CGI U Announces Speakers, Agenda for Meeting on UM Campus

President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Chelsea Clinton have announced details for the eighth annual Clinton Global Initiative University (CGI U) meeting, which will bring more than 1,000 college students from around the world to the UM campus March 6-8. Students will join innovators, thought-leaders, and civically engaged celebrities to make a difference in CGI U’s five focus areas: Education, Environment and Climate Change, Peace and Human Rights, Poverty Alleviation, and Public Health.

Since the first CGI U meeting, attendees have made 4,800 Commitments to Action—new, specific, and measurable plans to address challenges on campus, in local communities, or around the world. This growing community of young leaders represents more than 875 schools, 145 countries, and all 50 states.

This year, through the CGI University Network, the Resolution Project Social Venture Challenge, and other opportunities, more than $900,000 in funding opportunities will be available to select CGI U 2015 students to help them turn their ideas into action.

The University of Miami first hosted CGI U in 2010 and is the first school to host the event twice. Throughout the meeting, students will engage in various topic- and skill-based sessions, which will empower them to take action in their communities and around the world.

Plenary session topics at CGI U 2015 will include:

• Fast Forward: Accelerating Opportunity for All, which will explore how students and universities, in partnerships with the public, private, and civil society sectors, can expand access to opportunity worldwide;
• The Power of Big Data, which will examine how CGI U students can harness big data as a tool for addressing global challenges and scaling their existing commitments, as well as expanding access to big data for all; and
• The Future of Energy, which will explore how young entrepreneurs can most effectively meet the rising demand for affordable renewable solutions, design the next generation of low-carbon energy technologies, and bring energy efficiency best practices to existing buildings, vehicles, and industrial processes.

On Sunday, March 8, President Clinton and Chelsea Clinton will host the Clinton Foundation Day of Action, a day of volunteering to give back to the community in partnership with the Miami Children’s Initiative (MCI) in Liberty City. MCI is implementing a “cradle-to-college-to-career” strategy in Liberty City focused on intentionally investing in children and their families and has designated 29 blocks as their “Impact Zone.” These blocks are home to the Charles R. Drew K-8 Center, as well as early learning centers and public and low-income homes. CGI U students will work on neighborhood and school improvement projects ranging from urban agriculture to revitalizing basketball courts and painting murals. The Day of Action will begin with remarks by President Clinton and Chelsea Clinton.

On March 5 and 6, students will have the opportunity to participate in the Clinton Foundation Codeathon in the lead up to the CGI U meeting. The Codeathon will challenge developers and designers to build unique digital prototypes inspired by CGI U Commitments to Action in the areas of Education, Global Health, and Environment and Climate Change. The Codeathon, supported in part by The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, will culminate with team presentations to a panel of expert judges working in the fields of technology and social innovation.

Featured participants at the CGI U 2015 meeting include: Karim Abouelnaga, founder and CEO, Practice Makes Perfect Inc.;Masha Alekhina and Nadya Tolokonnikova, members of Pussy Riot; Jack Andraka, founder and CEO, Andraka Technologies;Aloe Blacc, Grammy-nominated artist; Gro Harlem Brundtland, former prime minister of the Kingdom of Norway, deputy chair of The Elders; Abigail Disney, filmmaker, Fork Films; Paul Farmer, co-founder and chief strategist of Partners in Health and Kolokotrones University Professor at Harvard Medical School;America Ferrera, actor, producer, activist; Ryan Jenson, chief executive officer, HoneyComb; Tawakkol Karman, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and founder of Women Journalists Without Chains;Jaime Lerner, chairman, Arquitetos Associados, founder, Instituto Jaime Lerner; Hans Rosling, professor of international health and edutainer, Karolinska Institute, and founder, Gapminder Foundation; UM President Donna E. Shalala, former U.S. Secretary for Health and Human Services; Wendy Spencer, chief executive officer, Corporation for National and Community Service;Larry Wilmore, host, Comedy Central’s “The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore”; and others.

Follow CGI U on Twitter at @CGIU and @ClintonGlobal or on Facebook at Facebook.com/CGIUniversity for meeting news and highlights. The official meeting hashtag is #CGIU. Plenary sessions also will be live streamed during the meeting at live.cgiu.org/.