Ducere founder, entrepreneur and philanthropist Mathew Jacobson will once again join world leaders including US President Barack Obama, President and CEO of IKEA Group Peter Agnefall and Hollywood actor and founder of water.org Matt Damon, at the 2014 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting from 21-24 September in New York City.
Under the theme of Reimagining Impact, the 2014 Annual Meeting will facilitate forward-thinking approaches that re-envision the way organisations and nations impact the world in areas of education, economics, climate change, health, urbanisation and women’s rights.
Jacobson is all too familiar with the power of ideas for transforming how organisations and nations continue to innovate the world over; it’s what he based his entire education company Ducere on.
The CGI annual meeting is a tangible representation of what Ducere values – world leaders and big-thinkers coming together to impart their knowledge for social change.
“CGI is an incredible opportunity to be part of a discussion that has a direct influence on global issues,” Jacobson said.
“Ideas are at the core of how we create real change in our community and globally.
“CGI members will agree that it’s not always the most complex ideas that impact real change, but simple ideas that we persistently put into action that cultivate resilience within our global community.”
CGI’s mission to create and implement innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges is mirrored in Ducere’s philanthropic efforts and educational offering.
Acknowledging the importance of holistic and global education to tackle complex issues, Ducere’s business, leadership and management courses tap into the wisdom of its global faculty; with political leaders from Africa, Australia and the US, to international business leaders from a variety of industries.
Following the entrepreneurial and philanthropic ideas of the CGI membership, Jacobson’s innovative approach to education, has given students the freedom to learn whenever and wherever they want, in addition to creating a global educational offering, that through its course fees have helped to fund their own philanthropic efforts.
Ducere’s recent philanthropic partnership with the Australian High Commission in Botswana and the Sir Ketumile Masire Foundation has seen peace education programs launch in the African nation, signifying the power innovative ideas and collaboration can have on impacting change and resilience in communities.
Building on these philanthropic efforts and as part of its CGI membership, Ducere is encouraged to participate in CGI’s Commitments To Action initiative, which has seen innovative projects touching the lives of more than 430 million people in over 180 countries.
As part of this initiative, Ducere has created the World Leaders Partner to Deliver 250k Books to Africa commitment. Worth over $1.8m commercially, but funded directly through Ducere’s commercial tertiary learning arm, this initiative aims to solve the high rate of illiteracy among African youth and adults. To tackle the alarming UNESCO statistic that one in three adults in sub-Saharan Africa still cannot read, Ducere aims to empower and educate African children by publishing and distributing 250,000 books across Botswana, Malawai, Zambia, Rwanda, South Africa, Ghana and Mauritius.
The annual CGI meetings have brought together nearly 180 current and former heads of state, 20 Nobel Prize laureates, hundreds of leading CEOs, heads of foundations, major philanthropists and prominent members of the media since its launch.
In total, members of the CGI have made nearly 2900 pledges, which have improved the lives of 430 million people in more than 180 countries. When fully funded and implemented, these commitments will be valued in excess of $103 billion.
Previous speakers also include Ducere Global Faculty members Mohammed Ibrahim and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
