Maggie KirilovaJournal #1
My first few days working with the Clinton Global Initiative have been quite exciting. I am part of a team of nine consultants working with CGI to develop impact projects over the next six months. The team is absolutely exciting and my teammates all have fantastic experiences that they bring to the job. Although there is a Wall Street banker and a corporate lawyer in the group, most of the consultants have extensive development backgrounds. I enjoyed hearing about their field experience working with programs in the developing world.
Although I, myself, have been extensively involved in social programs in the U.S., I have to say I am somewhat intimidated by my colleagues’ expertise. One of them started a non-profit social enterprise in Zambia that employs AIDS widows. The proceeds of the business have paid for a school that educates more than 200 AIDS orphans and supplies them with adequate nutrition and care. Another colleague had just returned from running an education program on the West Bank. Yet another colleague brings deep expertise in climate change issues as she educates the rest of the team on CO2 sequestration issues. From these first encounters, I can already see that this will be an exciting summer and that this will be a truly fantastic learning experience.
My focus over the summer will be in the field of Economic Empowerment. Leveraging my background as a professional economist and my passion for addressing poverty through sustainable enterprise-based solution, I hope to make a sizeable contribution to CGI’s work in this area. The work in the Economic Empowerment field spans issues such as microfinance, social enterprise, housing, employment training and job creation, micro insurance, as well as many cross-cutting projects that target poverty alleviation.
The first step this summer would be to familiarize myself with the current portfolio of projects under management in order to get a better sense of past work in the sector. I am looking forward to learning more about the organizations and issues being addressed as CGI is a meeting place for some of the most impactful and high profile “doers” in the field. The best way I can describe this internship so far is “NGO 101”. Although many of the projects are actually undertaken by corporations and other private entities, I think that my work at CGI this summer will offer the unique opportunity to learn about the range of work that is currently underway in the development field.
Journal #2
After spending a few weeks learning about existing projects and getting accustomed to the CGI model, I have started to be actively involved in the core elements of the internship. I am spending a good portion of my time here meeting with different organizations and discussing their work and strategy. Part of our role is to identify outstanding NGOs that are driving innovation in development work and to help them crate meaningful partnerships that can help drive their work to the next level. As such, I have had the opportunity to learn first hand how some of the most dynamic NGOs operate. It is not often that the Executive Director of a leading NGO will take the time to talk about their work. Through this internship, I have been fortunate to have dozens of these conversations with some of the most fascinating individuals in the development space.
One of the most memorable meetings I had was with Ingrid Munro from Jamii Bora. Jamii Bora can best be described as a comprehensive poverty alleviation program, which is entirely economically sustainable and has had a huge impact on the lives of the poor in Kenya. The organization was initially started as a micro lending institution and quickly became not only sustainable, but profitable. The model was then expanded to offer other financial services to the poor such as health insurance, disaster insurance and retail banking. Jamii Bora continued to grow and remained profitable, which allowed it to take the next step to help the poor move out of the slums—building its own city. The organization recently completed a settlement of several thousand homes, which house the micro entrepreneurs that Jamii Bora supported through its micro lending program. When asked what makes Jamii Bora successful, Ingrid Munro, who is one of the most inspiring and fascinating people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing, simply said that she believes anyone is capable of being self-sufficient. Jamii Bora serves individuals that other micro lending institutions avoid such as petty thieves, ex-prostitutes and beggars. The organizations stay competitive by implementing cutting-edge technology and always looking to innovate and find ways to help people help themselves.
In addition to working with impactful NGOs, CGI has made a concerted effort to engage a growing number of corporate partners. CGI brings a great deal of expertise and important connections in the development field, which can be an invaluable resource for CSR professionals and their companies. As part of this initiative, CGI held several events where we had an opportunity to discuss the CGI model and how it can help corporate partners increase the impact of their work. One of the conversations we had resulted in a partnership between Moody’s, my previous employer, and a micro lending institution. Through this project, Moody’s will rate micro lenders, which will bring the industry closer to the investment standards of mainstream finance and will hopefully result in increased investment in these institutions.
Journal #3
As the end of my internship with CGI quickly approaches, I find myself as busy as ever trying to wrap up several projects before the beginning of the Fall semester. Looking back, this has been a very eventful summer that has allowed me to learn a great deal about development work. Although I started out with little development background, I feel that I now have a good understanding of the type of work under way in a number of sectors and through a variety of leading organizations. The exposure to leaders in both the corporate and non-profit spheres has been unparalleled.
However, the work that I enjoyed the most was related to the projects where I had extensive involvement and where I could see the impact of my work. One such project involved Fonkoze, an organization working to bring people out of poverty in the complex environment of Haiti. Fonkoze offers a comprehensive package of microfinance and training services that help to gradually bring people out of poverty. In order to further its efforts in Haiti, Fonkoze will partner with BRAC, a large comprehensive poverty alleviation organization in Bangladesh, to develop a new program that will further its work in Haiti. This is one of several projects that focus on Haiti, which we are bringing together to form a network of “doers” focused on the region. During an upcoming meeting we hope to help develop more partnerships and innovative cross-cutting solutions to drive progress in the region.
Another interesting project focuses on a small NGO that aims to develop entrepreneurs who can deliver affordable and environmentally sustainable infrastructure solutions to underserved populations in Latin America. The organization aims to address the lack of adequate infrastructure in many poor communities, which is not only a quality of life concern, but can be very costly. By fostering the development of local entrepreneurs who can deliver solar cells instead of expensive kerosene lamps, for example, the organization hopes to both help the poor and also create sustainable green enterprises. This NGO is part of a group that I have also been actively developing, which focuses on work in Latin America. Through cooperation with the Inter-American Development Bank, I have been working on creating a network of organizations, which can collaborate to bring economic opportunity to the region.
There are many other projects and people that have helped make my summer experience truly memorable. The learning opportunities have been unparalleled and the projects have been truly inspiring and fascinating. If there is one thing that I can say for sure, it is that this experience has helped me realize that there are numerous opportunities to create sustainable enterprises, which serve a double or triple bottom line. In fact, given the limited philanthropic resources and the current economic crisis, it becomes clear that social enterprise may be the best way to address some of the most pressing global challenges we face today.
