Join us for a webinar presented in partnership with Global Partnerships Forum
Navid Hanif
Director, Financing for Sustainable Development Office
Anne Simpson
Director, Board Governance & Strategy, Executive Office, CalPERS
Melanie Schnoll Begun
Managing Director and Head of Wealth Management’s Philanthropy Management Group, Morgan Stanley
Rachel Gerrol
Co-Founder & CEO, NEXUS
Moderator
Amir Dossal
President, Global Partnerships Forum
The world is facing an unprecedented health and economic crisis, resulting in untold human suffering around the globe. According to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Covid-19 is much more than a health crisis, it is a human crisis attacking societies at the core.
This current pandemic has highlighted the critical importance of robust and transparent health systems. While developed economies are trying to offset the impact by providing supplementary support programs for their citizens, it is clear that people in developing countries are likely to bear the brunt of this situation, due to weak health systems and minimal or no social protection arrangements. We cannot ignore the plight of the under-privileged around the world. Now more than ever, we need investments that “build back better” and are aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Moreover, the ethos of philanthropy beyond our borders needs to be widely implemented in developing countries.
The UN has a huge role to play in bringing together countries and people during these trying times. The world is counting on the UN to ensure “no one is left behind.” We need better coordination, better information sharing and stronger and inclusive governance, and more transparency at the policy level, nationally and internationally. We need a renewed partnership compact between governments, private sector and civil society — now.
Join us from 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m. EST on Tuesday, June 23, for this special webinar moderated by Amir Dossal, President and CEO of the Global Partnerships Forum, who with a panel of guest speakers, will discuss policy challenges faced by the international community, and consider opportunities for investing in the SDGs, through innovative collaboration. This moment demands coordinated, decisive, and innovative policy action from the world’s leading economies, and maximum financial and technical support for the poorest and most vulnerable people and countries, who will be the hardest hit.
Panel Moderator
AMIR DOSSAL
Amir Dossal is Founder and President of the Global Partnerships Forum, a not-for-profit knowledge platform to provide changemakers with tools to build innovative partnerships to address economic and social challenges.
He is co-founder of the Pearl Initiative, and the Ocean Sanctuary Alliance. He is a founding Commissioner of the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development. He is also co-founder of the Blockchain Commission for Sustainable Development and serves as Executive Vice Chair.
Amir is a 25-year veteran of the United Nations, and served as Executive Director of the UN Office for Partnerships until September 2010. He is an accomplished diplomat, with a deep understanding of international affairs as well as extensive experience in global development and humanitarian issues, including managing complex technical assistance projects in emerging markets.
Panelists
NAVID HANIF
Navid Hanif is a senior UN official with the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA). He has developed policies and programme frameworks for the MDGs and subsequently the SDGs. Navid has led financing for development initiatives over the last two decades. He also served as a member of the Secretary-General’s team for the 2005 World Summit.
Navid will provide insights on the UN’s leadership role in addressing the SDG gaps, and how the United Nations is refocusing its mission to cushion the impact of Covid-19 on people’s lives and livelihoods.
ANNE SIMPSON
Anne Simpson has extensive experience in the public sector investment arena. Prior to taking on this role as Director of Board Governance & Strategy in the Executive Office of CalPERS (The California Public Employees' Retirement System), she served as Investment Director, Sustainability, where she led the development of their ESG strategy across their $330 billion fund. Anne has held other leadership positions at CalPERS, including Investment Director, Global Governance, and before that, Senior Portfolio Manager, Global Equity, in the Investment Office.
Anne will discuss strategies for engaging public sector investment vehicles to address the 2030 Agenda, including some concrete actions pension funds can take to invest in the SDGs.
MELANIE SCHNOLL BEGUN
Melanie Schnoll Begun is Managing Director and Head of Wealth Management’s Philanthropy Management Group at Morgan Stanley. She works with the firm’s most influential clients to focus, support, and scale their philanthropic endeavors.
In addition to spearheading Philanthropic Consulting Services, Melanie launched and oversees the Morgan Stanley Global Impact Funding Trust (GIFT), the firm’s global Donor-Advised Fund, and Foundation Management Services, a platform for family and corporate foundations.
Melanie will discuss how she is engaging the high net worth community to support programs for the SDGs, including help find cures for diseases, create positive cultural shifts, improve economic development in their communities, and revitalize and reinvent education.
RACHEL GERROL
Rachel Gerrol is widely recognized for her work on millennial philanthropy & her projects have been featured in The New YorkTimes, The Financial Times, The Atlantic, Forbes and Vanity Fair. She is the recipient of the 2019 Beacon Award from the Ellis Island Honors Society, was named in the “99 Most Influential Foreign Policy Leaders under 33” by the Diplomatic Courier & received the Jewish Women’s Archive “Making Change/Making History” Award.
Rachel will share her vision for the 2030 Agenda, and ideas and initiatives that the next generation of philanthropists, innovators and impact investors are focused on to solve some of the SDG gaps.