David Nahai Appointed Senior Advisor At Clinton Climate Initiative
Philanthropy Today - October 2009
- According to The New York Times, former Chief Executive of the Los Angeles Water and Power Department has resigned from his position to become a Senior Advisor at the newly formed Clinton Climate Initiative. Nahai said that his new job would allow him to focus on "the central challenge of our time, global warming." The Clinton Climate Initiative is an effort by former President Bill Clinton's foundation to study and find solutions for climate change: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/03/us/03water.html
- The Persian Cultural Center of San Diego is has announced that the petition campaign it initiated to include Norooz on the United Nations' official calendar has succeeded. Spearheaded by PCC co-founder Shahri Estakhry, over 300,000 signatures were collected in support of the request to His Excellency Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, and as a result, with participation of seven nations, Norooz will be officially recognized. Nearly 300 million people around the world celebrate the first day of spring, Norooz as their new year, and nearly all of these celebrants live in UN member nations: http://www.pccsd.org/
- According to The New York Times, philanthropic donations in China in 2008 soared to 107 billion renminbi, or $15.7 billion, three times their level the previous year. Last month at the Clinton Global Initiative, Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel-winning founder of Grameen Bank, a pioneer in the field of microfinance, unveiled plans for Grameen China. Prompted by a change in attitude by corporations in China toward philanthropy, business leaders are experimenting with the idea of setting up foundations after years of using other channels to donate to charitable causes in China: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/24/business/global/24donate.html?_r=1