The Philanthropy Workshop Audio Library

Drawing on his extensive career in risk analysis, crisis management, disaster recovery, peacekeeping and social development, Nigel Fisher will present a wide-ranging overview of international development issues, future directions and the kinds of strategic choices that may confront philanthropists and others engaged in addressing some of the world’s development challenges.

Nigel will cover questions including:

• What does the future look like? How are we thinking about the climate crisis, COVID-10, globalisation, inequity and poverty?
• What is good governance? What is democracy?
• Humanitarian solutions don’t solve humanitarian problems. So what does?
• What are strategic choices for investment for a social investor?

TPW is pleased to host this webinar in partnership with Co-Impact.

COVID-19 has forced a pivot to alternative ways of providing healthcare while limiting exposure to the virus. With this has come a quick adoption of telemedicine--a tool involving remote health-related services such as monitoring, advice and education between doctors and patients online over a secure connection.

Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) takes telemedicine one step further. It moves knowledge instead of people so that millions of patients in dozens of countries across six continents can get the care they need.

Project ECHO is an innovative telementoring program designed to create virtual communities of learners by bringing together healthcare providers and subject matter experts using videoconference technology, brief lecture presentations, and case-based learning, fostering an “all learn, all teach” approach. Participants are engaged in the bi-directional virtual knowledge network by sharing clinical challenges and learning from experts and peers. 

Project ECHO has been recognized globally as a successful tool to improve patient care outcomes. As the world responds to the rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic, Project ECHO’s global partner network is uniquely positioned to provide a timely and effective platform to support and scale efforts to prepare for and respond to the spread of the virus, especially in vulnerable countries and regions. The ECHO Institute is working to coordinate and support the rapid development and implementation of ECHO telementoring programs worldwide, leveraging their existing network of ECHO hubs to rapidly disseminate information on COVID-19 preparedness and response in collaboration with local experts and community stakeholders. 

Join us for a conversation with Dr. Sanjeev Arora to understand how Project ECHO is taking health systems change to global scale.

We are joined by Dr. Githinji Gitahi, CEO of Amref Health Africa, for a discussion on how to strengthen health systems in Africa, using Kenya as a national case study. 

We will look at how Amref works in partnership with the public, private, and social sector to increase sustainable health access to communities through solutions in human resources for health, health services delivery, and investments in health. With an eye to entrepreneurial and sustainable approaches, and amid the backdrop of a protracted COVID-19 crisis, a powerful economic and health impact case is to be made for investing in community health system strengthening.

Amref Health Africa, is the leading health development international NGO in Africa, headquartered in Africa since 1957. It reaches more than 12 million beneficiaries annually over through 150 health projects in 35 countries of Africa.

A passionate advocate for pro-poor Universal Health Coverage, Dr. Githinji Gitahi joined Amref Health Africa as the Global Chief Executive Officer in June 2015. Until his appointment to Amref Health Africa, Dr. Gitahi was the Vice President and Regional Director for Africa, Smile Train International. Prior to that, Dr. Gitahi was Managing Director for Monitor Publications in Uganda as well as General Manager for Marketing and Circulation in East Africa for the Nation Media Group. 

Dr. Gitahi is Co-Chair of the UHC2030 Steering Committee, a global World Bank and World Health Organization (WHO) initiative for Universal Health Coverage (UHC). He is a member of the Governing Board of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and prevention (Africa CDC), a specialized technical institution under the African Union. He serves as a member of the Africa Union’s COVID19 Response Committee. He is a member of the Board of Directors of The Standard Group in Kenya, and was recently appointed as a member of the Board of Trustees of Safaricom Foundation.

Dr. Gitahi Bachelor’s Degree in Medicine from the University of Nairobi; a Master’s degree in Business Administration, majoring in Marketing, from United States International University and has a Certificate for Strategic Perspectives for Nonprofit Management from Harvard University. In 2018, Dr. Githinji received a presidential commendation, ‘Moran of the Order of the Burning Spear’ (MBS) in recognition of outstanding contribution to the health sector in his continuing work at the helm of Amref Health Africa.

How can we build a vision for the future in a time of such uncertainty? Join us for a discussion on what we can learn from different disciplines seeking to model a "New Normal" for society post COVID-19. As part of this conversation, we will learn about theories of contagion and how they apply not just to modelling diseases, but also to viral online information, financial systems, human behaviour and social change.

We will hear from:

• Epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and author of The Rules of Contagion: Why Things Spread and Why They Stop, Dr Adam Kucharski. The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine is a world-leading centre for research and postgraduate education in public and global health.
• Founder and Managing Partner of Merian Ventures, Alexsis de Raadt St. James. Merian Ventures funds female founders and co-founders in cyber, AI, ML and consumer-facing technologies.
• Director of the Oxford Internet Institute and author of Pax Technica: How the Internet of Things May Set Us Free or Lock Us Up, Professor Philip Howard. The Oxford Internet Institute is a multidisciplinary research and teaching department of the University of Oxford, dedicated to the social science of the Internet.

TPW member Lynne Smitham will facilitate a discussion on the impact of COVID-19 on women and girls and on social sector resiliency in the Global South, using India as a case study. We will hear from leaders of organizations working to address gender-based violence and healthcare delivery in rural and urban India. 

Lynne will be joined by:

• Neera Nundy, Co-Founder of Dasra;
• Suparna Gupta, Founder Director of Aangan; and
• Sundeep Kapila, Co-Founder and CEO of Swasth.

The coronavirus pandemic has overwhelmed even countries with advanced health care systems, stable politics and resilient economies. For countries affected by conflict and crisis, the potential impact of the disease is truly terrifying.

New analysis by the IRC shows that South Sudan has just four ventilators for a population of 10.9 million people. In Moria refugee camp in Greece, the population density is 8.5x higher than on the stricken Diamond Princess cruise ship. In Yemen, the world’s largest humanitarian crisis, 18 million people do not have access to proper hygiene, water and sanitation, and a ceasefire was violated just two days after it was signed. Half of Venezuela's doctors have left the country since the beginning of the economic crisis, and 90% of hospitals face shortages of medicine and critical supplies.

These societies face a double emergency as COVID-19's health effects are coupled with escalations in conflict and political and economic instability provoked by the outbreak. IRC's analysis shows that immediate action to prevent the spread of the disease is imperative.

Join us for a conversation with President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and former British Foreign Secretary David Miliband on what the international community can do to mitigate the impact of coronavirus in fragile countries and refugee camps.

"Should we fail," Miliband says, "not only will the most vulnerable pay the price today for the inaction of the international community, the consequences will be felt across the globe for years, if not decades, to come."

A Case Study of Subnational Coordination in a Crisis: The U.S. National Governors Association and COVID-19

Whether on climate change, migration, or humanitarian response, subnational coordination has become an increasingly important feature of responses to crisis across the world in the 21st century. Subnational (provincial, state and municipal) governments are described by McKinsey as "crisis nerve centers" - highly agile, coordinated bodies that can bring together stakeholders and mobilize civil society in support of central government - or in some cases, to compensate for the lack of leadership from central government.

Each country's experience of the COVID-19 pandemic has to some extent been shaped by this subnational response. This response has been shaped in turn by that country's history, political system and current political reality. While France's response has been coordinated strongly from Paris, the measures taken in the UK and particularly in Germany, Italy and Spain have been more decentralized, with varying degrees of success. In Turkey, one of the countries currently on the steepest upward curve of cases, the subnational response has evolved from "cooperation to competition to and finally confrontation." In China, local officials in Wuhan were blamed by Beijing for the crisis, and found little support from other regional governments.

The response in the United States, which now has the highest number of cases in the world, is particularly unique. Since the earliest days of this mounting crisis, governors have helmed efforts to control the spread of the virus and safeguard public health. As infection rates rise and mitigation measures take their inevitable toll on the economy, the National Governors Association (NGA) has mobilized to provide its members with an unprecedented level of continuous assistance, with a focus on disseminating updated information from the federal government and virtually convening state officials to identify urgent needs and communicate effective practices. These efforts are being led by the NGA Center for Best Practices, a non-profit, 501c(3) devoted to identifying and sharing best practices in state public policy for the nation’s governors.

This webinar will look at the United States as a case study of subnational coordination in response to crisis. Join us for a discussion with Timothy Blute, Director of the NGA Center for Best Practices, and Tom Kalil, Chief Innovation Officer at Schmidt Futures, to learn more about this pivotal and unprecedented subnational coordination in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Please click here for a funding brief with more details on the NGA's COVID-19 response to date.

Join us for a special conversation with Nobel Laureate and Former President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. President Sirleaf will speak about Liberia's response to the Ebola crisis, lessons to take forward in the current global health crisis, and the role of women in global leadership.

Internationally known as “Africa’s Iron Lady,” Nobel Laureate and Former President of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is a leading promoter of freedom, peace, justice, women’s empowerment, and democratic rule. As Africa’s first democratically-elected female head of state, she has led Liberia through reconciliation and recovery following the nation’s decade-long civil war, as well as the Ebola Crisis, winning international acclaim for achieving economic, social, and political change. Recognized as a global leader for women’s empowerment, President Sirleaf was awarded the prestigious Nobel Prize for Peace in 2011. She is the recipient of The Presidential Medal of Freedom—the United States’ highest civilian award—for her personal courage and unwavering commitment to expanding freedom and improving the lives of Africans. Her many honors also include the Grand Croix of the Légion d’Honneur, France’s highest public distinction, and being named one of Forbes’s “100 Most Powerful Women in the World.”

President Sirleaf was elected President of the Republic of Liberia in 2005, two years after the nation’s bloody civil war ended. Her historic inauguration as Africa’s first democratically elected head of state took place on January 16, 2006. Prior to the election, she had served in the transitional government, where she chaired the Governance Reform Commission and led the country’s anti-corruption reform. She won reelection in November 2011. 

Born Ellen Eugenia Johnson, President Sirleaf is the granddaughter of a traditional chief of renown in western Liberia and a market woman from the southeast. U.S. educated, she holds a master’s in public administration (MPA) from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. She also earned a degree in accounting at Madison Business College in Wisconsin and received a diploma from the University of Colorado’s Economics Institute. 

President Sirleaf has written widely on financial, development and human rights issues, and in 2008 she published her critically acclaimed memoir, This Child Will Be Great.

Join us to get up to speed on the international COVID-19 response, key challenges, and opportunities, and what we can do as social investors. This discussion will touch on how the urgency of this global pandemic invites a shift in due diligence processes, risk appetite, and grant and investment structure, as well as a need to address short-, medium-, and long-term impacts.

We will be joined by expert members of TPW's COVID-19 braintrust:

• Andrew Morris-Singer, Founder and Chair, Primary Care Progress
• Corey Morris-Singer, Co-Founder, Primary Care Progress
• English Sall, Board Member, Sall Family Foundation
• Jeff Walker, Chairman, New Profit and Vice Chair, WHO/CHAP, African Community Health