The theme of this year’s convening is Frontier Markets, Global Partnerships and Local Solutions. Economic development through partnerships is a theme that is woven through all of the sessions and keynotes. Some of the key take-a-ways are: Solutions through multi-stakeholder development, biggest impact when we play to our strengths, the power of development through the power of the market, challenges are too big for one institution and coordinated collaborations must be constructed for success….. and there were many more! There was much discussion of the need of taking successful models to scale. Many felt in order to do this that a hybrid model needs to be developed with a mix of the best of social enterprises, NGO’s and businesses with a market oriented mission.
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The lunch speaker was Doc Hendley. He created an organization called Wine to Water. The name came from his role as a bartender and holding a fundraiser at his bar for water projects in developing nations. He served wine with the hopes of raising money to provide clean drinking water. He has spent time in Darfur, Cambodia, Haiti and many more places. He works with locals to create a system of water that meets those location’s particular needs. If the village needs a filtration system, he teaches them how to make filters so their system is self sustaining. If they utilize wells, he brings them pumps with easily accessible parts and then shows them how to maintain and repair the pumps. He is an example of how one individual who wants to help can make a big difference if they have the passion and motivation.