The 2018 Concordia Annual Summit served as an inclusive, diverse, and distinct platform for forging partnerships and as a foundation for cross-sector collaboration to build towards social impact goals. The conversations that took place are, starting this week, being transformed into action. In this week’s installation of our partnership spotlight, we’re focusing on three noteworthy partnerships that were announced at the 2018 Concordia Annual Summit.
AI to Save Lives
At the 2018 Concordia Annual Summit, Microsoft President Brad Smith unveiled Microsoft’s newest humanitarian initiative: AI for Humanitarian Action. The project focuses on harnessing the power of AI to focus on four priorities – helping the world recover from disasters, addressing the needs of children, protecting refugees and displaced people, and promoting respect for human rights. Smith explained that as part of the initiative, Microsoft will work deeply with selected nongovernmental organizations and humanitarian organizations by ways of financial grants, technology investments and partnerships that combine the IT giant’s AI and data science know-how with these groups’ core expertise and resources.
As part of this initiative, Brad Smith announced, Microsoft will invest $2 million in a partnership with UNHCR to develop a new model for digital literacy training and skills development over the course of three years. The partnership will focus on strengthening market-oriented training opportunities at Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, where it aims to empower 25,000 refugees and host community youth by 2021.
Innovadores de América
Representing the most important innovation award in Latin America, the 2018 Innovadores de América Prize recognizes outstanding innovation in business & industry, science & technology, and social development, and works to motivate a generation of innovators across Latin America. This year, in partnership with Innovadores de América and Xcala, Concordia had the pleasure to showcase the award winners and host a critical conversation on how governments and the private sector can partner to facilitate socially-led solutions to pressing issues across the region.
The winner in the business & industry category, Sebastián Torres Montoya, was awarded the prize for his innovation “Hospital Health Co-Creation Laboratory.” The innovation “Speratum: Combining Biotechnology and Nanotechnology to Innovate Against Pancreatic Cancer” landed Christian Marin-Müller the winning title in the science & technology category, and the winning title in social development was awarded to Martha Isabel Ruiz Corzo for her project “Services of the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve.”
The B Team Urges CEOs to Act Against Modern Slavery
The B Team, in partnership with Baker McKenzie, launched Eradicating Modern Slavery: A Guide for CEOs. A tactical guide designed to help CEOs end modern-day slavery, the Guide emphasizes the need for CEOs to work collaboratively with peers across industries, civil society leaders and governments to develop and enforce effective policies to help put an end to this crime. Supported by The B Team, a panel of experts at the Annual Summit, including Omnia Strategy Founder & Chair Cherie Blair, Head of Corporate Responsibility at SafariCom PLC Sanda Ojiambo, and Unilever CEO Paul Polman, addressed the Concordia community and emphasized how collaboration and collective courage, especially within the private sector, can help put an end to modern slavery.
