Inclusive Partnerships to Achieve Sustainable Development Global and Regional Perspectives on PPP
Hosted by George Washington University School of Business with Global CEO Alliance March 9, 2017
Background
In an effort to reach and engage different sectors regarding partnerships, the Global CEO Alliance (GCEOA) in cooperation with the George Washington University School of Business organized a side-event that complemented the Main Forum on the role of public-private partnerships (PPP) in achieving the UN SDGs, particularly Goal 17. This event entitled Inclusive Partnerships to Achieve Sustainable Development included sessions covering Global and Regional Perspective on PPP and Inclusive Partnerships. The first session on Global and Regional Perspective on PPP leading to 2030 Agenda presented a number of high-level panelists engaged in a dialogue with the audience on the “how’s” and “what’s” of PPP and why PPP actors must have a clear indication of what they actually want in partnership to benefit the larger community it purports to serve. The session amplified all fundamentals of PPP as well as the complementing factors that directly contribute to leadership, knowledge acquisition and transfer, and capacity building for sustainable development and investment opportunities.
Introductory Remarks from the event hosts and participating organizations
Dr. Linda Livingstone, Dean of George Washington University, School of Business
Dr. Livingstone imparted the legacy of the George Washington University (GWU) as a global university in engaging people together from the business sector, from the government sector, from non-government organizations (NGOs), and from academia to talk about partnership which is relevant in the nation’s capital. As the host for the event, GWU looked forward to discussions on public-private partnerships (PPP) and sustainable global development – issues that the university deeply believes in as they have courses catering on the subject matter of partnerships.
Mr. James Thompson, Director of Innovations of the Secretary of State’s Office for Global Partnerships and Innovations
Mr. Thompson’s office has been working on PPPs for nine years. He worked with the USAID in reaching out to private sector which in turn brings out ideas, technology, and markets, perfect for the work they are doing for diplomacy and development. These learning are what he carried out in his current work in the US Department of State. He challenged the business community to rise up and join Goal 17, the Partnership Goal, which he considered as, “the goal to make all the rest of goal go”.
Mr. James Donovan, CEO of ADEC Innovations and Chairman of the Global CEO Alliance (GCEOA)
Mr. James Donovan is a serial entrepreneur focusing on impact investing that generates measurable social and environmental impact alongside financial returns. He leads ADEC Innovations, a corporate group that redefines and delivers innovative ESG solutions and supplies and aggregates data for governments, individual corporations and coalitions. Through his 25+ years of providing data service, he was able to find a big gap in how people use data. While working with the United Nations (UN), he was able to establish the Global CEO Alliance (GCEOA) which desires to bring tools or knowledge to the world’s supply chain. This journey with the UN established three years ago paved the way for the GCEOA to be launched in Dubai, UAE in 2016.
As a co-host with GWU, the GCEOA through Donovan highlighted the need to embrace SDGs and the need to find data to make business decisions. GCEOA aims to be the aggregator of the “missing middle” and targets to help reach the gap of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Kim Osborne, Executive Secretary of the Organization of American States (OAS)
The OAS from its very establishment has had its core responsibility to help member states design and implement policies and programs that promote democracy and human rights, seek peace and foster socio-economic stability. The OAS through Osborne aspires to provide critical support to member states in building institutional and human resource capacity to meet the new challenges that they face.
A key component of OAS’ work as an organization is engaging all member states via policy dialogues. OAS possesses the ability to convene at highest levels, to build consensus and direct actions around common needs. Osborne believes that the concept of Cooperacion Solidaria has always been the focus of the work of OAS from its inception. More recently, they have been focusing on Innovative Partnerships for Development. They are convinced that development can be achieved through working together with multiple sectors linked by a common purpose - prosperity and well-being of all people.
Osborne accepts that the 2030 Agenda is extremely ambitious; hence, there is also a need for the OAS to be just as ambitious and forward looking in its implementation of programs. She believes that the organization’s aims and objectives become achievable when it works through partnerships like building bridges and seeking common ground. She considers partnerships in all their forms whether of infrastructure, exchange of technology, or the sharing of experiences and lessons learned must be the driver for the implementation of all programs. She concluded by saying that it is important to note that partnerships, and not about organizations or institutions – are about ensuring the needs and aspirations of the people whom they serve are addressed.
Mr. Raj Kumar, Founding President and Editor in Chief of Devex
Mr. Raj Kumar believes that partnerships should be described as a bottom-up approach and not the other way around. He emphasized that it is about giving up some control and asking the people affected. His company, a media platform called Devex, formed a partnership with the USAID years ago where they created Devex Impact which aims to drive for journalism content and build community around partnerships. They found out a budding group of people who saw themselves as partnership practitioners and who understood the value of the organization’s work, why it matters and why it should be done well.
Kumar and Devex believe that partnerships are about the people they try to serve, about the people behind them, about the needs of those people and about the best way forward to make these successful partnerships happen.
Ms. Mary D. Kane, President and CEO of Sister Cities International (SCI)
Sister Cities International is a 60-year old worldwide grassroots effort that engages citizen promoting peace. Ms. Mary D. Kane believes in the words of Former President Dwight Eisenhower from his remarks at the People-to-People Conference that partnerships will help build the world to peace and that it will help build the world to an enduring peace. She also believes that prosperity cannot be achieved without peace. Kane highlights that part of the SDGs is to promote prosperity and peaceful co-existence.
Her company, SCI is a network of 1.1 million people that not only develops economic development opportunities to all its members but also brings them together through partnerships involving cultural, student and professional exchanges. In fact, they have started a partnership with Jalalabad, Afghanistan called Afghan Youth Connect where students get together thru Skype once a month to learn the culture, religion and the other details of the US which changed the students’ views and perspectives about the US in a good manner.
Panel Discussion
Organizations’ take on using multi-sector partnerships to achieve impact on the SDGs:
Partnerships are a tool for achieving greater impact and outcomes as identified by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Understanding the true impact and outcomes of those partnerships can be a route towards institutionalization and capacity building. The session highlighted important aspects of carrying out public-private partnership (PPP) projects such as:
- Getting partners together to use holistic approaches to solve complex issues in meeting sustainable development requirements;
- Getting business to transition from philanthropy, to incorporating PPPs focused on sustainable development into their business models; and
- Engaging with local communities and other actor to figure out how they can work together.
The different organizations presented ways of using multi-sector partnerships to achieve impacts on the SDGs. Some organizations play a match making role in bringing together corporations and large foundations with cities, non-government organizations (NGOs), and start-ups aiming to solve a specific problem. Partners and players in PPPs were advised to use data and the information gathered from them to inform better decision-making, address specific issues/challenges that arise, and then change human and business behavior for the better. Multi-lateral banks cover the financing of these PPP projects, as well as developing policy and legal frameworks that can be replicated in other projects. However, the challenge rests in setting realistic and practical expectations as to the right blend of public and private roles in the partnership (particularly in infrastructure projects).
Defining a partner and a stakeholder
The panelists demonstrated how even simply defining the roles of members in a partnership can be incredibly complex. To them, a partner and a stakeholder can be synonymous, and the differentiation may be blurred. Everybody who is in a partnership should also be a stakeholder and have a voice in developing the solution. In legal agreements, formal partners are identified as the private and public entities that have gone into a contractual agreement to provide a service, build infrastructure, etc., and are contributing resources towards its completion and maintenance. However, there are informal partners that have interest in the project or are affected by its outcome – these parties may be identified as the stakeholders.
Beyond the distinction between these two entities lies the need to understand the metrics to which the PPP project will be measured against, and the analysis of the entire ecosystem of the project to aid in identifying possible roadblocks or challenges.
Usefulness of partnerships
According to the panelists, no one entity has enough resources and expertise to answer challenges for everyone, on their own. So partners are a necessity. In order for a partnership to work, the government and the country must be ready in terms of its capacity to understand the scope of work and their responsibilities, as well as the capability to actually manage the project once it is completed.
A formal PPP can only be successfully carried out if there is a reasonable amount of risk allocated to the private sector, and they are provided enough evidence of a potential opportunity for gain. They need to have an incentive to bring in their own creativity and expertise into the project, and contribute beyond just giving financial resources.
Moreover, the panelists emphasized that PPPs can work in any scale. There is a case to be made for starting PPP projects on the small scale, and then expanding them later on. Lastly, there is no one size fits all solution for PPPs. There is a need to continually carry out research to find out what works and what doesn’t based on the specific circumstances present.
Challenges on the PPPs around the SDGs and how to overcome them
There is a lot being done in terms of using PPPs as a vehicle towards achieving sustainable development, however, there is no formal effort in place towards collectively measuring the progress against the SDGs and their indicators. It will be a journey towards integrated reporting, especially because there is a veritable alphabet soup of frameworks that can be used towards promoting compliance to certain standards and ensuring transparency. There is a need for a single reporting framework that will allow organizations to know what SDGs they’re contributing towards and how big their impact is.
Below are the challenges the panelists have identified:
- Large multinational corporations and even large governments have predefined processes and frameworks in place for engagement in PPPs. These can prove to be inflexible and conflict with the cultural or spiritual beliefs of the local communities they are trying to help. Most projects faced with this type of problem lead to a dead end. Also, some organizations organizations/entities from all sectors may have problems identifying where they will be providing value, what they stand to gain, and why they should be actively involved in the project. This may cause them to choose not to act at all.
- There is a need to unlearn certain systems/processes, and see the true priorities with the PPPs. These projects need to move from being focused on philanthropy, and move up to the CEOs in order to make a difference.
- Attracting investment for infrastructure projects seems to be difficult task due to a.) Establishing political commitment on the part of the government and b.) Institutional capacity to manage these transactions in both the public and private sectors.
- There is a need for an enabling political environment for PPPs with legal documents that clearly stipulates what the rules and regulations are, and the certainty that these rules will be enforced fairly and equally and consistently.
- In terms of mainstreaming the SDGs or making it viral, there is a need to create an enabling framework for the SDGs to be consumable to the private sector, and help them identify them as a value proposition. We need to market ‘why the SDGs’ and how private sector participating will lead to better results. There are efforts being carried out to integrating the SDGs into capacity building materials which are distributed to members of the public and private sectors. However, it is seen as a long term education process.
Replicability and scalability of partnerships based on the SDGs
There is a need for an alignment of public policy, corporate policy, and the data that goes behind all those things, as well as a strong local presence to mobilize the local resources and expertise. Driving public policy change entails bringing in PPP partners so it could prompt governments to bring about change in their policies.
The panelists drew attention on data visualization as an impactful tool that every organization and entity must do a better job on. There are a lot of data available, but the more important thing is how to make these data into effective scorecards, how to make them consumable and actionable, and how to use them to promote transparency.
Identifying the path to scale early on in the design process is an effective way to attract donors to projects and subsequently, finding ways to bring visibility to successful projects is also an effective way to promote its replication in other areas/countries.
There are barriers that stand between organizations to create better partnerships for the SDGs. Due to lack of policy and enabling environments, it is difficult for PPPs to be successfully implemented in governments where there is no enabling environment, but there are some one-off projects that have been successful because of the intervention by donors that created a very stable environment for a particular project. Aside from ensuring that there are policies in place that promote PPPs, there is also a need to identify how well these policies are being enforced or implemented. In addition to the lack of policy, there is also a need for mitigating risks and the role of the government in making these partnerships a little more accessible.
In terms of driving small-medium enterprises (SMEs) and consumer awareness and engagement, the panelists stressed the need to find ways to show everyone at every level what the SDGs mean for them, and what part they play in their achievement. These are the people that can be the best partner to engage local communities and protect natural resources. Lastly, delivering a PPP that addresses the 17 SDGs will definitely benefit the community, but there must be certain that the consumer will be using the service or infrastructure that will be built through the PPP.
List of attendees for GPW 2017 side event:
First Name
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Last Name
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Official Title
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Company/Organization
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Bill
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Guyton
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Former President, World Cocoa Foundation
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Guyton Strategies International
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Michael
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Battaglia
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Svp, Operations
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(Icsb) International Council For Small Business
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Elias
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Carayannis
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Professor
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(Gwu Sb) George Washington University School Of Business
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Michele
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Bongiovanni
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Ceo
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Healrworld Lcc
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Davida
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Vanderpuye Tengey
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Programs Specialist
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(Usda-Nifa) United States Department Of Agriculture, National Institute Of Food And Agriculture
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Michael
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Scarola
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Business Systems Analyst
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(Hrw) Human Rights Watch
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Frank
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Lusby
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Executive Director
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Action For Enterprise
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Lillian
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Wirpsza
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Registered Nurse
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George Washington University
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Eduard
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Muller
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Rector
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University For International Cooperation
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Kathie
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Bolognese
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Vp Of Board
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Us National Committee For Un Women
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Jennie
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Lane
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Animal Health And Livelihoods Technical Advisor
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Land O'Lakes International Development
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Ci
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Song
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Student
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The George Washington University
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David
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Bloomgarden
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Unit Chief, Inclusive Cities
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Multilateral Investment Fund
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Jeremy
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Wood
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Project Coordinator, Strategic Student Career Planning
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(Gwsb) George Washington School Of Business, F. David Fowler Career Center
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Anthony
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Catajan
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Chief Compliance Officer
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Adec Innovations/ Fcs International
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Wendy
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Li
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Graduate Student
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George Washington University
|
Cynthia
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Ward
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Director, Employer Development And Relations
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George Washington University
|
Yajun
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Duan
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Graduate Student
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George Washington University, School Of Business
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Lucy
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Mungai
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Civil Society Support-Legal
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United Nations Environment Programme
|
William
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Plummer
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Vice President, Strategic And External Affairs
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Huawei Technologies
|
Eve
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Wellish
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Ms. Eve Wellish
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The George Washington University
|
Erin
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Mcgeoy
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Student
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George Washington University
|
Alex
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Kassin
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Student
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The George Washington University
|
Fatou
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Ndoye
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Deputy Director
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Un Environment - North America Office
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Irela
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Aleman
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Second Secretary
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Permanent Mission Of Honduras To The Oas
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Jesus
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Giacoman
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Counselor
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Mexican Mission To The Oas
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Laura
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Brea
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Counselor
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Premanent Mission Dom Rep Oas
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Michael
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Battaglia
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Svp, Operations
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International Coucil For Small Business
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Nikou
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Golchin
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Edc
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George Washington School Of Business
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Homayoun
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Khamooshi
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Faculty Director Of Mspm
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George Washington University
|
Kim
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Gube
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Director, Southeast Region
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Global Impact
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Kelsey
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Oliver
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Gw Student
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Globemed
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Mateo
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Barney
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Alternate Representative
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Permanent Mission Of Canada To The Oas
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Jackie
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Broussard
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Program Manager
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Global Glimpse
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David
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Baxter
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Consultant
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Independent
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Brittany
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Mattfeld
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Director, Mid-Atlantic
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Global Impact
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Selwin
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Hart
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Ambassador Of Barbados To The United States
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Embassy Of Barbados
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Irela
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Aleman
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Second Secretary
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Honduras Mission To The Oas
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Ivan
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Shumkov
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Ceo
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Build Academy
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Dorota
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Amin
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Interim Director, Corporate Relations
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George Washington University
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Lena
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Gerber
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Foreign Affairs Officer
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Department Of State
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Elina
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Sarkisova
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Independent Consultant
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Self Employed
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Alina
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Zyszkowski
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Executive Director
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Azm Consulting
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Rome
|
Hall
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|
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Nick
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Bongiovanni
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Intern
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Healrworld Lcc
|
Kimberly
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King
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Ceo
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One Island Institute
|
Maria Elisa
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Gomez De Almeida
|
Student
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George Washington University
|
Abigail
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Woodward
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Retired
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State Government
|
Jakub
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Behun
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Mr.
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Student
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Gary
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Kraiss
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Program Analyst
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Office Of U.S Global Aids Coordinator And Health Diplomacy
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Alexander
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Kostura
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Partnerships Advisor
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U.S Department Of State
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Neeta
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Bhandari
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Public-Private Partnerships Specialists
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Us Department Of State (Pepfar) President'S Emergency Plan For Aids Relief
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Lauren
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Marks
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Director, Private Sector Engagement For Pepfar
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State Department
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Bako
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Ambianda
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Managing Director
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Global Attain Adcancement Llc
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Nobuhiko
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Aoki
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Deputy Director
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Japan International Cooperation Agency
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Xiaochen
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Zhang
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Ceo
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Fintech4Good Group
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Bill
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Guyton
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President
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Guyton Strategies - Former Wcf
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Laura
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Fuller
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Information Office
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Un Environment
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Claire
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Davanne
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Consultant, Mena Region
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World Bank Group
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Hilary
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French
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Program Officer
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Un Environment
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Lucy
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Lapointe
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Keento
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Hortensia
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Balla
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Action For Hope
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Kelly
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Martin
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Global Ceo Alliance
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Anne
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Ellersiek
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Swp/German Institute For International And Security Affairs
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Marcos
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Da Silva
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Collaborateup
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Helen
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Moser
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Collaborateup
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