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Clinton Global Initiative Highlights A Glimmer of Hope
Clinton Global Initiative Highlights A Glimmer of Hope
Published 09-25-09
Submitted by A Glimmer of Hope
On Wednesday, at the 5th Annual Meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative in New York, Philip Berber was one of three members to present a progress report during the Economic Empowerment Session emceed by James Carville.
Berber was selected from the hundreds considered because his Austin, Texas-based organization - A Glimmer of Hope - exemplifies the CGI's mandate to turn ideas into action.
Since 2006, the organization has fulfilled two commitments to the CGI by issuing $2.25 million in microloans to more than 6,000 rural Ethiopians. Prominent supporters of those commitments included:
- The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation
- Whole Planet Foundation (a Whole Foods Market foundation)
His report about the impact of these loans on some of the poorest people in the world was well received by the CGI members in attendance. CGI's membership comprises over 1,000 of the most influential people in the world; this year's CGI was officially opened by US President Barack Obama on Tuesday.
"We have created an efficient and effective way of giving the rural poor a way to make money and lift themselves out of poverty," Berber said. "Our 2009 commitment will give others an opportunity to piggy-back the work we have already done and have 100% of their money get to the people who need it."
Berber believes this commitment will allow A Glimmer of Hope to significantly expand the impactful work begun by its first two commitments; $500,000 has already been pledged towards this new initiative.
Just eight years after entering the International Aid arena Berber has lead his Austin based foundation to national recognition. It underscores Berber's entrepreneurial talents which were originally recognized when he founded CyBerCorp and sold it after five years to Charles Schwab for $488 million - it was one of the biggest success stories of the dot.com era.
After the sale of CyBerCorp, Berber joined his wife Donna at A Glimmer of Hope, the organization she founded to alleviate extreme poverty in Ethiopia. He was convinced that the lessons learned during his business career could be applied to International Aid and Development. He was right again and the organization's investment in Ethiopia has increased as donors have learned of its unique 100% promise.
Since 2001, A Glimmer of Hope has completed:
- 3,500 water projects
- 345 education projects
- 170 health projects
- The rehabilitation of a regional hospital
These efforts have directly and indirectly reached more than 2 1/2 million people with the majority of direct beneficiaries being women and girls, all for an investment of around $35 million.
Though cutting-edge in its approach A Glimmer of Hope has managed to catch the eye of a leading "traditionalist." Tibor Nagy spent over 23 years in the Foreign Service in Africa serving twice as Ambassador; more recently, he served as an advisor to the Obama presidential campaign.
In the Foreign Service Journal, Nagy wrote A Glimmer of Hope's approach was resulting in "dramatic positive outcomes." He has also stated the US government should partner more with emerging NGOs such as A Glimmer of Hope and that the organization's highly integrated model was "the silver bullet for Africa."
