President Bill Clinton, Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Chelsea Clinton to Bring Together More Than 1,000 College Student Leaders for 2014 Meeting of CGI University, March 21-23 at Arizona State University
Featured participants include U.S. Senator John McCain, Bill Drayton, Gabrielle Giffords, Mark Kelly, Jimmy Kimmel, Cindy Hensley McCain, Reeta Roy, María Elena Salinas, Jimmy Wales, and Lauryn Williams; students to take action on some of Generation Y’s biggest social, economic, and environmental concerns
Chelsea Clinton to mobilize students for Day of Action March 23 with PHX Renews in downtown Phoenix
NEW YORK – Today, details were announced for the seventh annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U), where President Bill Clinton, Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Clinton Foundation Vice Chair Chelsea Clinton will convene more than 1,000 student leaders from around the world at Arizona State University, March 21-23. These undergraduate and graduate students will engage in developing solutions to some of the most pressing concerns of the Millennial generation, including human rights, women’s social and economic empowerment, and combatting HIV/AIDS in the United States. They will be joined by experts, entrepreneurs, and civically engaged celebrities such as Bill Drayton, Chief Executive Officer, Ashoka; Gabrielle Giffords, Former U.S. Representative and Founder, Americans for Responsible Solutions; Mark Kelly, Former Astronaut and Founder, Americans for Responsible Solutions; Jimmy Kimmel, Host and Executive Producer, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”; John McCain, U.S. Senator from Arizona; Cindy Hensley McCain, Founding Member, Eastern Congo Initiative; Reeta Roy, President and Chief Executive Officer, The MasterCard Foundation; María Elena Salinas, Anchor, Univision News; Jimmy Wales, Founder, Wikipedia; and Lauryn Williams, U.S. Olympic Gold Medalist in Sprinting and Silver Medalist in Bobsledding.
“Each year, the commitments and partnerships that come out of CGI University prove that young people are not only up to the task of working towards a safer, more sustainable world, but that they are eager to get started now,” said Chelsea Clinton. “Whether interested in starting a social venture to fight HIV/AIDS or increasing women’s interest in STEM in remote areas of the world, students come to CGI U to turn their ideas into action. We are thrilled to bring this meeting to ASU, which has the largest solar energy portfolio of any university in America and a strong commitment to positive social change and innovation.”
CGI U 2014 attendees will have access to more than $750,000 in seed funding to implement their Commitments to Action: new, specific, and measurable plans to address urgent challenges. The funding marks the largest sum in the meeting’s history, including $650,000 from the growing CGI University Network of more than 55 colleges and universities and another $100,000 through the Resolution Project Social Venture Challenge, a competition between aspiring student entrepreneurs with sustainable enterprises.
Over the past six years, students have made more than 4,000 Commitments to Action, including a CGI U commitment made by Harvard University student Jessica Matthews, which led to the creation of Soccket, a soccer ball that doubles as an eco-friendly generator for people in resource-poor regions. Dartmouth College student Ashifi Gogo made a CGI U commitment to use text messaging to combat the proliferation of counterfeit drugs in the developing world. This became Sproxil, a social business that has raised more than $1.8 million, secured major pharmaceutical clients, and has now been used nearly 8 million times.
The fourth annual CGI U Commitments Challenge launched March 10, featuring a national online competition of new commitment ideas from college and university students in the form of a “bracket.” This year, CGI is partnering with Crowdrise, one of the largest online platforms dedicated to raising money for charity and amazing causes, to power the competition and help student “teams” fundraise for their new commitments. The public now has the opportunity to donate to their favorite CGI U 2014 commitment at http://www.cgiu.org/challenge. The first qualifying round runs through this Thursday, with the top 16 teams being seeded into a bracket competition that begins on Friday, March 14. Last year’s winner, Arizona State University student Davier Rodriguez, created an award-winning CGI U commitment to develop DREAMzone, a program that will establish a national network of allies to support undocumented students in Arizona and beyond.
On March 23, students will gather in downtown Phoenix for the Clinton Foundation’s ninth Day of Action. The morning of community service will be in collaboration with PHX Renews, a partnership between the City of Phoenix and Keep Phoenix Beautiful that aims to transform previously vacant lots in the city into vibrant and sustainable public spaces. To kick off the Day of Action, Chelsea Clinton and President Bill Clinton will be joined by Mayor of Phoenix Greg Stanton, and Co-Founders of Americans for Responsible Solutions Former U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords and Former Astronaut Mark Kelly.
Building off the success of the Clinton Foundation’s Codeathon series, young people will have the opportunity to participate in a codeathon in the lead up to the meeting, on Thursday, March 20, and Friday, March 21. The codeathon aims to spur innovation in the technology space and increase the scope, reach, and impact of CGI U Commitments to Action. The two-day session will challenge student developers and designers to build unique digital prototypes inspired by CGI U commitments that address education, global health, and water quality issues.
Throughout the meeting, students will engage in various topic- and skill-based sessions, which will empower them to get involved with solving major global challenges while they’re still in school.
Sessions at CGI U 2014 will include:
- The Age of Participation, which will bring together students, entrepreneurs, and celebrities to explore promising new opportunities to affect change in the 21st century;
- Coming in Second: Scaling What Works, which will highlight how social innovators can avoid reinventing the wheel by aligning with organizations that have already achieved strong results; and
- The Future of Higher Education: Redefining Learning As We Know It, in which entrepreneurs, innovators, and educators will address how colleges can better boost learning outcomes, prepare students of all socioeconomic backgrounds for the job market, and cultivate the skills necessary for becoming productive global citizens.
For the complete schedule, visit http://cgilink.org/1ckXpVr.
Featured participants at the CGI U 2014 meeting will include: Derrick Ashong, Host and Special Correspondent, Fusion; Tina Barseghian, Editor, MindShift; Ken Berger, President and Chief Executive Officer, Charity Navigator; Sujata Bhatt, Founder, The Incubator School; Kevin Bleyer, Emmy award-winning writer/producer for “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” “Dennis Miller,” and “Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher”; Asi Burak, President, Games for Change; Lily Cole, Founder, impossible; Michael M. Crow, President, Arizona State University; Manjula Dissanayake, Founding President, Educate Lanka Foundation, Inc.; Bill Drayton, Chief Executive Officer, Ashoka; Jay Feely, Professional Football Player, Arizona Cardinals; Gabrielle Giffords, Former U.S. Representative and Founder, Americans for Responsible Solutions; Wahleah Johns, Co-founder, Black Mesa Water Coalition; Mark Kelly, Former Astronaut and Founder, Americans for Responsible Solutions; Jimmy Kimmel, Host and Executive Producer, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”; Adnan Mahmud, Chief Executive Officer, Live Stories; Ludwick Marishane, DryBath Inventor, Headboy Industries Inc.; Dulce Matuz, President, Arizona DREAM Act Coalition; John McCain, U.S. Senator from Arizona; Cindy Hensley McCain, Founding Member, Eastern Congo Initiative; Alicia Menendez, Host, Fusion; Maria Menounos, Host, “Extra!”, Founder, Take Action Hollywood!, Deogratias Niyizonkiza, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Village Health Works; Jamar Rogers, Musician, Dream On Productions and HIV/AIDS Activist; Reeta Roy, President and Chief Executive Officer, The MasterCard Foundation; María Elena Salinas, Anchor, Univision News; Amirah Sequeira, National Coordinator, Student Global AIDS Campaign; Greg Stanton, Mayor, City of Phoenix; Nancy Sutley, Former Chair, White House Council on Environmental Quality; Michael Tubbs, Council Member, City of Stockton; Jimmy Wales, Founder, Wikipedia; Patrick Walsh, Co-founder and Chief Impact Officer, CLASSY Awards; Lauryn Williams, Olympic Gold Medalist in Sprinting and Silver Medalist in Bobsledding; Phill Wilson, President and Chief Executive Officer, Black AIDS Institute; and more.
Follow us on Twitter at @CGIU and @ClintonGlobal or on Facebook at Facebook.com/CGIUniversity for meeting news and highlights. The official meeting hashtag is #CGIU. Plenary sessions will also be live streamed during the meeting at live.cgiu.org.
Support for CGI U 2014 is generously provided by: American Association of University Women; Andy Nahas and The Prospect Fund; Laureate International Universities; MasterCard Foundation; Microsoft; Peter G. Peterson Foundation; Pederson Group, Inc.; and the Ramsey Social Justice Foundation.
About Clinton Global Initiative University
The Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U), a program of the Clinton Global Initiative, brings together college students to address global challenges with practical, innovative solutions. CGI U participants do more than simply discuss problems – they take concrete steps to solve them by creating action plans, building relationships, participating in hands-on workshops, and following up with CGI U as they complete their projects. Since 2008, students have made more than 4,000 Commitments to Action. Previous CGI U meetings have taken place at Tulane University, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Miami, the University of California at San Diego, the George Washington University, and Washington University in St. Louis, and have convened more than 5,500 students from over 800 schools, 130 countries, and all 50 states. To learn more, visit cgiu.org.
Established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), an initiative of Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, convenes global leaders year-round and at its Annual Meeting to create and implement innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges. CGI also convenes CGI America, a meeting focused on collaborative solutions to economic recovery in the United States. To date, members of the CGI community have made more than 2,800 Commitments to Action, which are already improving the lives of more than 430 million people in over 180 countries. When fully funded and implemented, these commitments will be valued at $103 billion. For more information, visit clintonglobalinitiative.org and follow us on Twitter @ClintonGlobal and Facebook at facebook.com/clintonglobalinitiative.
About Arizona State University
Arizona State University is one of the nation’s leading public research universities and is ranked among the top 100 universities in the world.
Known for innovation and entrepreneurism, ASU has pioneered the model for a New American University with a focus on accessibility and quality education, training students to learn for a lifetime. According to its mission, ASU will be measured not by who we exclude, but rather by who we include and how they succeed; pursuing research and discovery that benefits the public good; assuming major responsibility for the economic, social, and cultural vitality and health and well-being of the community.
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