Failures from the Field

Shin Fujiyama, Founder and Executive Director of Students Helping Honduras, offers a refreshingly candid take on his experiences building a nonprofit from the ground up. Through sharing his toughest challenges, Shin elucidates crucial lessons about the importance of doing your research, and how investing in local talent is the best decision he has ever made.

Jimmie Briggs is a freelance journalist and the co-founder and Executive Director Emeritus of Man Up Campaign. As a founder of a successful global nonprofit, Jimmie reflects on the importance of transitional leadership and how ego can interfere with long-term impact. He speaks to the importance of self-care, one of the most overlooked aspects of the development sector. He also lends his insight into the current state of gender-based violence, describing it one headline: The Struggle Continues.

The legendary Reverend Jesse Jackson shares stories of sacrifice and triumph in the face of insurmountable odds while lending invaluable insight into the current political landscape. He explains how those who make the biggest contributions in the world must also be the most prepared to do, and how active, long-term resistance can lead to social change.

Zainab Salbi is an author, activist and Founder and former CEO of Women for Women International. She reveals how there is the lack of space in the sector to talk about failure, which has fostered a reliance on glorified success stories. Zainab discusses unhealthy power dynamics as well as the co-dependence inherent in creating real change in the world. Find out why we are missing honest, unapologetic conversations and how we can open up the dialogue.

John Hope Bryant delves into his formidable experiences as founder, chairman, and CEO of Operation HOPE and as a member of the President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability. He speaks to the difference between gaining influence and actually conducting unethical behavior in light of current events, how there needs to be a shift in thinking around nonprofit salaries, and why the development sector should be constantly evaluating our impact.

Chelsea Clinton, Vice Chair of the Clinton Foundation, lends invaluable insight to the subject of Failures from the Field. At the final Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting, she discussed the legacy of one of the most important global players in international development-- the Clinton Foundation. Chelsea illuminates how the organization overcame some of the toughest obstacles they faced, how they contributed to a global conversation about social change between diverse constituents, and how risk has played a crucial role in the impact that the Clinton Foundation has had around the world.

Maya Winkelstein, Executive Director of Open Road Alliance, lends insight into a complex paradox: non-profit organizations are often most vulnerable to unpredictable circumstances, yet they are allowed little room to pivot when faced with major roadblocks. She unveils how the lack of communication and understanding between non-profits and funders can lead to devastating consequences.

Pierre Ferrari, President and CEO of Heifer International, speaks to the complex intricacies around social change, explains the simple solution to the problems smallholder farmers face around the world, and explains why very few organizations successfully do development work.

Deogratias Niyizonkiza, Founder and CEO of Village Health Works, provides valuable insight into what it takes to build a grassroots organization in a war-torn country while bringing to light the thing that makes doing this tough work possible: inspiring stories of strength and resilience in the face of extreme poverty.

Christoph Gorder, Chief Global Water Officer at charity: water, speaks to the failure and success of some of the largest humanitarian crises in the world and discusses some of the most pervasive misconceptions about what it takes to provide clean water to millions.