On May 6 and 7, the IGD 2009 National Summit brought together a broad cross-section of business leaders in Washington, D.C. to advance a bold strategy to reduce global poverty.
Speakers, including General Colin L. Powell and CEOs such as Neville Isdell formerly of Coca-Cola, Terry McGraw of McGraw-Hill and Jeff Immelt of GE, shared their expertise and exemplified the power of business leadership in promoting poverty reduction.
Participants engaged in interactive discussions about the obstacles to promoting growth and reducing global poverty, and explored ways that business can help to overcome those challenges.
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2009 National Summit report (1.8Mb)
"Only a strategy that combines smart government policies with the engine of business and entrepreneurship will be powerful enough to overcome the enormous challenges we face."
-General Colin L. Powell
At the Summit, U.S. National Security Advisor General James L. Jones invited IGD partners to share their expertise with the Obama administration. IGD commits to working closely with the administration to formulate and implement more innovative and effective U.S. development policies.
IGD partners will advocate for more open trade and smarter foreign assistance – policy changes that will help create an environment where enterprise can flourish in developing countries. Poverty reduction will also require significant private sector initiative. IGD will work with both business and government to develop new, more effective partnership models to build on the strengths of each sector.
Post-Summit priorities
IGD calls for a comprehensive national strategy for achieving the U.S. foreign policy objective of reducing global poverty, to include trade, aid and economic policies toward developing countries
IGD supports improved access to U.S. markets for
goods and services from the poorest countries and investments that help build the capacity of developing countries to participate in the global trading system
IGD catalyzes relationship building between U.S. CEOs and CEOs in developing countries and promotes business models that reduce poverty in those countries
Download the complete 2009 National Summit report (1.8Mb)
Session highlights
 Initiatives for Enterprise Growth
Vice Chairman Eduardo Castro-Wright of Wal-Mart; Former Chairman & CEO Neville Isdell of Coca-Cola; CEO James Mwangi of Equity Bank in Kenya
Speakers discussed the great opportunities that frontier markets present.
Frontier 100, a new IGD program launched during the Summit, brings together CEOs from frontier markets with U.S. CEOs to share knowledge and develop targeted initiatives to grow business while reducing poverty. As a member of the inaugural class of Frontier 100 CEOs from Africa, Dr. Mwangi offered insights into the challenges facing businesses on the continent.
Opening Markets
Chairman & CEO Farooq Kathwari of Ethan Allen; Chairman & CEO Tim Solso of Cummins Inc.; Chairman, President and CEO Harold McGraw III of The McGraw-Hill Companies
Speakers focused on the role that trade can play in promoting development in poor countries and agreed that the business community must make the case for trade and development as integral parts of our national security.
"It's in this country's best interest to get economic development in every corner of the world."
-GE Chairman & CEO Jeffrey Immelt
Investing for Development
Chairman & CEO Jeffrey Immelt of GE; Former CEO John Danilovich of the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)
Speakers explored ways in which government and business can leverage each other’s strengths to increase the impact of their investments and create higher poverty reduction returns.
 Investing in Africa’s Future
Former Assistant to the President for Policy & Strategic Planning Michael Gerson; CEO Eleni Gabre-Madhin of Ethiopia Commodity Exchange; CFO Alexander Friedman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Managing Director Dina Habib Powell of Goldman Sachs; Vice President Kerry Preete of Monsanto
Speakers talked about the impact of innovative business models and partnerships, from alternative uses of capital and capacity building to the empowerment of women.
A Better Future for Us All
In a conversation with veteran journalist Jim Lehrer, Former President of Ireland Mary Robinson underscored the humanitarian crisis that extreme poverty has created. Their conversation touched on several of the challenges facing the global community and the shared responsibility of business leaders to address those challenges.
Congressional Leadership Award
At the opening ceremony of the 2009 National Summit, IGD honored Senator Richard Lugar and Congressman Adam Smith with the inaugural Congressional Leadership Award in recognition of their consistent and significant efforts to advance policies that promote economic growth and reduce poverty around the world.
2009 National Summit sponsors
Download the complete 2009 National Summit report (1.8Mb)
Read about the inaugural IGD 2006 National Summit
Photos, top to bottom: General Colin L. Powell and General James L. Jones; Neville Isdell, Eduardo Castro-Wright and James Mwangi; Michael Gerson and Eleni Gabre-Madhin.
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