Clinton Urges Philanthropy to Fill Gaps as Governments Retreat

Former President Bill Clinton opened this year's Clinton Global Initiative conference in New York on Tuesday with a call for attendees to "step into the void created by retreating governments," following cuts to foreign assistance by the United States and other nations.

"We know that we can't completely fill the hole that retreating governments are leaving behind," Clinton said, adding that philanthropy and other sectors must find new ideas and resources to protect progress already made.

His appeal came after he opened the conference by challenging President Donald Trump and his administration on multiple fronts. "I suppose I could take my entire allotted time to discuss the self-evident wisdom of building an Arc de Triomphe in Washington to hold all our drones," Clinton joked. "Some of this stuff it's hard to make up."

After the laughter subsided, Clinton laid out his disagreement with the idea that "cooperation is not important, that winning is important in the short run." The Clinton Global Initiative has convened political, business and philanthropic leaders to address global issues for more than two decades.

Donna McKay, president and CEO of the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, unveiled one new idea: BCRF Ventures, the foundation's first venture philanthropy fund. The $100 million initiative launched Tuesday with an $11 million donation from philanthropists Karen and Rob Hale to pay for its creation and early investments to encourage others to donate.

"It makes sense that at this point in time when there are extraordinary advances happening that BCRF throw everything that we can at research and science," McKay said in an interview. "What this venture philanthropy program will do is try to fast-track advances and get them to patients as quickly as possible."

The initiative will not replace BCRF's traditional grantmaking to breast cancer research scientists, which the foundation expanded last year in the face of federal funding cuts to medical research. The goal is to use earnings from successful companies it supports to bolster more companies. "The success of one breakthrough has the potential to finance the next and the next," McKay said.

Stacey Abrams, former Georgia state representative and leader of the vote mobilization and education nonprofit 10 Steps Campaign, announced a coalition of democracy nonprofits launching the Democracy Index Fund, which will pool resources to support pro-democracy organizations, and the Democracy Hedge Fund, designed to earn revenue while also providing support for pro-democracy organizations.

"Authoritarians have a playbook. They also have a budget," Abrams said as she announced the new funds. "And now, so should we."

Carmen Rojas, president and CEO of the Marguerite Casey Foundation, outlined a more common-sense approach that is still seen by many in philanthropy circles as radical. "This is an invitation that I give to donors, to foundations in the room, to anybody who has a rich cousin, this is a moment to give out money," she said. "Lots of it. Right now."

Rojas explained that extraordinary need should be met with extraordinary action. The Marguerite Casey Foundation announced plans in June to increase its annual donations to at least $500 million over the next decade to alleviate some of the pain the communities it serves are feeling following federal funding cuts. In 2025, the foundation dipped into its endowment to hand out $135 million.

"There was greater risk in inaction," she said, explaining the step many nonprofits would refuse to consider because it could put future investment earnings at risk. "The greatest risk we face is sitting on a set of resources that communities across this country desperately need to protect their neighbors, to be able to build relationships with one another, to have their needs met."

Rojas told The Varta Wire in an interview that her foundation's bold strategy has encouraged others to utilize it as well. She wants foundations to reconsider the requirement that they give 5% of their value annually in order to maintain their tax-exempt status – calling it a floor rather than a ceiling.

Ford Foundation President Heather Gerken encouraged conference attendees to remember to dream of what they want to accomplish. "As much as we are in the trenches and fighting the fight, we need to look out over the horizon," she said. "The reason we are here is that we have had a democracy that has not served everyone. And so we need to figure out how to dream a new democracy into existence."