MEDIA ADVISORY: ECSP Director Geoff Dabelko Joins Premier Donors and Social Investors for Conference on Global Social Impact

WASHINGTON, DC—Geoff Dabelko, the director of the Woodrow Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security Program (ECSP), will be among the featured speakers at this year's Global Philanthropy Forum (GPF), an annual gathering of cutting-edge donors committed to international causes that will take place April 9-11 in Redwood City, CA.

Dabelko will join distinguished speakers including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former UN Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, Virgin Atlantic's Sir Richard Branson, Google.org's Larry Brilliant, scholar Samantha Power, and singer Annie Lennox in a discussion of "Human Security, Human Rights and the Shared Responsibility to Protect." Five hundred of the world's best-known and most effective philanthropists—in addition to on-the-ground advocates from the developing world, social entrepreneurs, business leaders, and policy practitioners—will be in attendance.

According to the GPF's founder and president, Jane Wales, "Once a year, the Global Philanthropy Forum convenes leading philanthropists from around the world for an intense three days to consider ways to tackle large problems. These challenges—be they poverty, disease, climate change, social exclusion or mass atrocities—cannot be solved by one state or one sector. Philanthropy, and those it supports, has a role to play."

"It is very encouraging that leading philanthropists want to break out of single-sector approaches and tackle the complex links between natural resources, conflict, and human security. We need social entrepreneurs to help find solutions to these vexing challenges," said Dabelko, who will discuss ways to prevent the scarcity—or abundance—of resources from contributing to conflict.

Media planning to cover the event should contact Sharon McCarter at sharon.mccarter@wilsoncenter.org or (202) 691-4016.

The GPF aims to build a community of donors and social investors committed to international causes—and to inform, enable and enhance the strategic nature of their giving and social investing. http://www.philanthropyforum.org

The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars is the living, national memorial to President Wilson established by Congress in 1968 and headquartered in Washington, DC. It is a nonpartisan institution, supported by public and private funds, engaged in the study of national and world affairs. http://www.wilsoncenter.org

Since 1994, the Wilson Center's Environmental Change and Security Program has explored the connections among environmental challenges and their links to conflict and security. http://www.wilsoncenter.org/ecsp