// CONVERSATIONAL CLUSTER-FORKS

Conversational Cluster-Forks are mealtime discussions on a focused topic of interest to a Delegate. Topics cover a wide range of policy, geographic, organizational, entrepreneurial and poverty-related themes. Delegates showcase their ideas, organizations, expertise and policy topics of interest.

The ninety minute Cluster-Forks occur during lunch and dinner each day. Ten topics per meal are scheduled and seating of ten to twelve people per table is on a first-come, first-served basis.

Delegates propose and are awarded Conversational Cluster-Forks on a first-come, first-served basis. Cluster-Forks opportunities are now filled.

Conversational Cluster-Forks

Day One, Saturday, Lunch:

Avoiding Leadership Burn-Out - Dana Taylor, social philanthropist, leads a discussion on achieving work-life balance in the classic anti-poverty pressure-cooker work environment.
Folding Financial Sustainability into Development Projects - Tina Sciabica, Executive Director, READ Global (Rural Education and Development), leads a conversation about decreasing reliance on external aid through the creation of "sustainability projects" that provide jobs, teach rural communities about entrepreneurship, and generate revenue to cover the on-going operating expenses of a development effort.
Global Social Enterprise to Save One Million Infants - John Anner, President, East Meets West Foundation, discusses a social enterprise hybrid (NGO and for-profit) that brings appropriate newborn medical technologies to developing countries, combining a robust sales effort with a training and monitoring program to ensure sustainability and effectiveness.
Banking After the Debacle - Donna Katzin, Executive Director, Shared Interest, leads a discussion about nonprofit and philanthropic strategies to move major financial institutions to play their part in combating poverty.
The Circles Campaign - Scott C. Miller, Chief Executive Officer, Move the Mountain Leadership Center, leads a discussion on building effective relationships across income lines to help families out of poverty.
Guarantee Social Finance Model Explained - Gary M. Ford, Chief Executive Officer, Microcredit Enterprises, leads a discussion about how to finance $20 million in microloans without raising a dime of donations or a nickel of investment capital. The model is in the public domain, copyright waived.
Making Money Work for Poor Women - Monique Cohen, Founder-President, Microfinance Opportunities, leads a discussion around the power of financial education as an economic empowerment tool for poor women. Effective money management and increased financial capabilities are key drivers of individual and family well being.
Design Thinking for Social Innovation - Jocelyn Wyatt, Social Innovation Lead, IDEO, leads a conversation about design thinking and how it can be applied to addressing challenges related to poverty. Tools for innovation including observations, brainstorming, prototyping and storytelling will be discussed.

Day One, Saturday, Dinner:

Microfinance: Making Poverty Capital? - Ananya Roy, Professor, University of California, Berkeley, leads a discussion about the microfinance sector and its twin claims of financial sustainability and poverty alleviation.
Grassroots Women Leaders - Paola Gianturco, photojournalist and author of Women Who Light the Dark, leads a discussion about what we can learn from grassroots women leaders when it comes to creating change.
Personal Growth for the Successful Social Entrepreneur - Saul Garlick, Executive Director, ThinkImpact, leads a discussion on the critical areas every neophyte social entrepreneur needs to address NOW to reach their goals.
Impact Investment Builds Bridges of Peace - Gerhard Pries, President, Sarona Asset Management, leads a discussion among an inter-faith group of business leaders interested in bringing communities and capital together to create a global investment fund to benefit all people. Note: Maximum of four business leaders of any faith tradition (Christian, Hindu, Buddhist, etc) allowed at this table.
Making Sure It's Microcredit - Terry Provance, Executive Director, Oikocredit USA, leads a discussion about current trends in microfinance, commercialization of investment funds and the future significance of social impact management in the field.
Evaluation and Consumer Feedback - Maurice Lim Miller, Founder and CEO, Family Independence Initiative, leads a discussion on evaluating effectiveness. From the perspective of a foundation board trustee, he will review traditional experiences in data tracking and evaluation and discuss how technology makes it possible to use consumer feedback in the evaluation process, as well as other experiences.
Focusing on Scale - Anne Marie Burgoyne, Portfolio Director, Draper Richards Foundation, leads a discussion to explore philanthropic giving that anticipates that a grantee will scale and grow its programs. What are the strengths and limitations of this model?
To Reach Your Target, You Have to Aim - Bill Abrams, President, Trickle Up, leads a conversation in which participants can share ideas, questions and opinions about what it takes to truly "walk the walk, not just "talk the talk" about effectively serving the ultrapoor -- the 1+ billion people who live on less than $1/day in conditions of extreme vulnernability and disenfranchisement. If you're looking for simple solutions, this is not the Cluster Fork for you.

Day Two, Sunday, Lunch:

Sustainable, Scalable, Impact: Youth Entrepreneurship or Market Driven Job Creation? - Darlene Daggett, Founder, Ikatu International, leads a discussion about the pros and cons of youth entrepreneurship and market driven job creation to alleviate extreme poverty.
Creative Ways to Advance Domestic Microfinance - Claudia Viek, CEO, CAMEO, leads a discussion on how collaboration, investment, grants and technology can work to scale up lending and spur job creation. This discussion will be of particular interest to those interested in supporting the growth of domestic microfinance.
(World Wide) Web of Poverty - T.J. Cook, CEO and Chief Strategist, HiDef Web Solutions, leads a discussion and shares findings on how mobile and social web tools will play a role in poverty eradication.
Using Emerging Leader Groups in Afghanistan - Sakena Yacoobi, Executive Director, Afghan Institute of Learning, leads a discussion on using emerging leader groups of young Afghans to explore and find solutions for Afghanistan's peaceful future.
Building Pathways Out of Poverty - Philip DeVol, author, Bridges to Sustainable Communities, leads a discussion about how to use the workbook Getting Ahead in a Just-Gettin’-By World to bring people in poverty to the planning tables in their communities.
What Do We Do Now!?! The Next Generation of Microfinance - Brigit Helms, CEO, Unitus, leads a discussion on pushing the boundaries of existing microfinance to include more of the world’s working poor.
Educating Girls in a Sustainable Model - Clarke Blynn, Chairman, Nurturing Minds, leads a discussion on challenges and opportunities for girls education in rural Africa.
Inviting the Corporate World to the Development Table - John Ayliffe, Founder and Board Member, 1to4 Foundation, leads a discussion on how to engage corporations and their associates in poverty-reduction initiatives.

Day Two, Sunday, Dinner:

Land Regularization: Cart Before the Horse? - Diana de Castro, Strategic Advisor, Terra Nova, leads a discussion on why land regularization is critical to creating wealth and improving the quality of living for the urban poor.
Holistic Farming as the Foundation of Poverty Alleviation - Florence Reed, Founder and President, Sustainable Harvest International, leads a discussion about the case for ecologically-based farming as the cornerstone of improved standards of living for the rural poor.
Managing Risk in the Social Sector - Pamela Davis, Chief Executive Officer, Nonprofits Insurance Alliance Group, leads a discussion about risk in the social sector and why nonprofits can benefit from pooling their funds and managing their own risk of liability and property losses.
Fostering a Global Network - Adam Weinberg, CEO/President, World Learning, leads a discussion on what happens after the “great program ends” and strategy mapping on how to keep participants connected to each other in ways that leverage new technologies, tools and techniques for fostering a global network committed to working on critical global issue.
Capturing the Impact of Safe Drinking Water for the Rural Poor - Lisa Nash, CEO, Blue Planet Network, leads a discussion around using the Internet to capture the impact of safe drinking water for the rural poor and building a global online water and sanitation network which enables efficient collaboration and grassroots monitoring to improve future efforts.
Legal Issues Affecting Nonprofits & Social Enterprises - Gene Takagi, Attorney and Publisher, Nonprofit Law Blog, leads a discussion about selective legal issues impacting choice of entity, governance, affiliate structures, and collaborations for nonprofits and social enterprises.
Green Investment and Business Performance in Developing Economies - Dr. Joseph Adelegan, President, Green Globe Trust, leads a discussion on the adoption of environmental-benign technologies and corporate performance in selected industries in Africa.
Not in Front or Behind, But Alongside - Melanie Macdonald, President and CEO, World Neighbors, leads a discussion on the stunning success of participatory methodologies in supporting the most disadvantaged people on earth to lead their communities out of poverty.

Day Three, Monday, Lunch:

Effective Livelihood Development Initiatives for Youth - Bill Bloomfield, Partner-in-Chief, Civic Strategies Partners, leads a scenario-building conversation exploring the potential for multi-sector community collaboration that targets youth unemployment and livelihood development initiatives for young adults.
Impact Investors: Get More Deal Flow - Mike Del Ponte, Founder, Sparkseed and i2, leads a discussion on how impact investors (who have capital, but lack deal flow) can connect with social entrepreneurs (who have ideas, but lack capital).
Ground-Breaking Power of Film - Jane Roberts, Co-Founder, 34 Million Friends of the United Nations Population Fund, leads a discussion on the power of film to change the world for women and girls and, thus, for everyone. She brings to the table a specific proposal for a documentary to be called "Born Female: The Stories Women Don't Tell".
Can We Achieve the MDGs? - Andrew Barrer, Executive Director, U.S. Coalition for Child Survival, leads a discussion about what needs to be done to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Measuring the Power of a High-Impact, Profitable Portfolio - Bonny Meyer, Principal, and Patrick Gleeson, CEO, Meyer Family Enterprises, along with Paul Herman, Founder and CEO, HIP Investor, lead a discussion on power of a portfolio that uses HIP (Human Impact + Profit). Find out how they used a systematic process to measure - and improve - MFE's current human, social and eco-impact of its portfolio that includes public equities, private equity and venture capital, and real-estate holdings.
Workplace Family Planning Programs - Milka Dinev, Project Director, Pathfinder International, leads a discussion about the return on investment and business case for global corporations to invest in family planning programs at the workplace.
Preparing the Next Gen Global Leaders - Abby Falik, Founder & CEO, Global Citizen Year, leads a discussion about how collaborative efforts - across borders and across sectors - can build a pipeline of innovative and effective leaders in international development.
Rationalizing Retail for the Rural Poor - Joe Speicher, Associate Director, Living Goods, leads a discussion about the case for efficiency in the delivery of retail products and services for the rural poor.

Day Three, Monday, Dinner:

Shifting the Mindset from ROI to Social Impact - Theresa Fay-Bustillos, Principal & Co-founder, IdealPhilanthropy, leads a discussion on the obligation of social capital markets to go beyond ROI and a social purpose in order to focus on social impacts and social change.
Empowering Rural Adolescent Girls to Fight Poverty - Nimal Martinus, Regional Director, Stromme Foundation, leads a discussion on a community based educational approach to empower and engage young rural girls to be catalysts in improving their socio-economic and cultural challenges.
Money, Money Everywhere, Lots of Social Enterprises, and So Little Capital Booked - Harold Rosen, Founder and Executive Director, Grassroots Business Fund, leads a discussion about why, despite much interest and a lot of new capital pouring into social enterprises, relatively few businesses in the developing world have the institutional capacity to take on investment and go to scale. What strategies would help these enterprises become investment-ready, and ultimately support thousands of people at the base of the pyramid?
Population, Conservation and Human Rights - Sono Aibe, Senior Advisor for Strategic Initiatives, Pathfinder International, leads a discussion about the connections and ideas for collaborative projects around population, conservation and human rights.
The Art of Judgment and Gut Assessment - Jessamyn Lau, Program Leader, Peery Foundation, leads a discussion building on Peter Frumkin and Sean Stannard-Stockton's dialogues on 'Category 2 Philanthropy'.
"Voluntourism" in the Development Sector - Daniela Papi, Founder, PEPY and PEPY Tours, leads a discussion about the overall impact of tourism on development work, the effects of a short-term volunteer, and how to harness this good intention.
Turning Entrepreneurs Into Future Angel Investors - Kim Scheinberg, Founder, Presumed Abundance, leads a discussion about ways to ensure that today's entrepreneurs are tomorrow's investors.
Medical Technologies for the Poor - Timothy Prestero, Chief Executive Officer, Design that Matters, leads a discussion about opportunities to impact global health through the design and implementation of new medical therapies and devices for the poor, including the role of design and the nature of the product supply chain.

Day Four, Tuesday, Lunch:

Reaching the Missing Middle: Financing SMEs in Developing Countries - Peter Johnson, Partner, Developing World Markets, leads a discussion on how to build on the gains of years of financing microfinance to reach the small and medium enterprise (SME) space with its capacity to drive employment growth at the community level. The focus will be on SME funds and other vehicles that can target both a social and financial return.
Human-Centered Approach to Systems Design - Patrice Martin, Practice Lead, IDEO, leads a discussion about the importance of understanding the needs of and relationships between all players in an ecosystem to design systems that matter to people.
(Em)powering Rural Villages - Bob Freling, Executive Director, Solar Electric Light Fund, leads a discussion about "Energy as a Human Right" and the opportunity to enhance health, education and economic well-being at the base of the pyramid through the use of clean, distributed solar power.
Education that Pays for Itself - Martin Burt, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Fundacion Paraguaya, leads a discussion about self sufficient schools for unemployed rural youth as a way to address chronic poverty.
Strengthening Health Systems in the Developing World - Robin Smalley, Co-Founder, mothers2mothers, leads a discussion about how marginalized populations can effectively bolster faltering healthcare systems in their own communities.
The Behavioral Economics Bandwagon to Fight Poverty? - Ben Mangan, President, CEO & Cofounder, EARN, leads a discussion on the advantages and disadvantages of anchoring poverty alleviation efforts in behavioral economic principles.
Capitalism for the Advancement of Girls and Women? - Whitney Smith, Founder & CEO, Girls For A Change, leads a discussion on creating a better culture for girls and women in the developing world than exists in America.
Accelerating the Pace of Economic Development with Private Sector Investment - Erin Mote, Manager of Resource Development, CHF International, leads a discussion about the changing modalities and considerations for private sector investment in the developing world.

Day Four, Tuesday, Dinner:

Innovation in the Health Care System - Rebecca Onie, CEO & Co-Founder, Project HEALTH, leads a discussion about the development and scaling of simple, cost-effective innovations to overcome obstacles to effective patient care in the U.S. health care system.
Do Gooders With Spreadsheets - Spencer Ton, Program Manager, Global Center for Social Entrepreneurship, University of the Pacific, leads a discussion about how the growing interest among business leaders to focus on the triple bottom line and the BoP is changing higher education.
Connecting Small and Growing Businesses (SGBs) to Large Enterprise - Ueli Frei, Executive Director, FUNDES International, leads a discussion on how to connect SGBs to large enterprises (value chain optimization) in a sustainable and financially self-supporting manner.
Remedying Market Failure in Technology Tools - Jim Fruchterman, Founder, Benetech, leads a discussion on how Benetech creates sustainable social tech enterprises, and leads a brainstorm around new ideas to meet the needs of underserved communities.