Synergos 25th
Anniversary Celebration & Reflection
University for a Night 2012
Sharing experience, ideas and connections
Tuesday, June 5, 5:15–9:30pm in New York City
University for a Night is about partnership. Since
1997, Synergos has convened this special event to
bring together leaders from around the world and
from different sectors of society to share ideas and
inspiration about systemic solutions to complex
problems.
At University for a Night 2012 we will again learn from one another, share
experiences, and exchange perspectives and ideas. Our hope is that we each
use what we learn and the connections we make in our work, organizations,
and lives.
The event will feature President Bill Clinton, Founder of the William J. Clinton
Foundation and 42nd President of the United States. We hope you will join
Peggy Dulany and David Rockefeller in honoring President Clinton with the
David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award.
We will also mark the launch of Synergos’ 25th Anniversary, a yearlong celebration and reflection on innovative approaches to overcoming
poverty around the world.
Program
Tuesday, June 5
Millennium Broadway Hotel
& Hudson Theatre
145 West 44th Street, New York City
5:15pmWelcome
With Robert H. Dunn, President
and CEO of Synergos
usical Performance
M
By Michael Quattrone
Awards Presentation
Presentation of David
Rockefeller Bridging Leadership
Award to President Bill Clinton,
Founder of the William J. Clinton
Foundation and 42nd President
of the United States, by Peggy
Dulany, Founder and Chair of
Synergos, and David Rockefeller
Keynote Address
By President Bill Clinton
Synergos at 25
Remarks by Peggy Dulany
6:30pmCocktail Reception
7:15pm Table Discussions & Dinner
Small groups gather over dinner
with plenary speakers and other
members of our Distinguished
Faculty – experts from around
the world
University for a Night 2009.
David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Awards
Each year, University for a Night participants honor people and organizations that exemplify
what the evening stands for – working together for the common good. The first such honoree was
David Rockefeller, for whom this award is named.
This year, the David Rockefeller Bridging Leadership Award will be presented to Bill Clinton,
Founder of the William J. Clinton Foundation and
42nd President of the United States.
Honorees 2003-2011
Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder and Chair, BRAC
Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, President, African Women’s
Development Fund
Kofi Annan, Seventh Secretary-General of the
United Nations and Founder and Chair, Kofi Annan
Foundation
Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan
Fazle Hasan Abed receiving the 2008 Bridging Leadership
Award from Peggy Dulany and David Rockefeller.
Corazon C. Aquino, Chair, Benigno S. Aquino, Jr.
Foundation, and Former President of the Philippines
Richard Branson, Founder, Virgin Unite
Jennifer and Peter Buffett, Co-Chairs, NoVo
Foundation
Foundation for Community Development of
Mozambique
The Gates Family: Bill Gates, Melinda French Gates,
and William H. Gates Sr.
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President of Liberia
Nelson Mandela, Former President of South Africa
“Working together with others –
creating effective partnerships – has
been at the center of my business
career and all of my civic involvements. I believe it is the only realistic way to achieve positive and
enduring change.”
— David Rockefeller at University
for a Night 2003
Sheela Patel, Founder and Director, Society for the
Promotion of Area Resource Centres,
and Chairperson, Shack/Slum Dwellers International
Zainab Salbi, Founder, Women for Women International
David Rockefeller, Former Chairman, Chase Manhattan Bank
Ted Turner, Founder and Chairman, United Nations Foundation
John C. Whitehead, Chairman of the Board, Lower Manhattan Development Corporation
James D. Wolfensohn, Special Envoy for Gaza Disengagement and Former President, World Bank
Positions listed are those held at time of event.
Bill Clinton: Statesman, Bridge-builder, Innovator
President Bill Clinton was the first Democratic president in six decades to be elected twice – first
in 1992 and then in 1996. Under his leadership, the country enjoyed the strongest economy in a
generation and the longest economic expansion in U.S.history, including the creation of more than
22 million jobs.
After leaving the White House, President Clinton established the William
J. Clinton Foundation with the mission to improve global health,
strengthen economies, promote healthier childhoods, and protect the
environment by fostering partnerships among governments, businesses,
nongovernmental organizations, and private citizens to turn good intentions into measurable results.
Today the Foundation has staff and volunteers around the world working
to improve lives through several initiatives, including the Clinton Health
Access Initiative (formerly the Clinton HIV/AIDS Initiative) which is helping
more than four million people living with HIV/AIDS access life-saving
drugs. Other initiatives – including the Clinton Climate Initiative, the
Clinton Development Initiative, and the Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative – are applying
a business-oriented approach worldwide to fight climate change and develop sustainable economic
growth in Africa and Latin America. Established in 2005, the Clinton Global Initiative brings together
global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world’s most pressing
issues. In the United States, the Foundation is
working to combat the alarming rise in childhood obesity through the Alliance for a Healthier
Generation, and is helping individuals and families
succeed and small businesses grow.
In addition to his Foundation work, President
Clinton has joined with former President George
H.W. Bush three times – after the 2004 tsunami
in South Asia, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and
Hurricane Ike in 2008 – to help raise money for
recovery efforts and served as the U.N. Envoy for
Tsunami Recovery.
President Clinton is greeted by children in Rwanda in 2006.
(Ralph Alswang/Clinton Foundation photo)
Building on his longstanding commitment to Haiti as President and through his Foundation,
President Clinton was named U.N. Special Envoy for Haiti in 2009 to assist the government and the
people of Haiti as they “build back better” after a series of hurricanes battered the country in 2008.
Following the 2010 devastating earthquake in Haiti, President Clinton dedicated Clinton Foundation
resources to help with immediate and long-term relief and assistance, and at the request of President Obama, joined with President George W. Bush to establish the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, which
supports highly effective organizations on the ground in long-term rebuilding efforts. Today, the
Clinton Foundation is supporting economic growth, job creation, and sustainability in Haiti.
Synergos Sponsors
As of May 28
Changemaker
Supporters
Carlos and Natalia Bulgheroni
Laura Chen
Mimi and Peter Haas Fund
Michael and Brigitte Rennie
Robert C. L. Timpson Jr.
Champions
Kim Samuel-Johnson
David Rockefeller
Friends
Partners
Alberto and Tere Baillères
Mr. and Mrs. Othman Benjelloun
Charles Butt
Dorian Goldman and Marvin Israelow
Vincent and Anne Mai
Josh Mailman and Monica Winsor
Carlos and Gabriela Rodríguez-Pastor
Walk Free - The Movement to End Human Slavery
Robert Yang
Collaborators
Edward and Sharon Bergman
Stanley and Marion Bergman
William Bohnett
Amy and Ed Brakeman
Raymond Chambers and the MCJ
Amelior Foundation
Petr Chitipakhovyan
Mannheim, LLC
Open Society Foundations
Diana and Jonathan Rose
John C. Whitehead
Stephen Alderman
Alliance for Global Good
Gail Alvarez
Roberto and Maria Rosa Baquerizo
Janet Becker
Ian J. Benjamin
Jerry Chasen
Mireya Cisneros
Abigail E. Disney
Conway Downing
Robert H. Dunn
GAIN – Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition
Nili Gilbert
Anna M. Ginn
Wesley Gordon
The Heller Foundation
John Heller
Mayra Hernandez
Ana Carolina Khouri
Libor Maly
Mora McLean
Nomkhita Mona
David Masten Montero-Rosen
Enrique Muñoz
Patrick Parring
Ann Partlow
PepsiCo
Marnie Pillsbury
Fern Portnoy
Mark Rubin
Marjorie Schwartz
Tsugiko and William Scullion
Ricardo Semler
Adele S. Simmons
Sarah L. Timpson
Jan Vet
Synergos: Bridging Divides, Growing Communities,
and Changing Systems
Twenty-five years ago, a novel idea took shape in a new nonprofit organization: Synergos. Our name
comes from the Greek root meaning “working together.” And by doing just that – working together
–Synergos and our members and partners have inspired, led, and supported collaborations in more
than 30 countries and regions throughout the world, mobilizing resources and networks to tackle
the underlying causes of poverty, inequity, and social injustice.
Addressing global challenges, promoting systems
thinking, building local capacity, and encouraging
leadership development goes beyond the scope
or influence of any single individual, organization, or even sector. Synergos understood the
need to bridge divides if sustainable solutions
to the complex causes of poverty and marginalization were ever to be realized. Synergos saw
that all stakeholders – public officials, business
leaders, community representatives, the affected,
and donors – bring insights, experiences and
resources to problem solving. And we understood
that open hearts and minds lead to more effective
transformations at the personal, community and
systems levels.
Synergos connects the private sector, foundations,
universities, government agencies, and change
makers, fostering relationships that transcend
boundaries and empower various stakeholders to
develop strategies that result in ongoing change.
And we help connect invidividuals to their
highest purpose so that they can inspire trust and
make possible the type of collaborations that lead
to creative and productive solutions – collaborations that include the voices and views of the
disenfranchised.
Our work, from child nutrition in India, to maternal
health and child welfare in Southern Africa, to
the creation of global and regional networks of
social investors and innovators, has contributed to
today’s evolving paradigm toward collaborative
development solutions.
Above, top to bottom: Our work in Namibia is helping improve
child and maternal health. Participants in global learning circle
of women civil society leaders. Jordanian man who benefits
from the work of a Synergos Arab World Social Innovator
working to narrow socio-economic divides in his country.
The Synergos Institute • 3 East 54th Street, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10022
Tel: +1-646-963-2100 • Fax: +1-646-201-5220 • [email protected] • www.synergos.org
Above, left to right: Synergos Senior Fellows meet with activists who run a program in São Paulo, Brazil, to rehabilitate chemically dependent mothers without separating them from their children. Craftsman at a newly established artists’ market created
through a partnership we helped create with First Nations on the West Coast of British Columbia. Many of our programs in
Southern Africa strengthen community capacity to meet the needs of children. Participants in a Global Philanthropists Circle
learning journey to South Africa.
Front cover, left to right: In Ethiopia, Synergos is supporting national efforts to transform the agriculture system. Community-level
interviews during the creation of a partnership for child nutrition in India. Craftswomen in Egypt who benefit from the work of a
member of Synergos’ Arab World Social Innovators network. Discussion at a meeting of the Global Philanthropists Circle.