All eyes will be on Hangzhou, China this weekend as the Alibaba Foundation hosts the inaugural “Xin Philanthropy Conference.” Alibaba Executive Chairman and International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity (Education Commission) Commissioner, Jack Ma will give the opening remarks at the conference. He will be joined by former U.K. Prime Minister, U.N. Special Envoy and Education Commission Chair Gordon Brown, among others.
As reported by Alizila (news subsidiary of Alibaba Group), this conference will bring “together pioneering Chinese benefactors and global thought leaders to discuss social responsibility in the world’s second-largest economy.” In all, “some 1,000 attendees, including nonprofits, NGOs and social entrepreneurs, are expected in the e-commerce giant’s home base of Hangzhou for the inaugural Xin Philanthropy Conference.” The conference will emphasize the need to “give back” while underscoring the importance of grassroots change. Dignitaries in attendance include United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Khan Academy Founder and CEO Salman Khan and NBA star Yao Ming.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon speaks at the Xin Philanthropy Conference
Speaking in advance of the conference, Mr. Ma had the following to say:
“The recent pace of China’s development and rising incomes presents a significant opportunity for a new and rising class of philanthropists to participate in addressing some of the most vexing problems in China and abroad: in education, environment, health care and disaster relief. Also, the widespread adoption of the Internet and mobile technology has made it possible to not only more efficiently allocate resources but also measure the effectiveness of philanthropic efforts.
Perhaps most importantly, technology has made it easy for anyone to contribute to a worthy cause. We believe that giving should not be the domain of only the wealthy. However, institutionalized philanthropy is only in its early stages in China. It is my hope that the XIN Philanthropy Conference will promote learning from the world’s most innovative and successful leaders in social development and philanthropy. This conference will not only be a place to share best practices, but also to explore the “next-generation” of philanthropy and feature themes around how Big Data, technology, and crowd-funding and crowd-solutions can be leveraged to maximize impact.”
Mr. Brown is due to speak Saturday 9 July at 10:15am China time (UTC +08:00) for the plenary remarks. He will speak again later that day at 4:00pm for the education panel. Live links for both events may be found here:
Plenary Session – http://zb.youku.com/live/zone/Z7EeANyHw6I.html
Education Panel – http://zb.youku.com/live/zone/myTMwrFe3CE.html
Education Commission Chair Gordon Brown addresses Conference attendees
As participants converge on Hangzhou, the Education Commission will be there to help make the case for a renewed and compelling investment case and financing pathway for achieving equal education opportunity for children and young people.