President Clinton to Convene Members of the Clinton Global Initiative Action Network Along With Heads of State From Caribbean Islands to Continue Building Resilience for the Broader Caribbean

NEW YORK, Sept. 20 -- The William J. Clinton Foundation issued the following news release:

On September 24, 2019, President Bill Clinton will convene members of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Action Network at the Clinton Foundation offices in New York. The convening will call on members of government, private sector, and nonprofits to continue the work started in 2018 in direct response to Hurricanes Maria and Irma.

This week, as the global community marks the anniversary of Hurricane Maria and continues emergency relief and recovery efforts in response to Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas, Action Network members will discuss progress made, and outline the continued need to foster economic growth in the Caribbean that is sustainable and climate-shock resistant.

With the continued threat of an above average 2019 hurricane season, leaders from government, civil society, and business continue to prepare Caribbean communities for potentially devastating impacts. Despite this threat, efforts in the Caribbean to transform the region into a climate-resilient zone are accelerating, with significant progress being made on issues ranging from the solarization of public assets to new approaches to strengthen small businesses and stimulate economic growth and inclusion in diversified sectors.

As the Caribbean continues to balance the long-term need to invest in resilient infrastructure and economies with the short-term need to prepare for the hurricane season, it is more critical than ever to facilitate cross-sector, cross-island coordination and learnings.

Featured participants will include President Bill Clinton, founder and board chair, Clinton Foundation; Prime Minister Leona Marlin-Romeo, Sint Maarten; Prime Minister Mia A. Mottley, Barbados; Prime Minister Eugene Rhuggenaath, Curacao; Prime Minister Evelyn Wever-Croes, Aruba; Premier Victor Banks, Anguilla; Premier Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson, Turks & Caicos Islands; Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, secretary-general, Caribbean Community; Kevin Thurm, chief executive officer, Clinton Foundation; Jose Andres, founder, World Central Kitchen; Richard Carrion, non-executive chairman, Popular, Inc.; Katherine Cheng, head of global and community impact, Expedia; Frank Fernandez, senior vice president, The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation; Rolando Gonzalez Bunster, chairman and chief executive officer, InterEnergy; Francis Greenburger, chairman and chief executive officer, Time Equities Inc.; Ronald Jackson, executive director, Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency; Matt Klein, senior vice president and chief commercial officer, Spirit Airlines; Dorine Manson, managing director, Nationale Postcode Loterij; Luis A. Moreno, president, Inter-American Development Bank; Angela Mwanza, senior vice president and private wealth advisor, UBS Private Wealth Management; Mary G. Powell, chief executive officer, Green Mountain Power Corporation; Sharon Prince, chair and founder, Grace Farms Foundation; Tahseen Sayed, regional director for the Caribbean, World Bank Group; Margriet Schreuders, head of charities, Nationale Postcode Loterij; Nikhil da Victoria Lobo, managing director for the public sector, Swiss Re; and Niki G. Zoli, director of social impact, Marriott International, Inc.

The approach of the Action Network brings together a diverse group of stakeholders to focus efforts on putting people first, including prioritizing a resilient future by helping communities to plan and prepare for future storms and the mounting effects of climate change.

To date, the Action Network has engaged 775 organizations that have launched 86 Commitments to Action that, when fully implemented, will drive $156.3 million in investment to affected regions in the Caribbean. A full list of commitments can be found here: https://www.clintonfoundation.org/clinton-global-initiative/commitments

The Action Network, along with Clinton Global Initiative University, follows the success of CGI and its Commitment to Action model. Over the years, CGI and its partners have brought together leaders from across sectors to develop Commitments to Action that, when fully funded and implemented, will improve the lives of more than 430 million people in 180 countries worldwide.

The year-round work of the CGI Action Network is made possible by the generous support of our partners: IBM, InterEnergy, Swiss Re, and Medtronic.

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About the Clinton Foundation

Building on a lifetime of public service, President Clinton established the Clinton Foundation on the simple belief that everyone deserves a chance to succeed, everyone has a responsibility to act, and we all do better when we work together. For nearly two decades, that belief has energized the work of the Foundation in overcoming complex challenges and improving the lives of people across the United States and around the world. As an operating foundation, we work on issues directly or with strategic partners from the business, government, and nonprofit sectors to create economic opportunity, improve public health, and inspire civic engagement and service. Our programs are designed to make a real difference today while serving as proven models for tomorrow. The goal of every effort is to use available resources to get better results faster - at the lowest possible cost. We firmly believe that when diverse groups of people bring resources together in the spirit of true cooperation, transformative ideas will emerge to drive life-changing action. Learn more at http://www.clintonfoundation.org, on Facebook at Facebook.com/ClintonFoundation (https://www.facebook.com/ClintonFoundation/), and on Twitter @ClintonFdn (https://twitter.com/ClintonFdn).