Dr. Atallah Kuttab, Director General of the Welfare Association, attended the first meeting of the task force formed for the Global Philanthropy Leadership Initiative (GPLI), hosted by the European Foundation Center (EFC) in November 8-10 in Brussels, Belgium.
Dr. Kuttab is a member of the task force, less than 20 philanthropy leaders with representation from all the regions in the world, charged with building on the conversation that started in Rome in 2009 to look at issues facing an increasingly pluralistic philanthropy in a globalized world.
The Task Force agreed upon a 24-month project to work together to improve, develop and grow the practice and impact of philanthropy in a global context.They also affirmed the importance of Worldwide Initiative for Grantmaker Support (WINGS) as a global network to advance the work of philanthropy support and leadership in a globalizing world.
The Global Philanthropy Leadership Initiative is a joint project of the Council on Foundations, the European Foundation Centre, and the Worldwide Initiatives for Grantmaker Support. The aim of the initiative is to facilitate and enhance the impact of cross-border philanthropy. The task force comprising of foundation leaders from around the world guides work in three areas: 1) improving the legal environment for global philanthropy; 2) developing models/vehicles for pooling resources together and increasing collaboration; and 3) identifying key political moments and levers to engage with policymakers/multilateral organizations. The task force also assesses and informs the current thinking in the three areas and design a process through which a diverse group of people can explore and jointly shape the agenda and eventual product of the initiative.
The GPLI was one of the main topics raised during the four-day WINGS 2010 forum held on November 18 - 20, in Como, Italy. Hosted by Assifero (Association of Foundations and Grantmaking Organizations) and ACRI (Association of Italian Foundations and Savings Bank), WINGS Forum 2010 was addressed to grantmaker associations and support organizations.
Dr. Kuttab, who is on the Board of WINGS and Chair of the Advisory Committee working on the report “Global Philanthropy: A Preliminary Status Report”, launched the Report in a plenary session. The “Global Philanthropy: A Preliminary Status Report” is a first-time study which brings together disperse knowledge and data on institutional philanthropy from countries around the world and begins to create a picture of the rich, evolving, and promising landscape of global giving. The Report can be accessed at http://www.wingsweb.org
Dr. Kuttab participated on the panel of a session on "Indigenous Philanthropy", which provided the rare opportunity to focus on the unique features of philanthropy in the Sub-Saharan Africa and Arab regions.
