CGI Live Blog: Creating Jobs and Strong Communities | Tonic

Creating Jobs and Strong Communities (Queen Rania, Labor Sec Solis)

(09/24/2009)

12:58

Steve: Well halloooooo!
We’re back, ready to start the Creating Good Jobs and Strong Communities plenary.

1:01

Erin: And we’ve already spotted Barbra Streisand in the crowd.

1:02

Katherine Gustafson: Hi all, we’re in the room where a bunch of great thinkers are going to tell us what’s up with Creating Good Jobs and Strong Communities

1:02

Katherine Gustafson: Ah Babs!

1:02

Katherine Gustafson: A video is playing

1:02

Caroline: On the panel today:
Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah, Queen of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Marilyn Carlson Nelson, Chairman, Carlson
Nicholas D. Kristof, Columnist, The New York Times; Co-Author, “Half the Sky”
Andrew N. Liveris, Chairman and CEO, The Dow Chemical Company
Carlos Slim Helú, Chairman of the Board, Grupo Carso S.A. de C.V.
Hilda L. Solis, United States Secretary of Labor

1:03

Katherine Gustafson: The crowd is large. They’re eating lunch, chatting. . . .

1:03

Caroline: lights are out. i did not, in fact, have a babs sighting. trusting you, erin. was there a brolin by her side?

1:07

Katherine Gustafson: Having some spotty connection up here; I might be in and out.

1:09

Katherine Gustafson: I think I might have seen upstairs earlier — she was wearing a cute little black beret.

1:10

Caroline: I’m guessing they ran the video as filler to satisfy impatient guests. we had a few minutes of elevator music and mingling … but now bill is back at the podium

1:11	Steve: Clinton is speaking

1:11	Katherine Gustafson: He’s got a dark pink tie today, for those you who care about such things.

1:11

Caroline: He’s singing Nicholas Kristof’s praises: “no one in journalism anywhere in the united states at least who has doen anything like he has done to figure out how poor people are actually living and what their potiential is and who is doing anything to [help them reach that potential]“

1:12

Steve Enders: Nick Kristof introducing “mega-commitments”

1:13

Steve Enders: Ruchira Gupta! Count us a fan: http://www.tonic.com/article/ruchira-gupta-will-change-the-world/

1:13

Caroline:

Kristof introuduced Ruchira Gupta a minute ago — in case you missed it (hope you didnt’!) — http://www.tonic.com/article/ruchira-gupta-will-change-the-world/

1:13

Caroline: hahah …. great minds, steve

1:13

Caroline: julia ormond is up there, mira sorvino too

1:13

Caroline:

They were just part of a press conference in the building talking about sex slavery and human trafficking.

1:14

Steve Enders: They are all courageous anti-trafficking activists and advocates

1:14

Caroline: Mira Sorvino is tall. Just sayin’

1:14	[Comment From Lucas] julia ormond Is attractive.

1:14

Katherine Gustafson: This is very important issue. Look out for a related story tomorrow on Tonic.

1:15

Katherine Gustafson: Photo op

1:15

Caroline: Lucas, would you like me to introduce you?

1:15

Katherine Gustafson: There is currently more slavery in the world than there was during the era of transatlantic slavery.

1:16

Katherine Gustafson: Paul Farmer, an inspiring global health activist, just came on the stage.

1:16

Steve Enders: Another group is coming up now being recognized for work in Haiti

1:16

Katherine Gustafson: Farmer is the subject of the book Mountains Beyond Mountains, by pulitzer-prize winner Tracy Kidder.

1:17

Katherine Gustafson: Haiti needs the help. Poorest country in our hemisphere.

1:17

Caroline:

(which, by the way, totally changed my life. MUST read)
Farmer also wrote a book called The Uses of Haiti this is so incredible and powerful

1:17

Katherine Gustafson: Earlier this week Matt Damon and his NGO Water.org made a commitment to Haiti as well: http://www.tonic.com/article/matt-damons-commitment-to-bill-clinton/

1:18

Caroline: Clinton just got a party favor

1:18

Katherine Gustafson: Everybody’s in black; looks like a funeral

1:18

Katherine Gustafson: Oh, except one person with a red jacket. Like a robin in a flock of crows.

1:18

Caroline: One of the representatives who provides flashlights among other tools and services to Haitian communities just gave Bill a shiny plastic flashlight in fashionable royal blue.

1:19

Katherine Gustafson: Kevin Bales and Julia Ormond advised Clinton that we needed a panel on this issue this year. Clinton says he’s “indebted to them” for that.

1:19

Caroline:

Clinton is serving as the UN Special Envoy to Haiti for the next two years

1:20

Katherine Gustafson: Bill and Hill went on a delayed honeymoon to Haiti in 1975

1:20

Katherine Gustafson: Or 79?

1:20

Caroline: wow!
he just said that he and Hillary went to Haiti for their honeymoon! Has been traveling there for 30 years

1:20

Katherine Gustafson: By the way, somebody just yelled something out. I hope it wasn’t “you lie”!

1:21

Katherine Gustafson: Clinton: Farmer and Clinton, as UN respresentatives, are trying to organize/harmonize/coordinate/reinforce the efforts of NGOs in Haiti.

1:22

Caroline:

He’s clearly genuinely passionate about these two causes: addressing the needs of Haiti and working to eradicate sex trafficking

1:22

Katherine Gustafson: Jessica Alba just came on the stage

1:22

Katherine Gustafson: And so is BONO!

1:23

Erin: It’s a beautiful day….

1:23

Katherine Gustafson: People from Intel and Adelman Communications are coming up

1:23

Katherine Gustafson: SVP of Cisco

1:23

Erin: Can anyone tell me what Bono and Jessica Alba are chatting about?

1:24

Katherine Gustafson: Hmm. . . maybe she’s asking him where he got his glasses.

1:24

Steve Enders: She’s telling him how great the concert was last night

1:25

Katherine Gustafson: Clinton’s announcing something about FIFA and global soccer, but my eyes are so blinded by the gorgeous people on stage that my ears have stopped working too.

1:25

Erin: $50 a child for a year of school. That’s pretty impressive. (Clinton just talked about serving lunch at school, so kids show up.)

1:25

Caroline:

Alba is actually doing quite a bit of whispering. She’s got some thoughts a-stirring …

1:26

Katherine Gustafson: Wow, I just noticed how full the room is. It’s standing room only.

1:26

Katherine Gustafson: Panelists incoming:

1:26

Erin: Standing-room only happens when Jessica Alba shows up to stuff.

1:26

Katherine Gustafson: Carlos Slim Helu just came up.

1:27

Katherine Gustafson: He’s one of (if not the) richest men on earth.

1:27

Steve Enders: I had heard that Carlos Slim wasn’t going to show, but he made it!

1:27

Katherine Gustafson: Queen Rania al Abdullah of Jordan.

1:27

Katherine Gustafson: Amazing woman

1:27

Erin: (Side note: Isn’t it enough that she’s a queen — how does stunning beauty come with that title too?)

1:28

Caroline: and smart as hell

1:28

Katherine Gustafson: Nicholas Kristof is our moderator. He has recently co-authored a book about the need for women’s empowerment, called Half the Sky, with journalist Cheryl WuDunn

1:28

Katherine Gustafson: It’s making quite a splash.

1:28

Erin: Seriously, the co-authors are getting mobbed when they show up to events.

1:29

Steve Enders: Kristof just tweeted the other day that the book has only been out two weeks but is in its 6th printing

1:29

Katherine Gustafson: He’s talking about how educating women can reap societies great benefits. Read more here: http://www.tonic.com/article/investing-in-women-cgi/

1:29

Katherine Gustafson: OMG Queen Rania is beautiful.

1:30

Caroline:

Q Rania: If i go around this room and ask if education is important, I’d be very hard-pressed to find someone who says it’s not.

1:30

Katherine Gustafson: Rania: It’s easy to build concensus around the importance of education, so it’s not hard to get politicans to say they support it. But once they get elected, it slips down priority lists.

1:30

Caroline: hmmm … she’s saying we tend to gravitate toward drama, inferring that education concerns aren’t always so blown out in the media. but that this issue IS a matter of life and death

1:30

Katherine Gustafson: Q Rania: “Education is a matter of life and death”

1:31

Caroline: She’s referencing a famous column that Kristof wrote this year called “Would You Let This Girl Drown?”

1:31

Caroline: here’s the piece: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/09/opinion/09kristof.html

1:31

Katherine Gustafson: She’s talking about an article Kristof wrote about how if people were walking by a drowning girl, they would jump in and save her, but if they have the opportunity to save lives in other ways, they don’t always follow through.

1:32

Caroline: ah, a laugh!
talking about the amount of money that americans spend on their pets every three months or ice cream every year …

1:33

Katherine Gustafson: Hilda Solis: How are we going to be competitive when we don’t even spend the amount of money needed for training?

1:33

Caroline: then the equivalent of education advancements around the world that could be made with that money … but i missed the figure. (sorry: they got me with “ice cream” . had a brain freeze. bad pun but it’s staying)

1:34

Katherine Gustafson: Solis: When workers can get transferable skills that can go toward green jobs, then that creates energy independence and security and job growth.

1:35

aimeenbarnes: Queen Rania: Need $11 bn to get every child in developing world into primary school, same amount US spends on pets in 3 months #cgi09

1:35

Erin: Again with the 5-year-plan. A few of panelists have mentioned how China develops 5-year plans and executes on them.

1:36

Katherine Gustafson: Liveris: Complex global problems that corporations like ours can play a big part in solutions. Corporations like mine know how do cradle to cradle, taking young people out of rural areas, giving them access to factories, and then getting them access to education. Need to parter with governments.

1:36

Katherine Gustafson: Kristof: Are you making a business case for investing in education?

1:37

Katherine Gustafson: Liveris: absolutely a business case.

1:37

Katherine Gustafson: ”it’s a business imperative”

1:37

Caroline: and hesitant applause. rough crowd

1:38

Erin: Liveris: It’s a business imperative to create demand by finding clean water, get education… In other words he wants to create consumers for the modern world.

1:38

Katherine Gustafson: Applause

1:38

Katherine Gustafson: Kristof is asking him about that.

1:38

Caroline: Kristof is talking about a Kenyan girl he met who asked if she should continue to sleep with a man who is paying her school fees.

1:38

Katherine Gustafson: Helu has said in the past “the best solution to poverty is a job”

1:38

Caroline: and saying that we need to help provide good jobs so that young woman can get out of that “impossible choice”

1:38

Katherine Gustafson: Helu: For having good jobs you need to have goo deducation.

1:39

Katherine Gustafson: Helu is a Mexican telecom multi-billionaire

1:40

Caroline: and in addition to “goo deducation,” they will also need a good education.

1:40

Caroline: (sorry Katie, couldn’t help myself)

1:40

Katherine Gustafson: I just noticed that four of the six panelists are women. Rock on.

1:41

Katherine Gustafson: Kristof is askin gMarilyn Calson Nelson about sex trafficking

1:41

Katherine Gustafson: Marilyn Carlson Nelson, Chairman and CEO of Carlson Companies

1:41

Erin: It’s the year of the woman. Even you said so: http://www.tonic.com/article/investing-in-women-cgi/

1:42

Katherine Gustafson: Nelson: Travel and tourism accounts for 1 in 10 jobs around the world.

1:42

Katherine Gustafson: She says she became aware of the hundreds of thousands of people that are trafficked every year. She says: It seemed that this was playing out on the global stage that is the stage for our positive business, travel, and tourism activity.

1:43

Caroline:

Solis is talking about signing the UN convention re: sex trafficking

1:43

Katherine Gustafson: The company agreed to a code of conduct set out by the UN

1:43

Caroline: ack!! I meant Nelson

1:44

Caroline:

Aw…. she’s plugging Kristof’s book!

1:44

Katherine Gustafson: Her travel company will abide by this code.

1:45

Caroline: She’s endorsing the “code of conduct” … though a lot of what it entails is so abstract. pledges rather than laws. which is better than nothing …

1:45

Erin: ”Fresh from God” — you don’t hear stuff like that very often anymore. Especially at a business conference.

1:45

Katherine Gustafson: She says we are all vested in this and hopes we can have a code of travel for all travelers

1:45

Katherine Gustafson: Kristof asks where people/companies could sign on to such a code.

1:46

Caroline: Nelson’s now talking about the ways that others can sign on to this code … she gave a phone number that I didn’t catch. Anyone?

1:46

Erin: The backstory on the “fresh from God” comment: Marilyn Carlson Nelson said she was holding her grandson near a window; he was backlit creating a halo around him. She thought in that moment she couldn’t protect him alone. And tied that thought to fighting trafficking for all children.

1:46

Caroline: A helpline of sorts

1:46

Katherine Gustafson: Nelson: You could go to UNICEF and find out how to sign on to the code put together by ECPAT (http://www.ecpat.net/EI/index.asp) — keep your eye out for them in tomorrow’s Tonic story.

1:47

Katherine Gustafson: Kristof just apologized for the behavior of the world’s men!

1:48

Erin: Kristof: How do we spend less money on beer and more on education?

1:48

Katherine Gustafson: On behalf of the world’s women, thanks for the apology!

1:50

Caroline: we’re hearing that there are multiple facets that MUST be addressed: legal impediments, social impediments, financial access

1:51

Katherine Gustafson: We can’t treat these things in silos.

1:51

Caroline: that in addition to funders, we need to see as many girls in school as boys in school. that these things work in tandem. (which has been a big theme this week)

1:52

Caroline: Kristof is noting that one of the development glitches is that we often forget to take away lessons learned from our previous efforts

1:52

Katherine Gustafson: Kristof seems like such a friendly fellow

1:52

Caroline: repeating the same mistakes

1:52

Katherine Gustafson: I’d like to have a coffee with him.

1:52

Katherine Gustafson: Q Rania: 1 in 4 of Jordan’s young people are unemployed.

1:52

Erin: She calls it a generation of waiting.

1:52

Caroline:

He IS friendly! Erin and I got lucky and shook his hand yesterday. Erin was charming and engaging. I froze.

1:53

Katherine Gustafson: She says they go into a “waithood”

1:53

Katherine Gustafson: Childhood, adolescense, waithood, adulthood

1:53

Katherine Gustafson: Whenever I’ve seen him around here, he’s always smiling

1:53

Caroline: Q Rania: It’s focusing on the quality of education — not rote learning but decision making, creative thinking

1:54

Caroline: She says that this problem is what keeps her and her husband up at night. “How do we solve this problem??”

1:54

Katherine Gustafson: It’s a security and stability issue

1:54

Katherine Gustafson: Education works against extremism.

1:54

Caroline: And Kristof jumps in, seconding the point about education quality

1:56

Katherine Gustafson: Nelson is talking about risk-benefit of how decisions are made in the corporate world. About increasing probability of success, best practices, systemic approaches. She really is a business person.

1:56

Caroline: BRAIN BREAK! — here’s the “moment” that Alba and Bono were sharing earlier. Right about when we all started wondering what they were whispering about. Their bento box lunches perhaps??

1:57

Caroline: And now back to your regularly scheduled programming …

1:57

Katherine Gustafson: We need educations we can actually use when we get out of the university

1:59

Caroline:

The point is being made that Africans themselves need to be involved in their own futures, at the decision-making table.

2:00

Katherine Gustafson: We’ve got a lot of corporate representation on this panel.

2:00

Katherine Gustafson: I guess it makes sense to talk to those who will be employing those who get educated.

2:00

Erin: And to motivate people who can move mountains to move them.

2:01

Caroline: Carlos says “quality, quality, quality!”

2:01

Caroline: quality of education, quality of programs

2:04

Steve Enders: secy solis: talking about the need for more affordable higher education and what that can do to help avoid another economic crisis

2:06

Erin: Kristof asks for a suggestion on an area where people can focus their efforts…

2:06

Steve Enders: rania: education in the communities in which people work

2:07

Erin: Secy Solis: Education is the equalizer.

2:08

Erin: Liveris: Bottom of the pyramid needs water. Focus on that because it frees up room for everything else.

2:08

Katherine Gustafson: Andew Liveris says Dow is focusing on water. If you can get education and infrastructure at the local level, then we can really do something.

2:09

Katherine Gustafson: Kristof looks like he’s having fun.

2:09

Caroline: Marilyn says that it’s SO important that we bite our tongue every time we start to say “they” and turn it around and say WE

2:09

Katherine Gustafson: Nelson makes a great point: we should stop saying “they” and start saying “we” — “what can we do?”

2:09

Caroline: that this work MUST be inclusive

2:09

Erin: Marilyn: I hope that we can leave here and make sure that every environment is inclusive.

2:09

Caroline: in this way, we will put trust back into relations

2:10

Katherine Gustafson: ”we ourselves must be trustworthy and build cultures of caring and cultures of commitment.”

2:10

Katherine Gustafson: ”People look to us and to the leadership we provide” — met with applause

2:10

Erin: The last panelist says we need business leader training in Africa. Get people ready for the market.

2:11

Caroline: finally, Hilda has the floor

2:12

Caroline: um … that comment was from 20 minutes ago
the joys of the interweb

2:12

Katherine Gustafson: Kristof is saying we really need to change things, not just talk. “This is an extraordinary chance for cross-fertilization”

2:12

Erin: Kristof: Go out and cross fertilize but thank the panel first!

2:12

Caroline: and it looks like that’ll do it! round of applause, panelists on their feet, it’s a wrap.

2:12

Katherine Gustafson: That’s all she wrote

2:12

Katherine Gustafson: Caroline, see any celebs?

2:13

Caroline: my eyes are peeled but no dice
i’m thinkin’ that the star power is all charging up for the Brad Pitt moment to come

2:13

Katherine Gustafson: I want to see Bono again

2:13

Erin: Scroll up and look at the picture.

2:14

Katherine Gustafson: Ha! Okay, I think that’s it for us.

2:14

Caroline:

she’s saying that we missed the boat if we don’t talk about trying to spread educational opportunities well

2:14

Caroline: We’ll see you back soon! Lots to come. Keep checking back for hot CGI stories … and all of our regular “good news” to boot.

2:14

Erin: Okay ladies, I’m ending this party. You’re going to have to take your crush on Kristof somewhere else. See you guys again at 5:00pm EST for the Brad Pitt/Bill Clinton session.

2:14

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