Silicon Valley Community Foundation Joins More Than 80 Philanthropic Leaders to Achieve Sustainable Development Goals
Coming out of a historic meeting that brought together philanthropic leaders from Canada, Mexico and the United States, more than 80 philanthropic leaders have joined in solidarity and pledged to work to reduce poverty and increase opportunity for all across North America. This commitment marks the first multinational pledge of philanthropic leaders in North America to connect, learn, and exchange across borders in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The pledge of commitment was announced at the inaugural North American Community Foundations Summit in Mexico City last week where more than 200 philanthropic leaders gathered. The Summit was hosted by the Council on Foundations, Community Foundations of Canada and Comunalia and explored how community foundations can work locally using the SDGs to leave no one behind, including discussions around education, health, economic development, diaspora communities, immigration, and climate change. During the event, partners also launched the new report Local Leadership, Global Impact: Community Foundations and the Sustainable Development Goals.
During the closing plenary of the Summit, Ridgway H. White, President of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, highlighted their new 10-year commitment to invest in networking and learning platforms to ensure community foundations worldwide understand and use the SDGs to develop and share local solutions to global problems.
The shared commitment reads, “Community foundations are critically important local leaders who bring a wealth of knowledge to driving change locally. To address the systemic challenges impacting our communities, we are committed to building coalitions with government, business, the nonprofit sector and others to bring together local voices and create a world that is more equitable for future generations. More than ever, the challenges we face are universal and span across geographic borders...