In 2023 we saw many of our members travelling again, reinvigorated by the chance to visit their in-country programs. The energy was high, and though there were still disasters, conflicts, and climate change affecting the globe, our members and their constituents showed enduring signs of hope and resilience. You can read about our members’ accomplishments, strategies, and future-thinking in the articles linked below. We also encourage you to explore our very active Blog section with more than 30 member Guest Blogs published. The year culminated in the publication of our new 2024 Global Philanthropy Guide, and a very highly praised Goalmakers 2023 Annual Conference.
We also encourage you to take a look at our 2024 Editorial Calendar to see what is coming up – and don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter to ensure you get these Issue Campaigns in your inbox as soon as they are published!
MARCH – Disabilities and Inclusive Development: The words “inclusive development” can spark many concepts within the global development community. The concept of inclusivity as it applies to people with physical or mental disabilities is often overlooked. We discuss in this month’s Issue Brief how several Global Washington members are providing services, advocating, and changing health systems to improve the lives of people with disabilities. These organizations take a holistic approach to support the well-being of a person and not just addressing the disability. For example, breaking down barriers to education, improving healthcare infrastructure, and working with farmers on job safety protocols. Working with people with disabilities has catalyzed community-wide benefits and improved policy frameworks for inclusivity more broadly. Our Organization Profile features SightLife and how their work helps prevents blindness and restores sight around the world. We also had a wonderful conversation with this month’s Goalmaker David Evangelista, President and Managing Director, Special Olympics Europe Eurasia and Senior Advisor for International Development at Special Olympics.
Athletics competition at the Special Olympics Malta Invitational Games 2022. Photo: Special Olympics
APRIL – Education and Gender Equality: The Issue Brief on Education and Gender Equality included a dive into a variety of programs addressing gender inequalities from members such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Give2Asia, Microsoft, APCO, and Heifer International. Our Goalmaker spotlight was Rachel Hartgen, Senior Director, Education and Adolescent Empowerment, Program Strategy & Impact, CARE. Our Organization Profile was about our new member, Worldreader. Each month we also invite members to write blogs and for Education and Gender Equality, we had nine submissions, a new record.
Young Indian schoolgirl. Photo: Pixabay
MAY/JUNE – Climate Change and No Hunger: The Pacific Northwest is known for innovation, technology, engineering, and an awareness to mitigate the damaging effects of climate change. That ethos is evident in our Global Washington members who are creating climate solutions that increase food security and reach the Sustainable Development Goal 2 of Zero Hunger. This includes sustainable and resilient agriculture that are both high-tech and low-tech informed by proven indigenous knowledge. This Issue Brief talks about challenges and innovations from our members. The Organization Profile focused on DE Design + Environment which highlighted their skillset for looking across various fields and partners to design climate change solutions. And our Goalmaker article spotlighted Kevin Mugenya, Director of Food Systems, Kenya at Mercy Corps. Our event for this issue campaign was webinar, Tech Solutions for Climate Action: Harnessing Innovation to Address Climate Change featuring GlobalWA member, DE Design + Environment, with 47 total participants.
Water irrigation valves on an African farm. Photo: Toodlingstudio/Pixabay
JULY – Supporting Refugees: Over the past two years, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of people forcibly displaced around the world. 19 million people left their homes in 2022 due to conflict, violence, climate change, and other factors making their living situation unbearable. This brought the total number of refugees and displaced people to 108.4 million – a staggering number of people – and solutions for support and resettlement are becoming increasingly challenging. Our Issue Brief describes the programs that are helping refugees to find safe places and services due to the efforts of Global Washington members. Our Organization Profile highlights the amazing efforts Operation Snow Leopard is making to help persons escape Afghanistan as well as refugee settlement around the globe. Our Goalmaker article focused on Elfatih Abdelnabi, Immigration Program Manager, and International Rescue Committee.
Afghan children. Photo: Pixabay
AUGUST – Our New Pangea Giving Program: Our Issue Campaign this month introduced Pangea Giving, now a GlobalWA program, to the broader GlobalWA community. This included an interview with a Pangea Giving grantee, Executive Director Robert Kalulu of Child Empowerment Programme in Uganda; an interview with Pangea board members about the power and importance of site visits; and an article by one of the Pangea founders, Allan Paulson, about the founding and core principles that have guided Pangea since their formation in 2003.
The Pangea team with four mothers with children in Dandelion’s programs. Photo: Pangea
SEPTEMBER – Economic Empowerment: Building a system of sustainable economic prosperity and employment opportunities afforded to all, the core of Sustainable Development Goal 8, is a process designed to impact other sectors of development in tandem – such as the alleviation of poverty, the promise of Goal 1. With global unemployment projected to reach 208 million in 2023, alongside accelerating costs of living, solutions that empower workers with skills and opportunities can not only address the goal of sustainable economic growth, but actively raise underprivileged groups out of poverty. Our Issue Brief for September spoke to how several of our members are approaching these challenges and the solutions they have devised. For our Goalmaker profile, we interviewed Greg Nelson, Opportunity International’s Chief Technology Officer who also leads the organization’s Digital Innovation Group (DIG), and our Organization Spotlight was on Dalberg Advisors whose work mostly focuses on No Poverty and Decent Work & Economic Growth.
Ethiopian farmers at market. Photo: Erik Hathaway/Unsplash
OCTOBER – Food Security: The World Food Programme estimates that 345 million people are facing acute food insecurity in 2023, and that the proliferation of armed conflict and civil unrest are the main drivers. Tragically, this will only increase in the coming months with recent wars and long-standing political instability in countries around the world. Critical emergency food relief will be needed as the first step to get communities on a path to food security defined in Sustainable Development Goal 2 of Zero Hunger. We explored these issues in our Issue Brief and exemplified our members’ programs addressing hunger in the communities where they work. Our Organization Profile was on the S M Sehgal Foundation, and our Goalmaker profile was on Gilbert Kamanga, National Director for World Vision Kenya. As part of this month’s issue campaign, we hosted a roundtable discussion featuring Gilbert.
Children eating a meal at their school; Ghana. Photo: Bill Wegener/Unsplash
NOVEMBER – Conference planning and Goalmaker Podcast: Throughout November, in lieu of an Issue Campaign, we put concerted energy into fine-tuning our Goalmakers 2023 Conference. Additionally, we were able to publish a small backlog of Goalmaker Podcasts, including Jennifer Jones, President of Rotary International; Tim Prewitt, President and CEO of The Hunger Project; Surita Sandosham, President and CEO of Heifer International with Randi Hedin, Board Chair for Heifer International; and Anjali Makhija, Trustee and CEO, S.M. Sehgal Foundation.
2024 GLOBAL PHILANTHROPY GUIDE: In this year’s edition of the Philanthropy Guide, you’ll read stories of non-profit organizations working to educate youth in low- and middle-income countries. However, the value of these programs goes far beyond an academic education for individual students. These organizations provide essential social-emotional learning, health and hygiene, and a safe space that can be a lifeline for youth. In fact, studies show that communities without access to education have an increase in early marriage, forced labor, and child trafficking.
According to UNICEF, there are 64 million children of primary school age who remain out of school. This is compounded by an increase in conflict around the world where schools are then shuttered and sometimes never re-opened. Now more than ever, creating a safe space for children to learn, laugh, and play is essential and provides hope for a better future.
The organizations listed in this Philanthropy Guide are providing that hope for children in Afghanistan, Laos, Bangladesh, Uganda, Brazil, India, Peru, and other regions throughout the world. Please take the time to read their stories and learn more.
In addition, at the back of this guide you will find a full directory of Global Washington’s more than 100 members, including descriptions of their work. On behalf of Global Washington and Seattle Foundation, we thank you for your partnership and commitment to making the world a better place for everyone.
2023 ANNUAL CONFERENCE – Nov. 30 + Dec. 7: Our 2023 Goalmakers Conference was a huge success! The theme resonated with everyone in our GlobalWA community, and the breakout sessions were timely and relevant. Our 29 sessions featured 68 speakers from across the globe. The 300 attendees were engaged throughout the days, both in-person and using our conference app called Whova. The interactions on Whova reflect the community-building and connections that we want to continue throughout the year. The quality of experience for attendees exceeded pre-pandemic levels with the inclusion of a virtual day, an increase in participation from those outside the U.S., and more interactive sessions. You can view the conference sessions, speaker bios, sponsors and more here, and a photo album of the in-person day can be viewed on our Flickr page.
Speakers at our Goalmakers 2023 Annual Conference. Photo: John Vicory