Every year, throngs of world leaders gather in New York for the annual high-level United Nations General Assembly, and Manhattan — renowned for its hustle and bustle — takes on an even more frantic pace. Fleets of armored black cars zig, zag, and honk down city streets, while police stand patrol on practically every corner near the U.N. to ensure the security of prominent figures like President Biden, who made his final appearance as the commander-in-chief.
There is no shortage of big name philanthropists, either. Foundation leaders like Bill Gates and Darren Walker rub shoulders with diplomats and public officials and push them to take up their causes. Each day of the week abounds with glitzy, philanthropy-focused events to attend, including the star-studded Clinton Global Initiative.
This is my third year covering UNGA. In many ways it felt consistent with years past. (I still needed a good pair of walking shoes.) But there was something different about the vibe this year. To start, there was the backdrop of the tense White House race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. Trump’s first term had a significant geopolitical impact. He famously pulled out of the Paris climate agreement to reduce greenhouse gasses and helped usher in an era of U.S. isolationism that many foreign diplomats don’t want to see return. Many diplomats are bracing themselves for his possible second term and all that it might bring.
While out for dinner near the U.N building, a group of women from international nonprofits that are trying to increase women’s political engagement told me they were closely watching U.S. elections because they worried about the signals it might send to the rest of the world if Trump beats Harris.
The concern extended to other issues such as malnutrition and climate change, which are worsening, and the escalation of conflicts in Ukraine, Sudan, and the Middle East, which is teetering on an all-out regional war.
“Our world is in a whirlwind,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said at the opening of the U.N General Assembly debate Tuesday. We are in an era of epic transformation — facing challenges unlike any we have ever seen — challenges that demand global solutions. Yet geopolitical divisions keep deepening. The planet keeps heating.”
“We are edging towards the unimaginable — a powder keg that risks engulfing the world,” he warned.
What should philanthropy be doing? That was a question posed throughout the week. Private philanthropy for global development totaled $42 billion from 2016 to 2019, according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. That includes funding for efforts to alleviate poverty and malnutrition and to promote human rights and racial and gender equity. However, a common sentiment was that funders could be doing much more.
Future of Funding
Former President Bill Clinton had his take on the path forward.
“Being here and making commitments to action can actually deliver real results to real people,” he said at the kick-off for Clinton Global Initiative, where a major theme was “what’s working” and great emphasis was placed on the need for funders to collaborate with governments and each other to address large problems.
For context, the Clinton Global Initiative is like the all-star game of the philanthropy world. Everyone wants to get in, and they’re willing to go through a lot of security checks to do it. My bag was given the once-over by a bomb-sniffing dog, my ID was checked, and a guard ran a metal-detector wand over my body before I was allowed to climb up the escalator of the Hilton Midtown in New York to the main event with a roster that included the Clintons, actor Matt Damon, and Prince Harry.
The hotel’s wide halls were abuzz with activity. That energy carried over into the packed ballroom where a breakout session called the “future of funding” looked at how philanthropy could better support marginalized communities typically on the front lines of the biggest crises. In many ways, the session was a castigation of a sector perceived to have failed in fulfilling pledges to support equity in the wake of the 2020 global racial reckoning that was sparked by the murder of George Floyd by Minnesota police officers.
Fearless Fund CEO Arian Simone took the stage first and defiantly told the audience that her venture firm would continue to advocate for equity despite ending its grant program for Black women entrepreneurs as part of the settlement for a case that would have tested whether charities can make grants based on race. It’s important that funders stay committed, she said, noting the $340 billion in corporate DEI pledges that have been announced since 2020 have not been fully realized.
“All of that money has not shown up,” she said. “They didn’t keep their promise, but I was going to keep mine. And my promise is to make sure that we are investing in women of color-founded business.”
Earlier this month, the Fearless Fund launched a $200 million fund for underresourced businessowners who meet certain criteria regardless of race.
Promoting racial and gender equity will also be key to addressing the climate crisis, Happy Mwende Kinyili, co-executive director of international women’s fund Mama Cash, said during a subsequent panel. Climate change disproportionately affects the lives and livelihoods of women and girls, increasing their chances of dying and experiencing gender-based violence, the U.N. has reported.
Despite that, just a tiny percent of funding goes to women-led organizations confronting the issue, Mwende Kinyili said.
“The climate crisis, war— these crises are not led by women and girls, trans, intersex people,” she said. “They’re created by other people. So let’s fund the people who are being deeply, deeply impacted by them.”
Top Threat
Identifying the intersections between causes and moving past a siloed approach to funding was a talking point raised several times, especially in regard to climate change. It’s not accidental that UNGA coincides with New York City’s annual Climate Week. At rallies and events around the city, climate activists took advantage of the global spotlight to bring home the idea that climate change is the struggle that binds us all. Most countries are far from reaching the global goal to limit and adapt to climate change by 2030.
Climate change and environmental stability was seen as the number one emerging threat that philanthropy should prioritize over the next five years, in an audience poll at an event hosted by advisory firm Panorama Global. Global health crises and socioeconomic inequality came in second and third. Yet philanthropic funding for climate remains just under 2 percent of all giving worldwide.
Some major funders such as the Rockefeller Foundation and Bloomberg Philanthropies have made climate the centerpiece of their grant-making strategy. Rockefeller Foundation President Rajiv Shah made the rounds to talk about how the foundation was progressing its five-year, $1 billion climate pledge through partnerships with governments, philanthropies, businesses, and cities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address climate-related health threats. But they are in the minority.
There is a kind of paralysis that is gripping funders, and they don’t know what they can do to help, said Nicholas Tedesco, CEO of the National Center for Family Philanthropy
“What we’re seeing is philanthropic families that we work with feel a sense of urgency, but they also feel a deep sense of overwhelm,” he told me during a panel discussion at the Panorama event. “They feel the need, many through their own lived experience over the last five years, but more from the pressure that’s being applied throughout the global community.”
Many funders are also unsure of what they can do to address other big issues such as democracy-building or racial justice on their own, he said.
Many are turning to intermediary organizations that are perceived to be better connected to groups working on the ground. However, experts have suggested that intermediaries aren’t a “silver bullet” and may be less familiar with grantees’ work than the originating donor.
The Gates Pitch
Ahead of the U.N. meeting, Bill Gates issued a plea for funders to stay mindful of the need to help underdeveloped countries overcome ongoing challenges like malnutrition and poverty. Globally, hunger and malnutrition numbers are at an “alarming” high, including in the United States, where more than 47 million people said they were unable to get enough food for themselves or their families.
Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman told a roomful of reporters at the annual Goalkeepers event that he wanted to see the world respond more quickly to these crises.
“We know it requires a much bigger ecosystem of financing, political will, of partnerships across civil society, the private sector, and elsewhere,” he said. “But the sense of possibility, that sense of progress, that sense of optimism that we can and should and will live in a better world, is really what this event is about.”
Earlier this year, Suzman urged the wealthy to give more funding globally. He later told me that he is still hoping that message catches on with U.S. megadonors who take a traditional approach of giving large gifts to their alma maters. They can still give those kinds of gifts and support bigger causes, he told me before dashing off to an awards ceremony where Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was being honored for his efforts to fight poverty and hunger.