Stanford Social Innovation Review

Wednesday, April 13

10:40am: Turning Point: Sustainable Agriculture in Africa

• Aziz Akhannouch, Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, Kingdom of Morocco
• Donald Kaberuka, President, African Development Bank
• Namanga Ngongi, President, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa
• Moderator: Heather Grady, Vice President, Foundation Initiatives, The Rockefeller Foundation

Bypassed during the Green Revolution of the 1970s, Africa is seen by many as agriculture’s last frontier. The adoption of smart policies, financing mechanisms, and technologies could represent a turning point for the region, tipping African nations from net importers to net exporters of food, providing for their own populations while meeting growing demand elsewhere.

1:00pm: Turning Point: Disruptive Connective Technology

• Nick Hughes, Managing Director, Signal Point Partners
• Ken Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch
• Andrew Zolli, Curator, PopTech
• Moderator: Jane Wales

How will connective technology alter the relationship between governments and the governed, and among individual actors? How might these tools be used to deny or advance fundamental freedoms and universal rights? And is access to information itself a right?

2:15pm: In Conversation With…

• Jeff Raikes, Chief Executive Officer, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
• Moderator: Jane Wales

With the goal of alleviating poverty and improving lives, the foundation focuses on advancing public health, accelerating economic development, improving nutrition, and ensuring quality education. A former farmer turned Microsoft executive, its President, Jeff Raikes, will describe the goals and the lessons learned of the foundation he helps to lead.

3:00pm: Rapid Fire Talks – Speed Bumps and Bottlenecks

• Technology’s Limits
  Reuben Abraham, Executive Director, Centre for Emerging Markets Solutions, Indian School of Business
• Reinventing Fire—When National Governments Lag Behind
  Amory Lovins, Chairman and Chief Scientist, Rocky Mountain Institute
• When Data Needs Standards
  Ruth Levine, Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Policy, Planning, and Learning, USAID
  Howard White, Executive Director, International Initiative for Impact Evaluation
• The Fallacy of Openness
  Tim O’Reilly, Founder and CEO, O’Reilly Media
• Moderator: Elliot Gerson, Executive Vice President, Policy and Public Programs, International Partnerships, The Aspen Institute

Those seeking social change will encounter speed bumps and detours along the way. This session illuminates some of them—government inaction, elusive measures of impact, and the myth that technology is bound to triumph over short-term thinking in politics and commerce. In brief talks, each speaker will describe an obstacle and suggest ways to regain forward motion.

8:30pm: Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize Dinner

• Special Address: Michelle Bachelet, Executive Director and Under-Secretary General, UN Women

Thursday, April 14

9:00am: Turning Point: Toward an Impact Economy

• Kofi Adjepong-Boateng, Vice Chairman, Standard Chartered Capital Markets, Africa
• Ron Cordes, Co-chairman, Genworth Financial Wealth Management
• Malcolm Hayday, Chief Executive, Charity Bank Limited
• Sonal Shah, Director, Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation, The White House
• Moderator: Antony Bugg-Levine, Managing Director, The Rockefeller Foundation

A true impact economy has many requirements. It needs governmental policies and practices that encourage innovation; an infrastructure of services; standards for measuring social impact; and networks for collaboration. Panelists will discuss the progress made in meeting each of these requirements and also what remains to be done.

12:30 pm: Philanthropy’s Teachable Moments

• Dina Habib Powell, President, Goldman Sachs Foundation and Global Head, Corporate Engagement, Goldman Sachs
• Moderator: Jane Wales

1:30pm: In Conversation With...

• Ben Affleck, Founder, Eastern Congo Initiative
• Moderator: Laurene Powell Jobs, Founder and Chair, Emerson Collective

Gender-based violence has been a central feature of brutal conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Can community-based approaches to economic development lead to fundamentally different outcomes, building social cohesion from the ground up? Actor, director, and activist Ben Affleck is betting on grassroots development in Eastern Congo. Laurene Powell Jobs will lead a conversation about the tragedy and hopeful signs of progress.

2:30pm: Special Address

• Paul Farmer, Co-founder, Partners in Health

Rapid Fire Talks –Turning Point: Disease Eradication

• Richard Adegbola, Senior Program Officer, Global Health Program, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
• Aziz Memon, Chairman, Pakistan National Polio Plus Committee, Rotary International
• Ernesto Ruiz-Tiben, Director, Guinea Worm Eradication Program, The Carter Center
• Moderator: Kathy Bushkin Calvin, Chief Executive Officer, United Nations Foundation

Panelists will address the question of just how close we are to this eradicating meningitis, polio, and guinea worm diseases. What are the barriers? What would it take to overcome them? What are the gaps and where should investors focus their resources for maximum impact? Who are the game changers? And what role can small foundations play in tipping the balance?

7:45pm: Special Conversation with Members of the Giving Pledge

• Lorry I. Lokey, Chairman and CEO Emeritus, Business Wire
• Tashia and John Morgridge, Co-founders, TOSA Foundation
• David Rubenstein, Co-founder and Managing Director, The Carlyle Group
• Moderator: Elizabeth Farnsworth, Special Correspondent, The PBS NewsHour

The Giving Pledge is motivating the most fortunate to consider making commitments to philanthropy, and is stimulating discussion among many who are new to philanthropy, including those in emerging markets like India and China.

Friday, April 15

9:00am: Special Address

• Maura O’Neill, Chief Innovation Officer, USAID Forward