless shelter, in an institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized, or in a public or private place not designed for use as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.
An estimated 100 million people worldwide are homeless.
The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) defines a "chronically homeless" person as "an unaccompanied homeless individual with a disabling condition who has either been continuously homeless for a year or more, or has had at least four episodes of homelessness in the past three years."

Genetic Engineering Issue

Genetic engineering is a laboratory technique used by scientists to change the DNA of living organisms.
DNA is the blueprint for the individuality of an organism. The organism relies upon the information stored in its DNA for the management of every biochemical process. The life, growth and unique features of the organism depend on its DNA. The segments of DNA which have been associated with specific features or functions of an organism are called genes.
Molecular biologists have discovered many enzymes which change the structure of DNA in living organisms. Some of these enzymes can cut and join strands of DNA. Using such enzymes, scientists learned to cut specific genes from DNA and to build customized DNA using these genes. They also learned about vectors, strands of DNA such as viruses, which can infect a cell and insert themselves into its DNA.
With this knowledge, scientists started to build vectors which incorporated genes of their choosing and used the new vectors to insert these genes into the DNA of living organisms. Genetic engineers believe they can improve the foods we eat by doing this. For example, tomatoes are sensitive to frost. This shortens their growing season. Fish, on the other hand, survive in very cold water. Scientists identified a particular gene which enables a flounder to resist cold and used the technology of genetic engineering to insert this 'anti-freeze' gene into a tomato. This makes it possible to extend the growing season of the tomato.