Subject: Re: Ertharin call on Monsanto
From: "Randy Russell" <[email-masked]>
To: "Samuel Berger" <[email-masked]>, "Bonnie Raquet" <[email-masked]>, "Glickman, Dan" <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>
Cc: "Rick Leach" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 30 Jun 2015 15:08:22 +0000

Sandy, I want to thank you for all your efforts on this--this looks like a very reasonable outcome.  Having dialogue directly with Monsanto and the WFP relative to a long term engagement and how that will be PR'ed is the right thing to do.  Thanks to you and Rick for all your leadership on this issue.  Anything I can do to help out on my end going forward I'd be happy to do.

Again, Sandy, thanks.

Randy

________________________________
From: Samuel Berger <[email-masked]>
Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2015 10:46 AM
To: Randy Russell; Bonnie Raquet; Glickman, Dan; [email-masked]
Cc: Rick Leach
Subject: FW: Ertharin call on Monsanto

All -  To close the loop on the WFP /Monsanto issue (refusing the donation on reputational grounds),  Ertharin called last week to respond to my earlier email (which you all received and our prior conversation.   I thought it was a constructive and reasonable response, and I think Rick shares that view.  My notes from the call are below.  In a nutshell she said that she supports the Monsanto grant - and indeed would like to turn the relationship into a longer-term partnership -but there are elements of her  Board  (Europe and  some  Africa) which oppose (GMOs).   She (directly through her Depy Chief of Staff and with WFP  USA) would like to work with Monsanto over some months to develop a "narrative" about how the company assists the underdeveloped world (not including GMOs) which she then can use to overcome Board opposition.   This is the strategy she used with Nestle's and it worked very well.  She seemed quite confident it would work here.

I've discussed this with Rick who is very positive about this and believes this is very consistent with the kind of conversations WFP USA already has been having with Monsanto.     If you have any questions,  give me a call.

SAND

From: Samuel Berger
Sent: Wednesday, June 24, 2015 12:13 AM
To: Rick Leach
Cc: Samuel Berger
Subject: Ertharin call on Monsanto

Rick,

I spoke with Ertharin this morning, as a follow-up to our call on June 5 and the memo I sent her regarding Monsanto.

The key point is that Ertharin would like to move forward, but she wants a strategy that will enable her to do so in a way that avoids strong objections from the WFP Board. The Board only gave them private sector fundraising authority in 2013, and they are still on a short leash, with some countries-particularly the Europeans and Nordics-very vocal on the Board and opposed to GMOs. She mentioned Kenya as well.

She offered the example of Nestle, which offered a contribution when she first became Executive Director that she didn't feel in a position to accept. However, over the course of approximately a year, WFP worked with Nestle to build a 'narrative' that would mitigate potential opposition-with the end result a partnership rather than simply a contribution, and without any criticism. What she would like in Monsanto's case is a communications strategy and narrative that highlights how Monsanto is serving the interests of the poor community and the hungry beyond GMOs. She feels this will give her what she needs to overcome any Board resistance.

She suggested this process should be handled by someone from Monsanto, someone from WFP USA, and specifically Laura Santucci, her Deputy Chief of Staff.

We should discuss this. Ertharin is not making a "good or bad" judgment; she wants to do this not just as a donation but as a partnership, but needs a political strategy to make it happen. I don't know how Monsanto would react to this, or what they have/are already doing that would be helpful.

Let's discuss.

Sandy