I went down to Washington DC yesterday for the third and final day of the Global Philanthropy Forum. It's an annual gathering of philanthropists to share ideas and foster coordination. Minister Davis was on a panel on policy, philanthropy, and investment in post-conflict countries. So this was a very fortuitous opportunity to meet him as well as the foundations in Liberia.
The day started with a breakfast on Liberia led by Humanity United, one of the primary foundations in the country. They discussed Liberia's opportunity, long list or pressing needs, the role that foundations have been playing to date, and the novel model of coordination that foundations are employing. In attendance were the heads of Daphne Foundation, NoVo Foundation, TrustAfrica, and Humanity United - four of the five foundation in Coming Together for Liberia's Future, a group who pledged $15M to help Liberia's reconstruction and development efforts at the Clinton Global Initiative last fall. The fifth, the McCall McBain Foundation, ironically is led by Max's (my boyfriend) former boss. Small world! Also in attendance were representatives from the Center for Global Development, BRAC, Google.org, the Hilton Foundation, and other smaller family foundations.
Later in the day was Minister Davis's panel, which was very informative. The panel had representatives from government (Minister Davis), philanthropy, NGOs, and multilateral institutions (the IFC). Frankly what impressed me most were the calls for humility from international organizations -- recognizing that they really needed to get on the ground to understand what was happening and provide proper support.
Tarek, my friend from Humanity United, has taken me under his wing and really went out of his way to introduce me to everyone I needed to know. They were all incredibly receptive to me, excited about me supporting the Philanthropy Secretariat this summer, and particularly excited to have me working on this technology strategy. It was an amazing day of networking, a refreshing change from the monotony of the classroom and the problem sets, and most of all, generated even more excitement in me for the coming summer.
But in the meantime, I've got a few finals to take.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
But what exactly will you be doing?
I received a draft Terms of Reference for my internship the other day. In addition to broadly supporting the Philanthropy Secretariat's Program Manager, I'll likely be tasked with a specific project that I'm incredibly excited about: defining Liberia's leapfrogging technology strategy and determining how to partner with foundations and private companies to make it a reality.
This idea was one of several "visionary" initiatives defined at a meeting between Liberia and the foundations they are working with last September. At this point, it is very nebulous with a few ideas thrown on the table but no comprehensive thought in terms of what the opportunities are, what will have the biggest impact, and what's feasible.
Needless to say, it's a big task. And to be frank, it's hard not to initially react with "Really guys? This is a country without electricity and you're talking about technology leapfrogging?" But I'm definitely the right person for the task given the Google background and connections, and it's an incredible opportunity to put more thought into what technology and development means and whether this is something I want to turn into my area of focus down the line. And I can see it become a killer second year policy analysis paper next year.
So there you have it. I'll be spending my summer in the middle of Liberia's foundation coordination, with a focus on technology opportunities. I couldn't have imagined a more perfect internship if I tried.
This idea was one of several "visionary" initiatives defined at a meeting between Liberia and the foundations they are working with last September. At this point, it is very nebulous with a few ideas thrown on the table but no comprehensive thought in terms of what the opportunities are, what will have the biggest impact, and what's feasible.
Needless to say, it's a big task. And to be frank, it's hard not to initially react with "Really guys? This is a country without electricity and you're talking about technology leapfrogging?" But I'm definitely the right person for the task given the Google background and connections, and it's an incredible opportunity to put more thought into what technology and development means and whether this is something I want to turn into my area of focus down the line. And I can see it become a killer second year policy analysis paper next year.
So there you have it. I'll be spending my summer in the middle of Liberia's foundation coordination, with a focus on technology opportunities. I couldn't have imagined a more perfect internship if I tried.
The Philanthropy Secretariat
As my first posting outlines, my primary goal for this summer has been to gain a perspective I felt I would be severely lacking as a development practitioner without: really understanding what it's like to get things done in an African government.
At first I thought I'd intern with the Finance Minister, in order to understand, you know, how Finance Ministries work. I am primarily studying economics after all. Though I did receive an offer to work with the Ministry of Finance, by then I had realized there was another opportunity more closely aligned with my development interests.
Minister Natty Davis is part of the President's Office and works on initiatives that are strategic in nature, require cross ministry coordination, or do not fit neatly into any single ministry's day to day activities. I know, I know, it's true. Completely analogous to the Strategy and Business Operations team I was in at Google.
To date his primarly role was leading the Liberia Reconstruction and Development Committee (LRDC), which is moving into the Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs. As such, there was some significant ambiguity in my internship when I first accepted. I'd heard however, that though traditional aid coordination was shifting with the LRDC, working with Liberia's growing private foundation partners would stay with Minister Davis.
Upon accepting my offer, I made it clear that I was very interested in working in this space if there was need. I am sure that foundations make many mistakes in their engagement with developing countries, and I didn't want to be perpetuating them based on my ignorance. Working from the government side on foundation coordination would allow me to better understand best practices and develop my own perspective on how foundations should best engage on development issues.
I received the other day Liberia's plan for a newly formed Philanthropy Secretariat. Apparently, this is the first office of it's kind, designed to coordinate foundations and engage directly with a government. It's actually funded by four of the five foundations that are very active in Liberia right now. It's a two person team (one manager and one assistant) responsible for coordination with foundations, including:
At first I thought I'd intern with the Finance Minister, in order to understand, you know, how Finance Ministries work. I am primarily studying economics after all. Though I did receive an offer to work with the Ministry of Finance, by then I had realized there was another opportunity more closely aligned with my development interests.
Minister Natty Davis is part of the President's Office and works on initiatives that are strategic in nature, require cross ministry coordination, or do not fit neatly into any single ministry's day to day activities. I know, I know, it's true. Completely analogous to the Strategy and Business Operations team I was in at Google.
To date his primarly role was leading the Liberia Reconstruction and Development Committee (LRDC), which is moving into the Ministry of Planning and Economic Affairs. As such, there was some significant ambiguity in my internship when I first accepted. I'd heard however, that though traditional aid coordination was shifting with the LRDC, working with Liberia's growing private foundation partners would stay with Minister Davis.
Upon accepting my offer, I made it clear that I was very interested in working in this space if there was need. I am sure that foundations make many mistakes in their engagement with developing countries, and I didn't want to be perpetuating them based on my ignorance. Working from the government side on foundation coordination would allow me to better understand best practices and develop my own perspective on how foundations should best engage on development issues.
I received the other day Liberia's plan for a newly formed Philanthropy Secretariat. Apparently, this is the first office of it's kind, designed to coordinate foundations and engage directly with a government. It's actually funded by four of the five foundations that are very active in Liberia right now. It's a two person team (one manager and one assistant) responsible for coordination with foundations, including:
- Facilitating information sharing between foundations
- Determining which Liberian government priorities should be supported by foundations
- Expanding existing foundation relationships
- Establishing new foundation relationships
- Helping connect foundations to NGOs
- Facilitating foundation trips to Liberia
- Monitoring existing activities suported by foundations and carried out by NGOs.
Interlude: Linking the internship to my post-graduate career direction
It's not entirely clear to me, by the way, what I ultimately want to do with this degree. There are things that are obvious: technology and development, stupid, you worked at Google for four years and consulted tech companies for two. There are things that are intuitive: industrial policy and private sector development, naturally, after all I've met with economic development agencies around the world on behalf of Google.
But there is so much more I came in knowing so little about: public service delivery, macroeconomic policy, international trade, sustainable development, microfinance, the list goes on... Which is to say, I've spend the majority of my first year open to whatever bubbles up, thinking I'd hone in come second year when we actually get to choose our classes.
What's bubbled up? Philanthropy. Private foundation work attracts me for a number of reasons. 1) it's high level and strategic -- remember me the girl who's done strategy for six years? 2) it's a mechanism to help developing countries outside of the politics and bureaucracy of bilateral and multilateral institutions and 3) there are a lot of really smart really wealthy people who want to do good in this world.
Bridging technology and development of course still remains high on my radar. Let's face it, the Google background gives me enormous credibility and opens doors in this arena.
So in this context I chose the particular internship I did in Liberia this summer.
But there is so much more I came in knowing so little about: public service delivery, macroeconomic policy, international trade, sustainable development, microfinance, the list goes on... Which is to say, I've spend the majority of my first year open to whatever bubbles up, thinking I'd hone in come second year when we actually get to choose our classes.
What's bubbled up? Philanthropy. Private foundation work attracts me for a number of reasons. 1) it's high level and strategic -- remember me the girl who's done strategy for six years? 2) it's a mechanism to help developing countries outside of the politics and bureaucracy of bilateral and multilateral institutions and 3) there are a lot of really smart really wealthy people who want to do good in this world.
Bridging technology and development of course still remains high on my radar. Let's face it, the Google background gives me enormous credibility and opens doors in this arena.
So in this context I chose the particular internship I did in Liberia this summer.
Why Liberia?
This is the first question people always ask me. Coming into the MPAID program last fall, I knew I wanted to do my internship in Africa, and I knew I wanted to work within a government. The Liberia part I narrowed down once I got here.
Though I have traveled to over forty countries and worked extensively in Asia and Latin America, I have never been to Sub Saharan Africa: the focal point of global poverty. I didn't feel I'd be worth my salt as a development practitioner without spending some time on the ground of the poorest continent on earth. That was abundantly obvious.
Secondly, my experience to date had been limited to the private sector: consulting at Accenture and then strategy at Google. I knew that getting things done in a government environment meant something very different, even more so in the severely capacity constrained realities of most developing countries. I don't believe this is something I can understand without experiencing it firsthand, so this part was a real no brainer for me as well.
But why Liberia? Because it's one of the most exciting places to work in development today.
Liberia, with its annual per capita GDP of only $500 (according to the CIA World Factbook, other estimates are as low as $300), is one of the poorest places on earth. Fourteen years of civil war caused devastating destruction to infrastructure, industry, and human capital. GDP per capita fell an astonishing 90% in one of the largest economic collapses in history.
The civil war ended in 2003. In 2005, Liberia elected the African continent's first female head of state: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a Harvard graduate and seasoned Liberian politician. This presented a unique opportunity to build a country from scratch under the inspiring leadership of the President. The support has since poured in from the international development community.
And so it is an exciting time to be in Liberia. What gets me particularly excited is the opportunity to observe the myriad international players in Liberia today: from the World Bank to bilateral donors like Sweden, China, and France to a growing number of private foundations to the NGOs to private companies. It's a fascinating case study of best practices in aid and collaboration with the government.
I will walk away with an valuable perspective not just on Africa and working in a government constrained by financial and human capital; but also the international community's engagement in one of development's most exciting countries today.
Though I have traveled to over forty countries and worked extensively in Asia and Latin America, I have never been to Sub Saharan Africa: the focal point of global poverty. I didn't feel I'd be worth my salt as a development practitioner without spending some time on the ground of the poorest continent on earth. That was abundantly obvious.
Secondly, my experience to date had been limited to the private sector: consulting at Accenture and then strategy at Google. I knew that getting things done in a government environment meant something very different, even more so in the severely capacity constrained realities of most developing countries. I don't believe this is something I can understand without experiencing it firsthand, so this part was a real no brainer for me as well.
But why Liberia? Because it's one of the most exciting places to work in development today.
Liberia, with its annual per capita GDP of only $500 (according to the CIA World Factbook, other estimates are as low as $300), is one of the poorest places on earth. Fourteen years of civil war caused devastating destruction to infrastructure, industry, and human capital. GDP per capita fell an astonishing 90% in one of the largest economic collapses in history.
The civil war ended in 2003. In 2005, Liberia elected the African continent's first female head of state: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a Harvard graduate and seasoned Liberian politician. This presented a unique opportunity to build a country from scratch under the inspiring leadership of the President. The support has since poured in from the international development community.
And so it is an exciting time to be in Liberia. What gets me particularly excited is the opportunity to observe the myriad international players in Liberia today: from the World Bank to bilateral donors like Sweden, China, and France to a growing number of private foundations to the NGOs to private companies. It's a fascinating case study of best practices in aid and collaboration with the government.
I will walk away with an valuable perspective not just on Africa and working in a government constrained by financial and human capital; but also the international community's engagement in one of development's most exciting countries today.
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