Tagged: philanthropy

There appears to be a deep-seated intellectual boil festering at the base of our discussions around philanthropy, foreign aid and development, reports our global health blog Humanosphere.

Tom Paulson, who runs the blog, says he’s not sure anyone really knows what they mean.

He is sure the experts on philanthropy, aid and development all think they know what they mean, “but as a journalist assigned to cover this stuff — and asked to translate it into “normal” language — I’m increasingly running into debates about fundamentals, if not outright confusion.”

Read more.

I caught up with supermodel Christy Turlington Wednesday night as she walked from the Andra Hotel over to the Cinerama Theater for the Seattle screening of her documentary on the global problem of maternal deaths and disabilities caused in childbirth: “No Woman No Cry.”

Turlington met with a number of local luminaries and experts on matters of global health, like the UW’s Chris Murray (who minutes before closed out a major global health meeting. See Horton post below), at a VIP reception sponsored by the World Affairs Council and the Washington Global Health Alliance.

Didn’t have much time, but I asked her two questions:

• Is the increasingly common practice of having celebrities champion causes (like Charlie Sheen going to help Sean Penn’s philanthropic work in Haiti) actually a symptom of our culture’s misplaced values?

• Does the high-profile attention given to maternal health as the cause célèbre of global health send the wrong message — that the primary concern for women is their reproductive ability, as opposed to health overall?

I was somewhat disappointed to discover that she was very friendly, well-spoken and gracious despite my attempt to get her to display the kind of behavior more expected of a supermodel. Here’s an audio clip of me chasing down Christy Turlington on the streets of Seattle.

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Rallies, memorials and interfaith prayer gatherings are scheduled around Puget Sound today and through the weekend, as people gather in support of the victims of last week's earthquake and tsunami in northeast Japan.

Dr. Tachi Yamada is leaving his position in June as head of the Gates Foundation’s global health program.

That’s big news primarily because the Gates’ global health program is so big, the largest program at the world’s largest philanthropy, accounting for more than half of the $3 billion the Gates Foundation spends every year trying to make the world a better, healthier and more equitable place.

As 2010 comes to an end, many people are looking at a pile of requests for year-end donations.  We know it's wise to set a budget for personal giving to worthy causes – but how much is the right amount? 

Honoring the 'Lakewood Four', a fire erupts at a Tumwater business, and signs that donations to nonprofits may be on the rise.

Northwest-based relief agencies World Vision, World Concern and MercyCorps are rapidly expanding relief efforts in Haiti as a cholera outbreak there spreads. Dozens have been killed, and thousands are infected.